In Greek mythology , the Asphodel Meadows or Asphodel Fields ( Ancient Greek : ἀσφοδελὸς λειμών , romanized : asphodelòs leimṓn ) was a section of the ancient Greek underworld where the majority of ordinary souls were sent to live after death . It was one of the three main divisions of the underworld along with Elysium , where righteous souls were rewarded, and Tartarus , where vicious souls were punished. In his Odyssey , Homer locates the Fields of Asphodel close to the Land of dreams . He further refers to them as the dwelling place of the spirits of men who have abandoned their earthly labors.
39-525: The name of the land, inspired by the plant Asphodelus , appears in the literature as far back as Homer 's Odyssey , where it features in Odysseus ' survey of the underworld. Many ancient Greek poets and Homeric commentators understand the adjective asphodelòs to mean 'flowery', 'fragrant', or 'fertile'. According to others, the unattractive plant was chosen by the Greeks because of its ghostly gray colour which
78-709: A family of giant, primitive, python-like snakes, was around until 50,000 years ago in Australia, represented by genera such as Wonambi . Recent molecular studies support the monophyly of the clades of modern snakes, scolecophidians, typhlopids + anomalepidids, alethinophidians, core alethinophidians, uropeltids ( Cylindrophis , Anomochilus , uropeltines), macrostomatans, booids, boids, pythonids and caenophidians. While snakes are limbless reptiles, evolved from (and grouped with) lizards, there are many other species of lizards that have lost their limbs independently but which superficially look similar to snakes. These include
117-453: A handsome spike of white or yellow flowers. Asphodelus albus and A. fistulosus have white flowers and grow from 45 to 60 centimetres ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 –2 ft) high; A. ramosus is a larger plant, the large white flowers of which have a reddish-brown line in the middle of each segment. The genus name is derived from the Greek ἀσφόδελος asphodelos . There are 16 species in
156-642: A minor component of the North American fauna, but during the Miocene, the number of species and their prevalence increased dramatically with the first appearances of vipers and elapids in North America and the significant diversification of Colubridae (including the origin of many modern genera such as Nerodia , Lampropeltis , Pituophis , and Pantherophis ). There is fossil evidence to suggest that snakes may have evolved from burrowing lizards, during
195-414: A positive cladistical correlation, although some of these features are shared with varanids. Genetic studies in recent years have indicated snakes are not as closely related to monitor lizards as was once believed—and therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, more evidence links mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmented remains found from
234-515: A short tail remains of the caudal vertebrae. However, the tail is still long enough to be of important use in many species, and is modified in some aquatic and tree-dwelling species. Many modern snake groups originated during the Paleocene , alongside the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs . The expansion of grasslands in North America also led to an explosive radiation among snakes. Previously, snakes were
273-420: Is a finer one, barely visible; the cavities are connected internally, separated only by a membrane with nerves that are extraordinarily attuned to detecting temperature changes between. As in the overlapping vision fields of human eyes, the forward-facing pit on either side of the face combined produces a field of vision: a pit viper can distinguish between objects and their environments, as well as accurately judge
312-913: Is a genus of mainly perennial flowering plants in the asphodel family Asphodelaceae that was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The genus was formerly included in the lily family ( Liliaceae ). The genus is native to temperate Europe (mostly the south of Europe), the Mediterranean , Africa , the Middle East , and the Indian Subcontinent , and some species have been introduced to, and are now naturalized in, other places such as New Zealand , Australia , Mexico and southwestern United States . Many asphodels are popular garden plants, which grow in well-drained soils with abundant natural light. The plants are hardy herbaceous perennials with narrow tufted radical leaves and an elongated stem bearing
351-415: Is adapted for burrowing and its stomach indicates that it was preying on other animals. It is currently uncertain if Tetrapodophis is a snake or another species, in the squamate order, as a snake-like body has independently evolved at least 26 times. Tetrapodophis does not have distinctive snake features in its spine and skull. A study in 2021 places the animal in a group of extinct marine lizards from
390-407: Is appropriate to the shadowy atmosphere of the underworld. A different proposal explains the name of the land as 'field of ashes' basing it on sphodelos or spodelos , an alternative version of the name that could be related to "σποδός", spodós ('ashes', 'embers'). The Asphodel Meadows is most probably where the souls of people who lived mediocre lives remain. Its relationship to other places in
429-472: Is associated with DNA mutations in the Zone of Polarizing Activity Regulatory Sequence (ZRS), a regulatory region of the sonic hedgehog gene which is critically required for limb development. More advanced snakes have no remnants of limbs, but basal snakes such as pythons and boas do have traces of highly reduced, vestigial hind limbs. Python embryos even have fully developed hind limb buds, but their later development
SECTION 10
#1732852126282468-455: Is based on morphological characteristics and mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity. Alethinophidia is sometimes split into Henophidia and Caenophidia , with the latter consisting of "colubroid" snakes ( colubrids , vipers , elapids , hydrophiids , and atractaspids ) and acrochordids, while the other alethinophidian families comprise Henophidia. While not extant today, the Madtsoiidae ,
