Introduction

In this storybook project, I want to explore the serpents of old mythology and folklore. The ones I have selected may have been defeated in battles, by gods or heroes, or they may have been seen in the ocean terrifying sailors and passersby. Serpents, historically, have tended to represent concepts like evil, chaos, and disruption. These are things that are to be defeated and conquered by the heroes and heroines of stories, whether they are gods or mortals, but what if they, instead, triumphed over the forces of "good?" Too often are these slithering beasts just beaten and forgotten, but I want to explore their legends and why they should be feared and how they came to be such villains.

For example, Apep is a god of chaos from ancient Egypt. It fights a nightly battle against Ra and his consort. Doomed to always fail, but what if the world was plunged to darkness as he finally bests Ra and his following? What was the battle like to allow this to happen? How are those in the mortal realm dealing with their new reality?

I will be exploring how these legendary serpents earned their titles and places in history. Like the Drakon Hesperios, who is one of the Twelve Labors of Heracles. How did the Drakon earn this place to challenge the great Heracles?

What kinds of experiences did sailors have with the beasts hidden away in the ocean? What horrors did they see to spark rumors of krakens and leviathans? Maybe they saw the corpses of old whales or were they themselves attacked by a sea creature? Maybe a tornado over the water looked like a serpent to them, or did a sea dragon attack their ship as they tried to fight it off?