The Staff of Aesculapius

In Greek mythology, Aesculapius was the patron deity of medicine. According to legend, Aesculapius, the son of Apollo, and a human woman, was trained in the healing arts by a centaur. Because of his skills in the healing arts, Aesculapius became the Greek god of healing after his death. His emblem was a single snake wound around a staff.

The children of Aesculapius were also important figures in medicine. Hygeia was a goddess of health who taught disease prevention through hygiene. Panacea gave his name to a medical treatment that can cure everything. His sons represented patron gods of surgeons and physicians.

Different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces use a slightly different symbol, the caduceus of Hermes. Hermes was the Greek god of commerce and thieves, and his symbol was a herald's wand with two serpents intertwined around it. While this caduceus is similar to the staff of Aesculapius, it has no medical significance historically, because it represents the god of commerce and thieves.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the staff of Aesculapius "with its single serpent is the only true symbol of medicine."

By Marian K. Hendricks, Associate Editor, Student DOctor; adapted from Osteopathic Perspectives: Medical History, by Michael Kuchera, DO, FAAO.