Rod Of Asclepius
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Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; grc, Ράβδος του Ασκληπιού, , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god
Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...
, a deity associated with healing and medicine. Theories have been proposed about the Greek origin of the symbol and its implications. In modern times, it is the predominant symbol for medicine and health care, although, because of a misunderstanding concerning ⚕ and ☤, the
Caduceus The caduceus (☤; ; la, cādūceus, from grc-gre, κηρύκειον "herald's wand, or staff") is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was also ...
(the symbol of commerce) is sometimes seen in this context, although both rods, from which these symbols represent, were each given to Asclepius and to
Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...
by
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
.


Greek mythology and Greek society

The Rod of Asclepius takes its name from the Greek god
Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...
, a deity associated with healing and medicinal arts in
ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has been ...
and
mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
. Asclepius' attributes, the snake and the staff, sometimes depicted separately in antiquity, are combined in this symbol. The most famous temple of Asclepius was at
Epidaurus Epidaurus ( gr, Ἐπίδαυρος) was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the ...
in north-eastern
Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
. Another famous healing temple (or
asclepeion Asclepieia ( grc, Ἀσκληπιεῖον ''Asklepieion''; Ἀσκλαπιεῖον in Doric dialect; Latin ''aesculapīum'') were healing temples located in ancient Greece (and in the wider Hellenistic and Roman world), dedicated to Asclepius ...
) was located on the island of
Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...
, where
Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
, the legendary "father of medicine", may have begun his career. Other asclepieia were situated in
Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
,
Gortys (Arcadia) Gortys ( grc, Γόρτυς), or Gortyna (Γόρτυνα), was a town of ancient Arcadia in the district Cynuria, situated near the river Gortynius (Γορτύνιος), also called Lusius (Λούσιος) nearer its sources, which was a tributary ...
, and
Pergamum Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...
in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
. In honor of Asclepius, a particular type of non-venomous snake was often used in healing rituals, and these snakes – the
Aesculapian snake The Aesculapian snake (now ''Zamenis longissimus'', previously ''Elaphe longissima''), is a species of nonvenomous snake native to Europe, a member of the Colubrinae subfamily of the family Colubridae. Growing up to in length, it is among the ...
s – 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 BCE 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.Farnell, Chapter 10, "The Cult of Asklepios" (pp. 234–279) The original
Hippocratic Oath The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing gods, to uphold specific e ...
began with the invocation "I swear by Apollo the Healer 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 Apothecary 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. However the word may become less ambiguous when "medicine" is understood as something that heals the one taking it because it poisons that which afflicts it, meaning medicine is designed to kill or drive away something and any healing happens as a result of that thing being gone, not as a direct effect of "medicine".
Products Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Produ ...
deriving from the bodies of snakes were known to have medicinal properties in ancient times, and in ancient Greece, at least some were aware that snake venom that might be fatal if it entered the bloodstream could often be imbibed. Snake venom appears to have been 'prescribed' in some cases as a form of therapy. The staff has also been variously interpreted. One view is that it, like the serpent, "conveyed notions of resurrection and healing", while another (not necessarily incompatible) is that the staff was a walking stick associated with itinerant physicians. Cornutus, a Greek philosopher probably active in the first century CE, in the ''Theologiae Graecae Compendium'' (Ch. 33) offers a view of the significance of both snake and staff: In any case, the two symbols certainly merged in antiquity as representations of the snake coiled about the staff are common. It has been claimed that the snake wrapped around the staff was a species of rat snake, ''
Elaphe longissima The Aesculapian snake (now ''Zamenis longissimus'', previously ''Elaphe longissima''), is a species of nonvenomous snake native to Europe, a member of the Colubrinae subfamily of the family Colubridae. Growing up to in length, it is among th ...
'', the Aesculapian snake.


Theories

Some commentators have interpreted the symbol as a direct representation of traditional treatment of
dracunculiasis Dracunculiasis, also called Guinea-worm disease, is a parasitic infection by the Guinea worm, ''Dracunculus medinensis''. A person becomes infected by drinking water containing water fleas infected with guinea worm larvae. The worms penetrate th ...
, the
Guinea worm ''Dracunculus medinensis'', or Guinea worm, is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at up to in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. In contra ...
disease.
Dickson Despommier Dickson D. Despommier (June 5, 1940) is an emeritus professor of microbiology and Public Health at Columbia University. From 1971 to 2009, he conducted research on intracellular parasitism and taught courses on parasitic diseases, medical ecology ...
, ''People, Parasites, and Plowshares: Learning from Our Body's Most Terrifying Invaders'',
Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
, 2016 (first edition in 2013), pp. 147–163 (chapter 7 on ''
Dracunculus medinensis ''Dracunculus medinensis'', or Guinea worm, is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at up to in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. In contr ...
''), .
The worm emerges from painful ulcerous blisters. The blisters burn, causing the patient to immerse the affected area in water to cool and soothe it. The worm senses the temperature change and discharges its larvae into the water. The traditional treatment is to slowly pull the worm out of the wound over a period of hours to weeks and wind it around a stick. The modern treatment may replace the stick with a piece of sterile gauze, but is otherwise largely identical. Biblical scholars look to the
Book of Numbers The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and com ...
, in which the
Nehushtan In the biblical Books of Kings ( 2 Kings 18:4; written c. 550 BC), the Nehushtan (Hebrew: ''Nəḥuštān'' ) is the name given to the bronze image of a serpent on a pole. The image is described in the Book of Numbers, where Yahweh instructed M ...
( he, נחושתן or ) was a brass serpent on a pole that God told Moses to erect, saying that anyone bitten y a snakewould live if they looked at it. This Biblical account is the earliest known record, circa the 13th century BCE of the pole/serpent combination (though the exact configuration is not known).


