Serpentine

It's the year of the snake and Legend of the White Snake has spiraled back up into popularity. Some scholars say that the Chinese tale of a serpentine love story, the symbolism of which John Keats' 1819 poem Lamia shares parallels, was in fact derived from ancient Indian mythology.

Keats' (1795-1821) poem Lamia is the story of a snake that is turned into a beautiful woman by the god Hermes. Lamia meets a young man named Lycius and the two fall in love, but tragedy befalls the couple when, before their wedding, her true identity is revealed by the sage Apollonius. The spell is unraveled and Lamia melts away, while lovelorn Lycius dies of a broken heart.