DOCUMENTARY

BETWEEN TWO THEORIES: SYMBOL OF MEDICINE

                       

The image of serpents wrapped around a staff is a familiar one in the medical field, decorating pharmaceutical packaging and hospitals alike. 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, 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.

In one telling, Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt for disrupting the natural order of the world by reviving the dead, while another version states that Zeus killed him as punishment for accepting money in exchange for conducting a resurrection. After he died, Zeus placed Asclepius among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus, or "the serpent bearer."

Rod of Asclepius

The Rod of Asclepius takes its name from the god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicinal arts in Greek mythology.

The most famous temple of Asclepius was at Epidaurus in northeastern Peloponnese. Another famous healing temple (or asclepieion) was located on the island of Kos, where Hippocrates, the legendary "father of medicine", may have begun his career. Other asclepieia were situated in Trikala, Gortys (in Arcadia), and Pergamum in Asia.

In honor of Asclepius, a particular type of nonvenomous snake was often used in healing rituals, and these snakes – the Aesculapian snakes – crawled around freely on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept. These snakes were introduced at the founding of each new temple of Asclepius throughout the classical world. From about 300 BC onwards, the cult of Asclepius grew very popular and pilgrims flocked to his healing temples (Asclepieia) to be cured of their ills. Ritual purification would be followed by offerings or sacrifices to the god (according to means), and the supplicant would then spend the night in the holiest part of the sanctuary – the abaton (or adyton). Any dreams or visions would be reported to a priest who would prescribe the appropriate therapy by a process of interpretation. Some healing temples also used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of sick petitioners.

The original Hippocratic Oath began with the invocation "I swear by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods ..."

The serpent and the staff appear to have been separate symbols that were combined at some point in the development of the Asclepian cult. The significance of the serpent has been interpreted in many ways; sometimes the shedding of skin and renewal is emphasized as symbolizing rejuvenation, while other assessments center on the serpent as a symbol that unites and expresses the dual nature of the work of the physician, who deals with life and death, sickness and health. 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.

Biblical School of Thought

Nehushtan

In the biblical Book of Numbers, the Nehushtan was a bronze serpent on a pole which God told Moses to erect to protect the Israelites who saw it from dying from the bites of the "fiery serpents" which God had sent to punish them for speaking against God and Moses.

King Hezekiah later instituted a religious iconoclastic reform and destroyed the brazen serpent.

In the biblical story, following their Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites set out from Mount Hor, where Aaron was buried, to go to the Red Sea. However they had to detour around the land of Edom. Frustrated and impatient, they complained against Yahweh and Moses, and in response God sent "fiery serpents" among them. For the sake of the ones who were repentant, Moses was instructed by God to erect a "serpent of bronze" which was used to heal those who looked upon it. In contrast to the Greek’s school of thought, many believe the symbol of medicine may as well have originated from this.

Reference: Wikipedia, livescience.com; Compiled and Edited by Martial.