Caduceus

Some accounts assert that the oldest imagery of the caduceus is rooted in Mesopotamia with the Sumerian god Ningishzida; his symbol, a staff with two snakes intertwined around it, dates back to 4000 BC to 3000 BC.^[3] This iconography may have been a representation of two snakes copulating.^[4]

As a symbol, it represents Hermes (or the Roman Mercury), and by extension trades, occupations, or undertakings associated with the god. In later

By extension of its association with Mercury and Hermes, the caduceus is also a symbol of commerce and negotiation, two realms in which exchange balanced by reciprocity is recognized as an ideal.[6]^[7][8] This association is ancient, and consistent from classical antiquity to modernity.^[9][10] The caduceus is also a symbol of printing, by extension of the attributes of Mercury associated with writing and eloquence.

Although the Rod of Asclepius, which has only one snake and no wings, is the traditional and more widely used symbol of medicine, the caduceus is sometimes used by healthcare organizations. Given that the caduceus is primarily a symbol of commerce and other non-medical symbology, many healthcare professionals disapprove of this use.^[11]

The

One Greek myth of origin of the caduceus is part of the story of Tiresias,^[15] who found two snakes copulating and killed the female with his staff. Tiresias was immediately turned into a woman, and so remained until he was able to repeat the act with the male snake seven years later. This staff later came into the possession of the god Hermes, along with its transformative powers.

Another myth suggests that Hermes (or Mercury) saw two serpents entwined in mortal combat. Separating them with his wand he brought about peace between them, and as a result the wand with two serpents came to be seen as a sign of peace.^[16]

In Rome, Livy refers to the caduceator who negotiated peace arrangements under the diplomatic protection of the caduceus he carried.^[17]

In some vase paintings ancient depictions of the Greek kerukeion are somewhat different from the commonly seen modern representation. These representations feature the two snakes atop the staff (or rod), crossed to create a circle with the heads of the snakes resembling horns. This old graphic form, with an additional crossbar to the staff, seems to have provided the basis for the graphical

The term kerukeion denoted any herald's staff, not necessarily associated with Hermes in particular.^[19]

In his study of the cult of Hermes,

In Egyptian iconography, the Djed pillar is depicted as containing a snake in a frieze of the Dendera Temple complex.

The caduceus also appears as a symbol of the

During the early modern period, the caduceus was used as a symbol of rhetoric (associated with Mercury's eloquence).^[27]

• 
  Engraving by Hendrik Goltzius (1558–1617)
• 
  La Retorique (1633–35)
• 
  Allegory of Rhetoric (1650)

A simplified caduceus is found in dictionaries, as a "commercial term" entirely in keeping with the association of Hermes with commerce. In this form the staff is often depicted with two winglets and the snakes omitted or reduced to a small ring in the middle.

It is relatively common, especially in the United States, to find the caduceus, with its two snakes and wings, (mis)used as a symbol of medicine instead of the

The Rod of Asclepius is the dominant symbol for professional healthcare associations in the United States. One survey found that 62% of professional healthcare associations used the rod of Asclepius as their symbol.[33] The same survey found that 76% of commercial healthcare organizations use the caduceus. The author of the study suggests that professional associations are more likely to have a historical understanding of the two symbols, whereas commercial organizations are more likely to be concerned with the visual impact a symbol will have on its sales.^[33]

The long-standing historical association of the caduceus with commerce has engendered significant criticism of its use in medicine. Medical professionals argue that the Rod of Asclepius better represents the field of medicine.^[34] Writing in the journal Scientific Monthly, Stuart L. Tyson said of the Staff of Hermes (the caduceus):

As god of the high-road and the market-place Hermes was perhaps above all else the patron of commerce and the fat purse: as a corollary, he was the special protector of the traveling salesman. As spokesman for the gods, he not only brought peace on earth (occasionally even the peace of death), but his silver-tongued eloquence could always make the worse appear the better cause.^[35] From this latter point of view, would not his symbol be suitable for certain Congressmen, all medical quacks, book agents and purveyors of vacuum cleaners, rather than for the straight-thinking, straight-speaking therapeutist? As conductor of the dead to their subterranean abode, his emblem would seem more appropriate on a hearse than on a physician's car.

— Stuart L. Tyson, "The Caduceus", in the Scientific Monthly, 1932^[36]

For use in documents prepared on computer, the symbol has code point in Unicode, at U+2624 ☤ CADUCEUS. There is a similar glyph encoded at U+269A ⚚ STAFF OF HERMES, an alchemical symbol at U+1F750 🝐 ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR CADUCEUS, and an astrological one at U+2BDA ⯚ HYGIEA. [For information on how to enter the symbol, see Unicode input (or copy/paste it directly).] These symbols are not provided in all fonts, especially older ones.

