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In essence, the Tree of Knowledge represents a drug, or what the Greeks called a pharmakon. And the Serpent represents the effects the pharmakon has on one's mind. The pharmakon is a philter, which acts as both a remedy and poison.[ix] As the pharmakon affects the individual, so the individual affects culture. The Serpent, Moses, Jesus and Socrates are social pharmakons who vaccinate their respective cultures with their drug-inspired revolutionary discourse. Their discourse challenges the current tradition, or rather disrupts the current of tradition, but even revolution is part of the tradition. Therefore, if you are in a position of authority (political, economical, scientific, art) figures like Socrates and Jesus undermine that authority. Their inspired discourse represents a virus that must be contained before the whole culture can be infected.