507-454: Is not universal (see Amphisbaenia , Dibamidae , and Pygopodidae ). Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout
546-618: Is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction . The English word snake comes from Old English snaca , itself from Proto-Germanic * snak-an- ( cf. Germanic Schnake 'ring snake', Swedish snok 'grass snake'), from Proto-Indo-European root * (s)nēg-o- 'to crawl to creep', which also gave sneak as well as Sanskrit nāgá 'snake'. The word ousted adder , as adder went on to narrow in meaning, though in Old English næddre
585-440: Is quite common: "Like most cultures throughout human history, both ancient and modern, the Greeks held complex and sometimes contradictory views about the afterlife". Edith Hamilton suggested that the asphodel of these fields are not exactly like the asphodel of our world, but are "presumably strange, pallid, ghostly flowers." Others have suggested, in 2002, that they were actually narcissi . Asphodelus Asphodelus
624-572: Is relatively poor because snake skeletons are typically small and fragile making fossilization uncommon. Fossils readily identifiable as snakes (though often retaining hind limbs) first appear in the fossil record during the Cretaceous period. The earliest known true snake fossils (members of the crown group Serpentes) come from the marine simoliophiids , the oldest of which is the Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian age) Haasiophis terrasanctus from
663-788: Is stopped by the DNA mutations in the ZRS. There are about 3,900 species of snakes, ranging as far northward as the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and southward through Australia. Snakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, as well as in the sea, and as high as 16,000 feet (4,900 m) in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. There are numerous islands from which snakes are absent, such as Ireland , Iceland , and New Zealand (although New Zealand's northern waters are infrequently visited by
702-471: The Cretaceous Period . An early fossil snake relative, Najash rionegrina , was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum , and was fully terrestrial . Najash , which lived 95 million years ago, also had a skull with several features typical for lizards, but had evolved some of the mobile skull joints that define the flexible skull in most modern snakes. The species did not show any resemblances to
741-715: The Isles of the Blessed and Elysium - part of the ancient Greek concept of the afterlife. Snake Snakes are elongated, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes ( / s ɜːr ˈ p ɛ n t iː z / ). Like all other squamates , snakes are ectothermic , amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales . Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads ( cranial kinesis ). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of
780-553: The Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may potentially refute either hypothesis. Both fossils and phylogenetic studies demonstrate that snakes evolved from lizards , hence the question became which genetic changes led to limb loss in the snake ancestor. Limb loss is actually very common in extant reptiles and has happened dozens of times within skinks , anguids , and other lizards. In 2016, two studies reported that limb loss in snakes
819-624: The Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167 Ma ago. The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene epoch ( c. 66 to 56 Ma ago, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event ). The oldest preserved descriptions of snakes can be found in the Brooklyn Papyrus . Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that
SECTION 20
#1732852126282858-529: The West Bank , dated to between 112 and 94 million years old. Based on genomic analysis it is certain that snakes descend from lizards . This conclusion is also supported by comparative anatomy , and the fossil record. Pythons and boas —primitive groups among modern snakes—have vestigial hind limbs: tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs , which are used to grasp during mating. The families Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae also possess remnants of
897-479: The slowworm , glass snake , and amphisbaenians . Leptotyphlopidae Gerrhopilidae Typhlopidae Xenophidiidae Anomalepididae Aniliidae Tropidophiidae Xenopeltidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Boidae Bolyeridae Xenophidiidae Uropeltidae Anomochilidae Cylindrophiidae Acrochordidae Xenodermidae Pareidae Viperidae Homalopsidae Colubridae Lamprophiidae Elapidae The fossil record of snakes
936-434: The yellow-bellied sea snake and the banded sea krait ). The now extinct Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 m (42 ft) in length. By comparison, the largest extant snakes are the reticulated python , measuring about 6.95 m (22.8 ft) long, and the green anaconda , which measures about 5.21 m (17.1 ft) long and is considered the heaviest snake on Earth at 97.5 kg (215 lb). At
975-502: The Cretaceous period known as dolichosaurs and not directly related to snakes. An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology , suggests the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs —extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous —forming the clade Pythonomorpha . According to this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), and
1014-477: The Greek afterlife remains uncertain. For later Greek poets the very ancient pre-Homeric association of the asphodel flower with a positive form of afterlife as well as the enlarged role of Elysium as it became the destination of more than just a few lucky heroes, altered the character of the meadows. Greek poets who wrote after Homer's time describe them as untouched, lovely, soft and holy. Such an evolutionary change