The symbol is depicted on multiple

References

1. ^ Liddell and Scott, Greek–English Lexicon
2. ^ Tyson (1932), p. 493.
3. ^ Gary Lachman, The Quest for Hermes Trismigestus, 2011, Chapter 3, p. x.
4. ^ Lisman (2013), p. 34.
5. ^ William Godwin (1876). "Lives of the Necromancers". p. 37.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Miscellaneous Symbols". Unicode Consortium. Archived from the original on 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2021-09-14. U+269A ⚚ STAFF OF HERMES signifies a commercial term or commerce
7. ^ Friedlander (1992), p. 83.
8. ^ Howey, M. Oldfield (1955). The Encircled Serpent: A Study of Serpent Symbolism in All Countries and Ages. New York: Arthur Richmond Co. p. 77. In modern times the caduceus figures as a symbol of commerce, since Mercury is the god of commerce
9. ^ Bonnefoy, Yves, ed. (1992). Roman and European Mythologies. Translated by Wendy Doniger. University of Chicago Press. p. 135. The name of the god Mercury cannot be disassociated from the word merx, which means merchandise. Such was the sentiment of the ancients.
10. ^ Bakich, Michael E. (2000). The Cambridge Planetary Handbook. Cambridge University Press. p. 85. Mercury was the Roman name for the Greek god Hermes. His Latin name was apparently derived from merx or mercator, a merchant.
11. ^ ^{a b} Engle, Bernice (Dec 1929). "The Use of Mercury's Caduceus as a Medical Emblem"". The Classical Journal. 25 (1): 205.
12. ^ Tyson (1932), p. 494.
13. ISBN 978-0-88214-366-8
    . Homer tell us that Hermes' caduceus, the golden wand, was acquired by Hermes from Apollo in exchange for the tortoise-lyre; later the caduceus changed hands again from Hermes to Apollo's son, Asclepius.
14. S2CID 163106261
    . (citing W. H. Roscher, Omphalos (1913))
15. ^ Blayney, Keith (September 2002). "The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius". Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
16. ^ Tyson (1932), p. 495.
17. Ab Urbe Condita Libri
    , 31,38,9–10
18. ^ "Signs and Symbols Used In Writing and Printing", p 269, in Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, unabridged, New York, 1953. Here the symbol of the planet Mercury is indicated as "the caduceus of Mercury, or his head and winged cap".
19. ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, third edition, ed. Hornblower and Spawforth, s.v. "Hermes".
20. ^ Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, vol. 5, p. 20, cited in Tyson 1932:494.
21. JSTOR 497115
    . Frothingham characterizes Farnell's simplistic view of the origin of the symbol as a "frivolous and futile theory".
22. ^ William Hayes Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, Washington, 1910
23. ^ A.L. Frothingham, "Babylonian Origins of Hermes the Snake-God, and of the Caduceus", in American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 175–211
24. ^ Burkert, Greek Religion 1985: II.2.8, p. 158; Burkert notes H. Frankfort, in Iraq, 1 (1934:10) and E.D. van Buren, in Archiv für Orientforschung, 10 (1935/36:53-65).
25. ^ Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, Indian Numismatics, Orient Longman, New Delhi 1981, p. 73 (online).
26. ^ Kailash Chand Jain, Malwa Through the Ages. From the Earliest Time to 1305 A.D., Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi et al. 1972, p. 134 (online).
27. ISBN 9782503524665
    .
28. ^ "Logo of the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
29. ^ Belarus Customs. "Customs heraldy". Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
30. ^ "Belarus - Customs Flag". FOTW. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
31. ^ 海关关徽 Archived 2018-10-14 at the Wayback Machine.
32. ^ F.H. Garrison, "The Use of the Caduceus in the Insignia of the Army Medical Officer", in Bull. Med. Lib. Assoc. IX (1919-20), 13-16
33. ^
    ISBN 0-313-28023-1
    .
34. ^ Bohigian, George (2019). "The Caduceus vs. Staff of Aesculapius - One Snake or Two?". Missouri Medicine. 116 (6): 476–477. "The Staff of Aesculapius has represented medicine since 800 BCE and most authorities support its use as the symbol of medicine
35. ^ An allusion to John Milton's description of Belial in Paradise Lost II.113-114.
36. ^ Tyson, Stuart L (1932). "The Caduceus". Scientific Monthly. 34 (6): 495.
37. ^ "Brisbane City Council: Symbols used by Council". Brisbane City Council. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2022-01-11.

Sources

• Friedlander, Walter J. (1992). The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine. Greenwood Press.
  ISBN 978-0-313-28023-8
  ..
• Lisman, J.W. (2013). Cosmogony, Theogony and Anthropogeny in Sumerian texts. Ugarit-Verlag.
• Tyson, Stuart L. (1932). "The Caduceus". The Scientific Monthly. 34 (6): 492–498.
  Bibcode:1932SciMo..34..492T
  .

Further reading

• Bunn, J. T. Origin of the caduceus motif,
  PMID 4863068
• Burkert, Walter, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual, Translation, University of California, 1979.

External links

Look up caduceus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caduceus.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Caduceus".

• Iris and Infant Hermes with Caduceus
• Caduceus from Encyclopædia Britannica
• Fenkl, Heinz Insu, Caduceus^[usurped]