Confusion with the caduceus


Unicode

The Rod of Asclepius has a
code point In character encoding terminology, a code point, codepoint or code position is a numerical value that maps to a specific character. Code points usually represent a single grapheme—usually a letter, digit, punctuation mark, or whitespace—but ...
in the ''
Miscellaneous Symbols Miscellaneous Symbols is a Unicode block (U+2600–U+26FF) containing glyphs representing concepts from a variety of categories: astrological, astronomical, chess, dice, musical notation, political symbols, recycling, religious symbols, Bagua, ...
'' table of the
Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...
Standard.


Modern use

A number of organizations and services use the rod of Asclepius as their logo, or part of their logo. These include:


Asia


Africa

*
Kenya Medical Research Institute ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
* Kenya Medical Training College *
Nigerian Medical Association The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is the professional association and registered for Nigerian doctors and dentists. The NMA has more than 35,000 members from 36 state branches and the branch from the federal capital territory, including t ...
*
South African Medical Research Council The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) is a para-statal medical research organisation in South Africa. The current president is professor Glenda Gray. The South African Medical Research Council was established in 1969 to act as an indep ...
former coat of arms *
South African Military Health Service The South African Military Health Service is the branch of the South African National Defence Force responsible for medical facilities and the training and deployment of all medical personnel within the force. Though unusual, as most national mili ...


South Pacific

*
Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an Australian public company by guarantee formed as a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students. The association is not run by the Australian Government and does not regul ...
*
Australian Medical Students' Association The Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) is an independent association of the 17,000 medical students in Australia. AMSA was formed in 1960 in Brisbane, as a conference organised to network medical students from Australia. It has si ...
*
Medical Council of New Zealand The Medical Council of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa) is the peak national standards and assessment body for medical education and training. It is responsible for the registration of doctors and has the power to suspend or remove ...
*
Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps The Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps (RNZAMC) is a corps of the New Zealand Army, the land branch of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). The Medical Corps provides for the medical needs of soldiers, such as diagnosing and treating disease ...
*
Royal Australian Army Medical Corps The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...


Canada

* Canadian Dental Association *
Canadian Medical Association The Canadian Medical Association (CMA; french: Association médicale canadienne, AMC) is a national, voluntary association of physicians and medical learners that advocates on national health matters. Its primary mandate is to drive positive ch ...
*
Medical Council of Canada The Medical Council of Canada (MCC; french: Conseil médical du Canada, CMC) is an organization charged with the partial assessment and evaluation of medical graduates and physicians through standardized examination. It grants the qualification c ...
*
Royal Canadian Medical Service The Royal Canadian Medical Service (RCMS, french: Service de santé royal canadien) is a personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces, consisting of all members of medical occupations. Nearly all members of the RCMS, along with the members of the ...
* Ottawa Paramedic Service


Europe


United States


Worldwide

*
Aerospace Medical Association The Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) is the largest professional organization in the fields of aviation, space, and environmental medicine. The AsMA membership includes aerospace and hyperbaric medical specialists, scientists, flight nurses, p ...
*
Medical Protection Society The Medical Protection Society (MPS) is one of the three UK mutual protection organisations for medical, dental and healthcare professionals. (Dentists are covered through its subsidiary company Dental Protection). It protects and supports th ...
*
Star of Life The Star of Life is a symbol used to identify emergency medical services. It features a blue six-pointed star outlined by a white border. The middle contains a Rod of Asclepius – an ancient symbol of medicine. The Star of Life can be found on a ...
, symbol of
emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...
*
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...


Variation

In Russia, the emblem of
Main Directorate for Drugs Control The Main Directorate for Drugs Control (GUKON, ) is a law enforcement agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia responsible for the regulation of narcotics and investigation of drug crimes. Drugs Control is tasked with combating dru ...
features a variation with a sword and a snake on the shield.


See also

* * * * * * *


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rod of Asclepius Asclepius Heraldic charges Medical symbols Royal Army Medical Corps Snakes in art Symbols Walking sticks no:Asklepios#Asklepiosstaven