Asp (reptile)

Asp is the modern/anglicized form of aspis. In antiquity the name refers to a venomous snake of Egypt from the Nile delta region and generally assumed to refer to the Egyptian cobra, but a wide array of other snakes were called asps. Today the European Asp (Vipera aspis) viper is the only snake correctly referred to as an asp.

The asp was a symbol of royalty in dynastic and Roman Egypt. Extremely poisonous, the asp was often used as a means of execution for criminals who had attained a favoured status and were thought deserving of a death more dignified than typical executions. The Greeks also used them for executions.

According to Plutarch (quoted by Ussher), Cleopatra tested various deadly poisons on condemned persons and animals for daily entertainment. She concluded that the bite of the asp was the best way to die. It brought a sleepiness and heaviness without spasms of pain. Later she used this method to kill herself.

In Shakespeare's play, Cleopatra kills herself by the bite of an asp which she applies to her breast after the defeat of her lover, Mark Antony.

With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate
Of life at once untie: poor venomous fool
Be angry, and dispatch. O, couldst thou speak,
That I might hear thee call great Caesar asp
Unpolicied!"

—Cleopatra, Act V, scene II, Antony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare