Friday, October 16, 2015

Caduceus or a staff of Asclepuis


A card for a doctor - I decided to use this symbol, which base are two different anctious myths:
The image of serpents wrapped around a staff is a familiar one in the medical field. Snakes bites are generally bad news, and so the animal might seem ill-fitting as the symbol of the medical profession, but the ancient emblem actually has a quite a story behind it.
There are actually two versions of the symbol. The winged version is known as a caduceus, and the stick is actually a staff that was carried by the Olympian god Hermes. In Greek mythology, Hermes was a messenger between the gods and humans (which explains the wings) and a guide to the underworld (which explains the staff). Hermes was also the patron of travelers, which makes his connection to medicine appropriate because, in the olden days, doctors had to travel great distances by foot in order to visit their patients.

Another, earlier depiction of the medical symbol is the staff of Asclepius, thought it has no wings and only one snake. The son of Apollo and the human princess Coronis, Asclepius is the Greek demigod of medicine . According to mythology, he was able to restore the health of the sick and bring the dead back to life.


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