MAGIC, EROS, AND INITIATION: MYTHICAL PARTICULARITIES IN THE SHORT STORY THE SNAKE BY MIRCEA ELIADE
MAGIC, EROS, AND INITIATION: MYTHICAL PARTICULARITIES IN THE SHORT STORY THE SNAKE BY MIRCEA ELIADE

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the interplay of magic, eros, and initiation in Mircea Eliade’s short story The Snake, highlighting the mythical structures that underpin its narrative and symbolism. Drawing on Eliade’s own theories of myth, the sacred, and initiation rites, the study explores how the serpent functions as an ambivalent symbol mediating between the profane and the sacred, desire and transcendence, fear and revelation. Particular attention is given to the erotic dimension of the story, interpreted not merely as sensual experience but as a catalyst for initiatory transformation. The analysis demonstrates how the protagonist’s encounter with the snake reenacts a symbolic rite of passage, through which ordinary reality is disrupted and reconfigured by magical and mythical forces. By situating The Snake within Eliade’s broader fictional and theoretical corpus, the article argues that the short story exemplifies his distinctive narrative strategy of embedding archaic mythical patterns within modern literary forms, thereby revealing the persistence of primordial structures of meaning in contemporary consciousness.

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