El «apareamiento oral» (oris coitus) de las serpientes y su simbología en la literatura emblemática neolatina

Abstract

This paper is about the so called «oral mating» (oris coitus) of the serpents and its symbolism in the books of Latin emblems of the XVIth and XVIIth century, revising the different interpretations that the authors offer of this ancient argument and identifying the Classic, Medieval and Renaissance sources (as iconographical as literary). Likewise, there are established the curious overlaps that such a metaphor presents with mythical archetypes.