Caduceus

This article is about the Greek symbol. For the usage as a

medical symbol, see Caduceus as a symbol of medicine.
For the medical symbol with one snake, often mistakenly
referred to as a caduceus, see Rod of Asclepius.
For other uses, see Caduceus (disambiguation).
The caduceus (; /kdusis/ or /kdjus/; from

Modern depiction of the caduceus as the symbol of commerce

Greek krukeion heralds sta[2] ) is the

sta carried by Hermes Trismegistus in Egyptian mythol-
ogy and Hermes in Greek mythology. The same sta was
also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the
messenger of Hera. It is a short sta entwined by two
serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman
iconography, it was often depicted being carried in the
left hand of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide
of the dead and protector of merchants, shepherds, gam-
Hermes Ingenui[1] carrying a winged kerykeion upright in his
blers, liars, and thieves.[3]
left hand, Roman copy reecting an unknown Greek original of
Some accounts suggest that the oldest known imagery of the 5th century BCE. (Museo Pio-Clementino, Rome).
the caduceus have their roots in a Mesopotamian origin
with the Sumerian god Ningishzida whose symbol, a sta
with two snakes intertwined around it, dates back to 4000 bol representing the planet Mercury. Thus, through its
B.C. to 3000 B.C.[4] use in astrology and alchemy, it has come to denote the
As a symbolic object, it represents Hermes (or the Ro- elemental metal of the same name. It is said the wand
man Mercury), and by extension trades, occupations, or would wake the sleeping and send the awake to sleep. If
undertakings associated with the god. In later Antiquity, applied to the dying, their death was gentle; if applied to
the caduceus provided the basis for the astrological sym- the dead, they returned to life.[5]

1
2 2 CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

By extension of its association with Mercury and Hermes,

the caduceus is also a recognized symbol of commerce
and negotiation, two realms in which balanced exchange
and reciprocity are recognized as ideals.[6][7] This associ-
ation is ancient, and consistent from the Classical period
to modern times.[8] The caduceus is also used as a symbol
representing printing, again by extension of the attributes
of Mercury (in this case associated with writing and elo-
quence).
The caduceus is often used incorrectly as a symbol of
healthcare organizations and medical practice (especially
in North America), due to confusion with the traditional
medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius, which has only one
snake and is never depicted with wings.

1 Origin and comparative mythol-

ogy

Further information: Serpent worship

The term kerukeion denoted any heralds sta, not nec-
essarily associated with Hermes in particular.[9]
In his study of the cult of Hermes, Lewis Richard Farnell
(1909) assumed that the two snakes had simply developed
out of ornaments of the shepherds crook used by heralds
as their sta.[10] This view has been rejected by later au-
thors pointing to parallel iconography in the Ancient Near
East. It has been argued that the sta or wand entwined
by two snakes was itself representing a god in the pre-
anthropomorphic era. Like the herm or priapus, it would
thus be a predecessor of the anthropomorphic Hermes of
the classical era.[11]

1.1 Ancient Near East

William Hayes Ward (1910) discovered that symbols

similar to the classical caduceus sometimes appeared on
Mesopotamian cylinder seals. He suggested the sym-
bol originated some time between 3000 and 4000 BCE,
and that it might have been the source of the Greek
caduceus.[12] A.L. Frothingham incorporated Dr. Wards
research into his own work, published in 1916, in which
he suggested that the prototype of Hermes was an Ori-
ental deity of Babylonian extraction represented in his
earliest form as a snake god. From this perspective, the
caduceus was originally representative of Hermes him-
self, in his early form as the Underworld god Ningishzida,
messenger of the Earth Mother.[13] The caduceus is
mentioned in passing by Walter Burkert[14] as really the Hermes hastens bearing his kerukeion, on an Attic lekythos, ca
480470 BC, attributed to the Tithonos Painter
image of copulating snakes taken over from Ancient Near
Eastern tradition.
In Egyptian iconography, the Djed pillar is depicted as
containing a snake in a frieze of the Dendera Temple
2 Classical antiquity
complex.
2.2 Iconography 3

In Rome, Livy refers to the caduceator who negotiated

peace arrangements under the diplomatic protection of
the caduceus he carried.[20]

