ABSTRACT
In the Mithra mystery the serpent is often antagonistic to the lion, corresponding to that very universal myth of the battle of the sun with the dragon. The aging of the autumn sun as an image of human senility is symbolically traced back to the mother through the poisoning by the serpent. The analytic interpretation of Cassius’s irritability plainly reveals that at crucial moments he identifies himself with the mother, and his conduct, therefore, is truly feminine, as his speech demonstrates most excellently. The psychologically valuable fact which we gather is the information that Cassius is infantile and identified with the mother. Men are descended from the lance, because the ash is the mother of lances. The aging of the autumn sun as an image of human senility is symbolically traced back to the mother through the poisoning by the serpent.
