Caduceus

Information about Caduceus

For the medical symbol often mistakenly referred to as a caduceus, see .

A caduceus (/kəˈduːsiəs/, -ʃəs, -ˈdjuː-; kerykeion in Greek is a (sometimes) winged staff with two snakes wrapped around it. It was an ancient astrological symbol of commerce and is associated with the Greek god Hermes, the messenger for the gods, conductor of the dead and protector of merchants and thieves. It was originally a herald's staff, sometimes with wings, with two white ribbons attached. The ribbons eventually evolved into snakes. It is sometimes mistakenly used as a symbol for medicine, by those confusing it with the rod of Asclepius, which features only a single snake and no wings.

Origin

The caduceus is strongly linked to the Greek god Hermes (Mercury in Roman mythology). The origin of the staff is described in the story of Tiresias,^[1] who found two snakes copulating and attempted to separate them with his staff. Tiresias was immediately turned into a woman, and so remained until he was able to repeat the act seven years later. This staff later came in to the possession of the god Hermes, along with its transformative powers.

Variations

In some cases, ancient depictions of the Greek kerykeion (e.g. on vase paintings) can be radically different from the modern representation (as in the picture at top right). These representations feature the two snakes atop the staff (rod), crossed to create a circle with the heads of the snakes resembling horns. This old graphic form, with an additional crossbar to the staff, has become the typographical Mercury-sign widely used in astrological and alchemistic contexts for centuries. Another simplified variant of the caduceus is to be found in dictionaries, indicating “commercial term”: the staff with two winglets attached, the snakes omitted (or better: reduced to a small ring in the middle).

Two caduceuses without wings above a door in ZtracenÃ¡ street, Olomouc, Czech Republic

Meaning

The caduceus is used by a variety of professions who have a connection with Hermes, who was the god of commerce, eloquence, invention, travel and theft. Examples of groups who use the caduceus include:

Merchants – The most recognised use of the caduceus is by merchants
Journalists – The symbol is often used by journalists, as Hermes was both a messenger and god of eloquence
Postal workers – Related to Hermes' role as a messenger.

Confusion with the rod of Asclepius

Main article: Rod of Asclepius

The caduceus is often (incorrectly) used as a symbol for medicine or doctors, in place of the rod of Asclepius which is the usual symbol of the medical profession. A 1992 survey of American health organisations found that 62% of professional associations used the rod of Asclepius, whereas in commercial organisations, 76% used the caduceus.^[2]

Early confusion between the symbols almost certainly arose due to the links between alchemy and Hermes, whose symbol is the caduceus. The alchemists adopted the caduceus because Hermes, the God of Messengers, was also the patron lord of gamblers, thieves, tricksters and alchemists. By the end of the 16th century, alchemy became widely associated with medicine in some areas, leading to some use of the caduceus as a medical symbol.^[1]

The main reason for the modern confusion over the symbols occurred when the caduceus was adopted by the Medical Department of the United States Army in 1902. ^[3] This was brought about by one Captain Reynolds, who after having the idea rejected several times by the Surgeon General, persuaded the new incumbent (WH Forwood) to adopt it. The mistake was noticed several years later by the librarian to the surgeon general, but was not changed.^[3]

There was further confusion caused by the use of the caduceus as a printer's mark (as Hermes was the god of eloquence and messengers), which appeared in many medical textbooks as a printing mark, although subsequently mistaken for a medical symbol.^[3]

Examples of usage

The caduceus is the official emblem of the United States Navy Hospital Corps. (see Hospital Corpsman)
The caduceus is the official magazine of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. The symbol (with a slight difference) appears on the Order's pledge pin and crest.
Caduceus Capital, a famous group of on & off-shore Venture Capital funds specializing in early-stage Life Science & Biotech security investments.
Columbia Business School uses a logo derived from the caduceus symbol. They also have other references to the Greek god Hermes including an alumni magazine.
The caduceus is used in the coat of arms of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
A stylized caduceus was used on the outside of the main Starfleet Medical headquarters, in the episode "".
The Renaissance artist Jacopo de' Barbari signed most of his work just with a (wingless) caduceus.