2.2 Iconography
In some vase paintings ancient depictions of the Greek
kerukeion are somewhat dierent from the commonly
seen modern representation. These representations fea-
ture the two snakes atop the sta (or rod), crossed to cre-
ate a circle with the heads of the snakes resembling horns.
This old graphic form, with an additional crossbar to the
sta, seems to have provided the basis for the graphical
sign of Mercury () used in Greek astrology from Late
Antiquity.[21]

3 Modern use

Iris with the caduceus in detail from an Attic red-gure pelike,

middle of 5th century BC Agrigento, Sicilia

2.1 Mythology

The Homeric hymn to Hermes relates how Hermes of-

fered his lyre fashioned from a tortoise shell as compen-
sation for the cattle he stole from his half brother Apollo.
Apollo in return gave Hermes the caduceus as a gesture of
friendship.[15] The association with the serpent thus con-
nects Hermes to Apollo, as later the serpent was associ-
ated with Asclepius, the son of Apollo.[16] The asso-
ciation of Apollo with the serpent is a continuation of
the older Indo-European dragon-slayer motif. Wilhelm
Heinrich Roscher (1913) pointed out that the serpent as
an attribute of both Hermes and Asclepius is a variant
of the pre-historic semi-chthonic serpent hero known at
Delphi as Python", who in classical mythology is slain by
Apollo.[17]
One Greek myth of origin of the caduceus is part of the
story of Tiresias,[18] who found two snakes copulating and
killed the female with his sta. Tiresias was immediately Caduceus on the coat of arms of Jyvskyl, Finland.
turned into a woman, and so remained until he was able to
repeat the act with the male snake seven years later. This
Caduceus is encoded in Unicode at code point U+2624:
sta 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 3.1 Symbol of commerce
with his wand he brought about peace between them, and
as a result the wand with two serpents came to be seen as A simplied variant of the caduceus is to be found in
a sign of peace.[19] dictionaries, indicating a commercial term entirely in
4 5 NOTES
keeping with the association of Hermes with commerce.
In this form the sta is often depicted with two winglets
attached and the snakes are omitted (or reduced to a
small ring in the middle).[22] The Customs Service of the
former German Democratic Republic employed the ca-
duceus, bringing its implied associations with thresholds,
translators, and commerce, in the service medals they is-
sued their sta. The caduceus is also the symbol of the
Customs Agency of Bulgaria.
3.2 Confusion with Rod of Asclepius
Main article: Caduceus as a symbol of medicine
It is relatively common, especially in the United States,
The U.S. Army Medical Corps Branch Plaque. In 1902 the ca-
duceus was added to the uniforms of Army medical ocers.
to nd the caduceus, with its two snakes and wings, used
as a symbol of medicine instead of the correct Rod of As-
clepius, with only a single snake. This usage is erroneous,
popularised largely as a result of the adoption of the ca-
duceus as its insignia by the U.S. Army Medical Corps in
1902 at the insistence of a single ocer (though there are
conicting claims as to whether this was Capt. Frederick
P. Reynolds or Col. John R. van Ho).[23][24]
The rod of Asclepius is the dominant symbol for profes-
sional healthcare associations in the United States. One
survey found that 62% of professional healthcare associ-
ations used the rod of Asclepius as their symbol.[25] The
same survey found that 76% of commercial healthcare or-
ganizations used the Caduceus symbol. The author of the
study suggests the dierence exists because professional
associations are more likely to have a real understanding
of the two symbols, whereas commercial organizations
are more likely to be concerned with the visual impact a
symbol will have in selling their products.
The initial errors leading to its adoption and the continu-
ing confusion it generates are well known to medical his-
torians. The long-standing and abundantly attested his-
torical associations of the caduceus with commerce are
considered by many to be inappropriate in a symbol used
by those engaged in the healing arts.[24] This has occa-
sioned signicant criticism of the use of the caduceus in
a medical context.
4 See also
Aarons rod
Amphisbaena
Bowl of Hygieia
Nehushtan
Ningishzida
Rod of Asclepius
Serpent (symbolism)
Kundalini energy
Mithraic mysteries
5 Notes
[1] It is unclear whether the inscription refers to a pa-
tron/donor or a sculptor
[2] The Latin word cdceus is an adaptation of the Greek
krukeion, meaning heralds wand (or sta)",
deriving from krux, meaning messenger, herald,
envoy. Liddell and Scott, Greek-English Lexicon; Stuart
L. Tyson, The Caduceus, The Scientic Monthly, 34.6,
(1932:49298) p. 493
[3] Hornblower, Spawforth, The Oxford Classical Dictionary,
3rd Ed., Oxford, 1996, pp. 690691
[4] Gary Lachman, The Quest for Hermes Trismigestus,
2011, Chapter 3, p.x
[5] William Godwin (1876). Lives of the Necromancers.
p. 37.
[6] e.g. the Unicode standard, where the sta of Hermes
signies a commercial term or commerce"; see also:
Walter J. Friedlander, The Golden Wand of Medicine: A
History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine, Greenwood,
1992, p. 83
[7] As one specialized study of symbolism notes, In modern
times the caduceus gures as a symbol of commerce, since
Mercury is the god of commerce. M. Oldeld Howey,
The Encircled Serpent: A Study of Serpent Symbolism in
All Countries And Ages, New York, 1955, p. 77
 5

