Snakes are symbols of renewed life and fertility in the East ; because they shed their skins so they seem to be eternally young; and they're also phallic symbols.

在东方，蛇一般都是新生命或者多产的象征,因为，蛇的蜕皮，似乎能使它永远年轻;,蛇同样也是生殖力的象征。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选

I suggest that we can hear echoes of that same youthful competitiveness in Milton's first major poem in these opening lines, in the beginning of the great epic of Milton's maturity.

在失乐园的开头几句,在弥尔顿成熟后所写的这首伟大史诗的开头，我们还可以看到这同样的他年轻时的雄心。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选