1053-581: The Hox gene expression in the axial skeleton responsible for the development of the thorax became dominant. As a result, the vertebrae anterior to the hindlimb buds (when present) all have the same thoracic-like identity (except from the atlas , axis , and 1–3 neck vertebrae). In other words, most of a snake's skeleton is an extremely extended thorax. Ribs are found exclusively on the thoracic vertebrae. Neck, lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are very reduced in number (only 2–10 lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are present), while only
1092-523: The Indian and Pacific oceans. Around thirty families are currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,900 species . They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long (4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in length. The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft) long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during
1131-527: The ears. Some primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs, but their pelvic bones lacked a direct connection to the vertebrae. These include fossil species like Haasiophis , Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis , which are slightly older than Najash . This hypothesis was strengthened in 2015 by the discovery of a 113-million-year-old fossil of a four-legged snake in Brazil that has been named Tetrapodophis amplectus . It has many snake-like features,
1170-614: The external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment. This ultimately led to an animal similar to today's sea snakes . In the Late Cretaceous , snakes recolonized land, and continued to diversify into today's snakes. Fossilized snake remains are known from early Late Cretaceous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis; particularly so, as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina . Similar skull structure, reduced or absent limbs, and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to
1209-416: The genus. The leaves are used to wrap burrata , an Italian cheese. The leaves and the cheese last about the same time, three or four days, and thus fresh leaves are a sign of a fresh cheese, while dried out leaves indicate that the cheese is past its prime. In Greek legend the asphodel is one of the most famous of the plants connected with the dead and the underworld . Homer describes it as covering
Asphodel Meadows - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-423: The great meadow ( ἀσφόδελος λειμών ), the haunt of the dead. It was planted on graves , and is often connected with Persephone , who appears crowned with a garland of asphodels. Its general connection with death is due no doubt to the greyish colour of its leaves and its yellowish flowers, which suggest the gloom of the underworld and the pallor of death. The roots were eaten by the poorer Greeks; hence such food
1287-437: The head, between the nostrils and the eyes. In fact the pit looks like an extra pair of nostrils. All snakes have the ability to sense warmth with touch and heat receptors like other animals ;however, the highly developed pit of the pit vipers is distinctive. Each pit is made of a pit cavity and an inner cavity, the larger one lies just behind and generally below the level of the nostril, and opens forward. Behind this larger cavity
1326-545: The modern burrowing blind snakes, which have often been seen as the most primitive group of extant forms. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo (though it is also semiaquatic ). Subterranean species evolved bodies streamlined for burrowing, and eventually lost their limbs. According to this hypothesis, features such as the transparent , fused eyelids ( brille ) and loss of external ears evolved to cope with fossorial difficulties, such as scratched corneas and dirt in
1365-569: The other end of the scale, the smallest extant snake is Leptotyphlops carlae , with a length of about 10.4 cm (4.1 in). Most snakes are fairly small animals, approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) in length. Some of the most highly developed sensory systems are found in the Crotalidae, or pit vipers—the rattlesnakes and their associates. Pit vipers have all the sense organs of other snakes, as well as additional aids. Pit refers to special infrared-sensitive receptors located on either side of
1404-515: The other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung . Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca . Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution , leading to many lineages of legless lizards . These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule
1443-451: The pelvic girdle, appearing as horny projections when visible. Front limbs are nonexistent in all known snakes. This is caused by the evolution of their Hox genes , controlling limb morphogenesis . The axial skeleton of the snakes' common ancestor, like most other tetrapods, had regional specializations consisting of cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back), sacral (pelvic), and caudal (tail) vertebrae. Early in snake evolution,
1482-570: Was the general word for snake. The other term, serpent , is from French, ultimately from Indo-European * serp- 'to creep', which also gave Ancient Greek ἕρπω ( hérpō ) 'I crawl' and Sanskrit sarpá ‘snake’. All modern snakes are grouped within the suborder Serpentes in Linnean taxonomy , part of the order Squamata , though their precise placement within squamates remains controversial. The two infraorders of Serpentes are Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia . This separation
1521-399: Was thought good enough for the shades. The asphodel was also supposed to be a remedy for venomous snake -bites and a specific against sorcery ; it was fatal to mice, but preserved pigs from disease. The Libyan nomads made their huts of asphodel stalks. The asphodel is mentioned by several poets in connection with the mythology of death, and by association, the afterlife - specifically
#281718