Quote Originally Posted by ballophile View Post
The fear of snakes is so deep seeded...going back far beyond Biblical times
Not really, snakes were regarded in many different ways in the past. Snakes were common at places of healing during the Greek and Roman times and they thought that the tongue of the snake had healing powers. That's why snakes are on the symbols used by doctors today. It is a reference to the staff of Asclepius. It is mainly the Abrahamic religions that are more familiar today that cast the snake in the primarily "evil" role.