[8] The name of the god Mercury cannot be disassociated
from the word merx, which means merchandise. Such
was the sentiment of the ancients Yves Bonnefoy (Ed.),
Wendy Doniger (Trans.), Roman and European Mytholo-
gies, University of Chicago Press, 1992, p. 135; Mer-
cury was the Roman name for the Greek god Hermes. His
Latin name was apparently derived from merx or merca-
tor, a merchant. Michael E. Bakich, The Cambridge Plan-
etary Handbook, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.
85; Latin merx is the root of the English words Commerce,
Market, Mart, Mercantile, Mercenary, Mercer, Merchant
and Mercury, as can be seen by referring to any dictionary
including etymological information.
[9] Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edition, Ed. Hornblower
and Spawforth, s.v. Hermes.
[10] Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, Vol. V, p. 20, cited
in Tyson 1932:494
[11] A. L. Frothingham, Babylonian Origin of Hermes the
Snake-God, and of the Caduceus I American Journal of
Archaeology Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr. Jun., 1916),
pp. 175211 http://www.jstor.org/stable/497115 Froth-
ingham characterizes Farnells simplistic view of the ori-
gin of the symbol as a frivolous and futile theory.
[12] William Hayes Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia,
Washington, 1910
[13] A.L. Frothingham, Babylonian Origins of Hermes the
Snake-God, and of the Caduceus, in American Journal
of Archaeology, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 175211
[14] Burkert, Greek Religion 1985: II.2.8, p. 158; Burkert
notes H. Frankfort, in Iraq, 1 (1934:10) and E.D. van Bu-
ren, in Archiv fr Orientforschung, 10 (1935/36:53-65.
[23] F.H. Garrison, The Use of the Caduceus in the Insignia
of the Army Medical Ocer, in Bull. Med. Lib. Assoc.
IX (1919-20), 13-16
[24] Engle, Bernice (Dec 1929). The Use of Mercurys Ca-
duceus as a Medical Emblem"". The Classical Journal 25
(1): 205.
[25] Friedlander, Walter J (1992). The Golden Wand of
Medicine: A History of the Caduceus symbol in medicine.
Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28023-1.
[26] An allusion to John Milton's description of Belial in
Paradise Lost II.113-114.
[27] Tyson, Stuart L (1932). The Caduceus. Scientic
Monthly 34 (6): 495.
6 Further reading
Walter J. Friedlander, The Golden Wand of
Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in
Medicine, 1992. ISBN 0-313-28023-1; ISBN 978-
0-313-28023-8.
Bunn, J. T. Origin of the caduceus motif, JAMA,
1967. United States National Institutes of Health:
National Center for Biotechnology Information.
PMID 4863068
Burkert, Walter, Structure and History in Greek
Mythology and Ritual, Translation, University of
California, 1979.

[15] Tyson 1932:494.

7 External links
[16] Deldon Anne McNeely Mercury rising: women, evil, and
the trickster gods, Spring Publications, 1996, ISBN 978-
Iris and Infant Hermes with Caduceus
0-88214-366-8, p. 90. Homer tell us that Hermes ca-
duceus, the golden wand, was acquired by Hermes from Caduceus from Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apollo in exchange for the tortoise-lyre; later the caduceus
changed hands again from Hermes to Apollos son, Ascle- Fenkl, Heinz Insu, Caduceus
pius.

