Beasts

Situated opposite the songbirds and the birds of prey along the right side of the grand staircase into Woods Memorial Hall are carved stone dragons/serpents that intertwine in a purposefully unsettling array. Birds and dragons/serpents, here, are overarching representations of Christianity's Heaven and Hell.  Symbolically those that traverse the steps between these images walk upwards towards educational enlightenment. (Minerva's face appears as a relief carving above the grand doorway leading into the building.) But, dragons/serpents also appear in numerous mythological tales and represent a myriad of ideals, warnings, and challenges such as in the story of Hercules and the Hydra.  Ironically, by the 19th century the Hydra represented Christian heresies.  Christian symbolism of the dragon/serpent equates the beast to Leviathan, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, or the embodiment of the vice, lust.