Re: Req: Aesculap (?)

In article <34b...@news.mindspring.com>,
ano...@respondtogroup.com (anon) wrote:
>
> On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 13:01:48 GMT, all creatures bowed their heads as
> the Almighty Freddy spoke the following:
>
> :I�m looking for an Aesculap (???), i.e. a vertical staff with a snake
> :curled around it, used as a symbol for medicine.
>
> That would be a CADUCEUS, and it's TWO snakes.


Sorry, Anon, but your correction is incorrect. The symbol for medicine uses
one snake. See the discussion below (from sci.medicine.education) for more
info. -Cloyster

===================================================
On 4 Apr 1998, BrewsterK wrote:
> Paul A. Delaney wrote:
>
> > Enjoying Spring break recently by visiting the Smithsonian Museum of
> > Art here in DC, I happened upon one of their more famous acquisitions,
> > "The Feast of the Gods" by Giovanni Bellini, 1514.  Looking closely, I
> > was surprised to see that one of them carries a Caduceus -- a staff
> > with two intertwining serpents.
> >
> > Hmmmm....a little research revealed that the Caduceus is Mercury's
> > magic wand -- Mercury is Zeus's Winged Messenger in Greek mythology
> > (Hermes for the Romans).  Edith Hamilton writes in here tome
> > "Mythology" that "of all the Gods, he was the shrewdest and most
> > cunning;  in fact he was the Master Thief, who started upon his career
> > before he was a day old...In odd contrast, he was also the solemn
> > guide of the dead, the Divine Herald who led souls down to their last
> > home."
> >
> > What an unfortunate symbol for physicians!!
> >
> > It seems only the AMA has it right, using the single-serpented staff
> > of Asclepius (Greek) or Aesculapius (Roman), the son of Apollo and God
> > of medicine and healing.
> >
> > How then, did the Caduceus come to denote medicine?
>
> The actual symbol for the medical community is the staff of Aesculapius.  The
> Caduceus became associated with medicine during World War 1 when it was placed
> on the doors of battlefield ambulances.  It this case I would imagine that it
> was there to denote speed (mercury was the messenger of the gods denoted for
> speed) and not healing.
>
>
> Brewster
> MS1--Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine
> http://members.aol.com/brewsterk/home.html

	That's pretty close, as far as I know.  A discussion of this
was also on Greg Chronowski's medical page at one point.  I don't know if
it's still there.
	Anyhoo, Army ambulances and emergency vehicles were painted with
the staff of Mercury (yes, he was stealing cattle by the age of two
days, and he was the god of many things...just about anything having to
do with change, transformation, or transition.) during WW1 to denote
transportation of the wounded, and the idea of speed or urgency.  This
symbol was supposed to allow the safe passage of these vehicles through
hostile territory.  Enemies were not to engage them, and I assume that was
usually the case, that the ambulances were left alone (I wasn't there).
	The staff of Asklepios is entwined with only one snake.  The son of
Apollo was considered the god of medicine by the Greeks and Romans.
	I don't know if it's correct to say that one symbol is right and
the other wrong to signify medicine, but now you can distinguish between
the two and decide for yourself.  Godspeed.

--
Mike
(Classics @ SUNY Buffalo)
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~mjbrown

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