Standard representation

There are three Unicode representations of the caduceus: U+2624 (☤) on the Miscellaneous Symbols table, U+263F (the astrological form) and U+269A (the lexicographical form), both in the same range.

Notes

1. ^ Blayney, Keith (September 2002). The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
2. ^ Friedlander, Walter J (1992). The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus symbol in medicine. Greenwood Press.
3. ^ Wilcox, Robert A; Whitham, Emma M (15 April 2003). "The symbol of modern medicine: why one snake is more than two". Annals of Internal Medicine. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.

Astrological symbols are images used in various astrological systems to denote relevant objects. A number of such images are shown below.

Celestial bodies

Name Symbol Symbol represents Meaning of symbol
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Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money between two or more entities.
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Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices.
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Hermes (Greek, Ἑρμῆς, IPA: /ˈhɝmiːz/), in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and
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The rod of Asclepius (also known as the rod of Asklepios, rod of Aesculapius or asklepian^[1]) is an ancient Greek symbol associated with astrology and with healing the sick through medicine. It consists of a serpent entwined around a staff.
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Everes redirects here. For the butterfly genus, see Everes (genus).

In Greek mythology, Tiresias (also transliterated as Teiresias) was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for being transformed into a woman for seven years.
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Mercury (IPA: /ˈmɜːkjəri/, Latin: Mercurius listen (help info )
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Merchants function as professionals who deal with trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves, in order to produce profit.

Merchants can be of two types:

A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant.

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Topics in journalism
Professional issues
Ethics & objectivity
Sources & attribution
News & news values
Reporting & writing
Fourth estate • Libel law
Education & books
Other topics

Fields
Advocacy journalism
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A postal worker is one who works for a post office, such as a mail carrier. In the U.S., postal workers are represented by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union - NPMHU and the American Postal Workers Union, part of the AFL-CIO.
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In the history of science, alchemy (Arabic: الخيمياء, al-khimia) refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry,
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The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. Like all armies, it has the primary responsibility for land-based military operations.
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Hospital Corpsman (HM) is a rating in the United States Navy and a member of the Navy's Hospital Corps. Hospital corpsmen serve as enlisted medical specialists for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps.
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ΚΣ (Kappa Sigma) is an international fraternity with currently 234 chapters and 42 colonies in North America. There have been over 250,000 initiates, of which over 182,500 are living and over 11,000 are undergraduates.
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A pledge pin is a common custom of United States fraternities and sororities in which a pin is worn by pledges for the duration of the pledging period, usually during all times not considered dangerous to do so (during sports, etc.).
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Columbia Business School (part of Columbia University), officially named the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and also known as CBS, was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and
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The Coat of arms of Kharkiv is the official coat of arms of both Kharkiv city and Kharkiv Oblast.

History

Description

The coat of arms consists of a verdant shield with gold trim. A caduceus and a cornucopia are crossed on it.
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Anthem
Ще не вмерла України ні слава, ні воля
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Kharkiv
Харкі?
Kharkiv's Freedom Square with the Derzhprom building.

Flag
Coat of arms
Map of Ukraine with Kharkiv highlighted.
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Starfleet is the military defense, research, diplomacy, and exploration force of the United Federation of Planets (UFP).

Starfleet Headquarters is located in the Presidio of San Francisco, California.
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Jacopo de' Barbari, sometimes known or referred to as de'Barbari, de Barberi, de Barbari, Barbaro, Barberino, Barbarigo or Barberigo, (c. 1440 – before 1516) was an Italian painter and printmaker with a highly individual style.
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Unicode is an industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in any of the world's writing systems. Developed in tandem with the Universal Character Set standard and published in book form as The Unicode Standard
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The Miscellaneous Symbols plane of Unicode (2600–26FF) contains various glyphs representing things from a variety of categories: Astrological, Astronomical, Chess, Dice, Ideological symbols,
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Enki (Sumerian: ^dEN.KI(G) 𒂗𒆠) was a deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology, originally chief god of the city of Eridu.
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thyrsus (thyrsos) was a sacred implement at religious rituals and festivals. It was made of a giant fennel staff covered with ivy vines and leaves and topped with a pine cone.
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