Amphisbaena
A two-headed serpent with a head at each end, able to move in either direction with equal speed
The Myth of Amphisbaena
The amphisbaena had a head at each end of its body and no way to tell which direction it was going until it was already there. It was born, like many Libyan serpents, from the blood of Medusa's severed head as Perseus flew over the desert. Where the blood dripped, the sand produced snakes, and the amphisbaena was the strangest of them.
Nicander described it in the Theriaca: grey-skinned, small-eyed, moving with either head leading. It could grasp one head in the other's mouth and roll like a hoop, covering ground at a speed that terrified anyone who witnessed it. Lucan confirmed the rolling locomotion and added that it was the first serpent to move after a frost — cold did not slow it as it slowed other reptiles.
Appearance and Powers
Pliny recommended the amphisbaena as a medicinal resource. Wearing a live one around the neck cured rheumatism. A dead one, nailed to a tree, guaranteed a good harvest. Pregnant women who wore one in a bracelet ensured safe delivery, provided they removed it before labour began — otherwise the birth went badly.
The name meant "going both ways," and the creature served as a symbol of ambivalence and duality. Medieval bestiaries adopted it enthusiastically. Dante placed it in the Inferno. Borges included it in his Book of Imaginary Beings.
Encounters with Heroes
Modern biology has an amphisbaena too — the worm-lizards of the suborder Amphisbaenia, legless reptiles with blunt tails that can indeed appear two-headed. The Greeks noticed the resemblance first.
Parents
Blood of Medusa
Symbols
Fun Fact
The amphisbaena could grip one head in the other and roll like a hoop — making it the only serpent in mythology with a built-in wheel mode
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
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