In The Epic of Gilgamesh they were the ones who got the plant of eternal youth. It's etiological.

在《吉尔伽美什史诗》中,蛇得到了可以永葆年轻的植物，所以蜕皮。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选

The story is explaining how these odd conditions of life came to be as they are, which is not to say that it's the ideal situation or even that it's God's will for humankind these are etiological fables, and they're best read as such.

这个故事解释了，这些奇怪的生活状态,并不是说，这些便是理想的,甚至是根据上帝旨意的生活状态,而是阐述为什么会这样的原因，这是最好的解释。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选