The aim of this article is to reconstruct the motif of the enigmatic animal called aspidochelone first in the Greek Physiologus and then to compare its use in all the ancient and medieval versions that followed. This comparative approach may prove useful as a way to bring more clearly to light the religious meanings that the unknown Alexandrian author wanted to conceal from the outset behind the hybrid creature. Therefore, we will carry out a historico-literary and then exegetical analysis of the successive adaptations and outlooks showed by the aspidochelone in the different versions, so as to point out both formal and substantial continuities, analogies or differences. - [Abstract]

Language: Italian