[17] S. Davis, 'Argeiphontes in Homer The Dragon-Slayer',

Greece & Rome, Vol. 22, No. 64 (Feb., 1953), pp.
3338, http://www.jstor.org/stable/640827 citing W. H.
Roscher, Omphalos (1913).

[18] Blayney, Keith (September 2002). The Caduceus vs the

Sta of Asclepius. Retrieved 2007-06-15.

[19] Tyson 1932:495

[20] Livy: Ab Urbe Condita, 31,38,910

[21] Signs and Symbols Used In Writing and Printing, p 269,

in Websters New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the En-
glish Language, unabridged, New York, 1953. Here the
symbol of the planet Mercury is indicated as the ca-
duceus of Mercury, or his head and winged cap.

[22] For example, see the Unicode standard, where the sta
of Hermes signies a commercial term or commerce.
6 7 EXTERNAL LINKS

Rod of Asclepius
 7

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
Caduceus Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus?oldid=694296279 Contributors: Damian Yerrick, The Anome, Ed Poor, Pier-
reAbbat, William Avery, Tucci528, Someone else, Leandrod, Llywrch, Wwwwolf, Gene Poole, Egil, Ronz, Scott, Csernica, Lee M,
Didup, Jallan, Reddi, WhisperToMe, Wetman, Owen, Robbot, Astronautics~enwiki, Wereon, DocWatson42, Wiglaf, Derobert, Mon-
edula, Michael Devore, Varlaam, Chinasaur, Naufana, Gracefool, Daniel Brockman, Chameleon, Keith Edkins, Jonathan Grynspan, Alexf,
Kvasir, Scott MacLean, Redleaf, Icairns, Atemperman, Abdull, Eep, Discospinster, 4pq1injbok, Rama, LindsayH, Dbachmann, Ben-
der235, Kjoonlee, Brian0918, Aecis, El C, Kwamikagami, Ray Dassen, Mboedick, Func, Dreish, Dtremenak, JW1805, Jcrocker, AnnaP,
Fadookie, CyberSkull, Wouterstomp, ABCD, Kanodin, Cburnett, RyanGerbil10, Firien, Wikiklrsc, Shikai shaw, GalaazV, Marudubshinki,
Rjwilmsi, Nightscream, OctaneZ, FlaBot, Margosbot~enwiki, Arasaka, Srleer, Jer, Chobot, YurikBot, Hairy Dude, Raymond Keller,
Retodon8, RussBot, Serinde, Killervogel5, Pigman, Goober, Gaius Cornelius, Mike Young, Draeco, NawlinWiki, Bachrach44, Rattle-
Man, Snek01, Buster79, Chrisbrl88, Asarelah, Jkelly, Zzuuzz, RDF, 2fort5r, LeonardoRob0t, Fram, Owain.davies, Jonathan.s.kt, Groyolo,
That Guy, From That Show!, SmackBot, Ztrop, InverseHypercube, TestPilot, Melchoir, McGeddon, Unyoyega, Dragonlord kfb, Munky2,
Ghosts&empties, Amatulic, Rrburke, Adamantios, Seduisant, Hateless, Savidan, Theodore7, MrPMonday, Lisasmall, Enyama, DDima,
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ment, WagsX, Acionado~enwiki, Czoller, Albert.white, Caesar Rodney, Andkore, Tr4inspotter, Dogman15, Cydebot, Hypercritic, Brian-
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bod, Camarks, 83d40m, Cheese7sandwiches, 2help, Remember the dot, DorganBot, Yinandjang, Pdcook, Volvox777, Richard.longstreth,
Deor, Cpt ricard, VolkovBot, TreasuryTag, Kennethayes, TXiKiBoT, IPSOS, James.Spudeman, Sintaku, Don4of4, Jackfork, LeaveSleaves,
Davin, Sheridan Zhoy, CO, Gabe777, SieBot, Iw, EnduranceRace, Venatoreng, Smilo Don, Dimboukas, Dabomb87, Martarius, Mister-
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BIcyCollie, Monkbot, Laberinto16, Chaotic Purgatory, ComicsAreJustAllRight, 1sydney13 and Anonymous: 298

8.2 Images
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License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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SA 3.0 Contributors: This le was derived from: Rod of asclepius.png
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