Asclepius, Greek God of Medicine
Asclepius was the son of Apollo and a mortal woman Coriolis. As a newborn immortal he was taken by his father to be raised and taught by the centaur Chiron, a master of healing. The story goes that at some point, in reward for a particularly difficult healing, a snake licked the ears of Asclepius clean and in the process whispered secret healing knowledge to him.
The Staff or Rod of Asclepius is now widely considered to be the true symbol of all the healing arts, regardless of Man or Animal. The familiar symbol of the caduceus, with two snakes twined around a staff topped by out folded wings, is the symbol of the god Mercury and has nothing at all to do with Medicine. Mercury was the God of Commerce, highwaymen and thieves. It has been suggested that his emblem of the Caduceus would be more appropriate for a hearse than an ambulance. This confusion seems to have started in 1902 with the adoption of the caduceus as the symbol for the US Army Medical Corps. A young officer seems to have confused the two mythological snake-oriented symbols when choosing the official emblem for this critical branch of the Army.
Doctors, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists, physical therapists are one and all covered by this most inclusive of traditional symbols. The original Hippocratic Oath began with the invocation "I swear by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygeia and Panacea and by all the gods”. Asclepius was finally killed by Zeus as there was a buildup of people on earth who should have died already, had they not been healed by Asclepius, the God of Medicine.
