However, this is a confused symbol, and the confusion is made by the Americans, who once again messed with myth and history....
The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, remains a symbol of medicine today, although sometimes the caduceus, or staff with two snakes, is mistakenly used instead.
Why?
In the Myth.. Asclepius is the God of Medicine and son of Apollo who taught him to heal all diseases.
Asclepius was so good in his new skill to the extent that he was able to bring dead people back to life.
The Serpent Medusa, helped him to develop his skills further by teaching him the secrets of weeds and plants.
Medusa and the other Gorgons were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes whose origins predate the written myths of Greece and who were the protectors of the most ancient ritual secrets. The Gorgons wore a belt of two intertwined serpents in the same configuration of the caduceus.
Asclepius, the son of Apollo and Koronis, learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another (which Asclepius himself had fatally wounded) healing herbs.
To prevent the entire human race from becoming immortal under Asclepius's care, Zeus killed him with a bolt of lightning. Asclepius' death at the hands of Zeus illustrates man's inability to challenge the natural order that separates mortal men from the gods.
In honor of Asclepius, snakes were often used in healing rituals.
After his death, Asclepius continued his mission in healing people.
He used to come to sick people in their dreams and prescribed to them the right medications.
People loved him so much, because he was a good hope for them.
Asclepius was a charismatic God with strong personality.
He used to carry a staff called Rod Of Asclepius.
It consists of a serpent entwined around a staff.
The ambiguity of the serpent as a symbol, and the contradictions it is thought to represent, reflect the ambiguity of the use of drugs, which can help or harm, as reflected in the meaning of the term pharmakon, which meant "drug", "medicine" and "poison" in ancient Greek.
Today we know that antidotes and vaccines are often compounded from precisely the thing that caused the poisoning or illness.
Products deriving from the bodies of snakes were known to have medicinal properties in ancient times, and in ancient Greece, at least some were aware that snake venom that might be fatal if it entered the bloodstream could often be imbibed.
Snake venom appears to have been 'prescribed' in some cases as a form of therapy.
The caduceus is sometimes used as a symbol of medicine and/or medical practice, especially in North America, due to widespread confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius, which has only a single snake and no wings.
This erroneous use of the caduceus became established in the United States in the late 19th century as a result of mistakes and misunderstandings which have been well-documented.
Today, the initial errors which led to its adoption often go unremarked or unnoticed. However, numerous specialized professional and academic studies of its symbolic significance note the initial error and its perpetuation.
Most attempts to defend its use in a medical context date from the last quarter of the 19th century through the first quarter of the 20th, and have been characterized as "based on flimsy and pseudo-historical research".
When the mistaken use in the United States became better-known, a number of organizations changed from using the caduceus to using the rod of Asclepius, notably the American Medical Association.
As Robert B. Taylor has observed, "Today, there are calls to clarify the symbol and to move to a uniform use of the Aesculapian staff to symbolize medicine.
Asclepios was married to Epione, with whom he had six daughters: Hygieia, Meditrina (the serpent-bearer), Panacea, Aceso, Iaso, and Aglaea, and three sons: Machaon, Podaleirios and Telesphoros.
He also sired a son, Aratus, with Aristodama.
The names of his daughters each rather transparently reflect a certain subset of the overall theme of "good health"
In the myth, the body of the queen of snakes is of three parts.
First part is deadly.
Second part gives life.
Third part gives wisdom.
This snake was and still to our days, a symbol for medicine and we can find her on most of medical prescriptions and doctors' signs whether in their logos or car plates etc...
We also find her on pharmacy gates entwined around a cup which represents the human body resembling its healing power.
So, what about the wisdom part??
I really do not know, but I heard that we can find this answer in the famous book One Thousand Nights and Night.
I will try to dig it out.
Sami Cherkaoui
I'm pretty sure some of the stuff was discussed in the Greek Mythology class(which, I should have paid more attention to lol), but I remember that it's also the symbol for medicine because the skin that snakes shed also symbolizes rebirth and life.
ReplyDeleteI knew the symbol was related to Greek Mythology but I never bothered to read about it until now...4 years after graduating. Lol, how sad.
ReplyDeleteJess you suck :p
-Alz