I too have always wonderd about that first room in Kid Icarus.
I have beaten the game hundreds and hundreds of times, and I have never gotten tested by the gods the second time through. I used to think that maybe the second time through it was possible, but I've never gotten it to work. Also, how do we know it's not one of those rooms where he gods give you a power up arrow? Come to think of it, that's what it would be...since the rooms where the gods test you work every time.
There is a certain amount of points you have to get to trigger the god, and even if you kill all the snakes you can't get that point value. Has anyone actually ever gotten that room t work (say maybe on the second time through?)?
-Rob