He was supposed to be the god of medicine. Snakes are the last thing I think of when I think of healing.
From Wikipedia:
It’s mentioned in the Wikipedia link, but it has been theorized that the Rod of Asclepius represents a twig being used to remove a Guinea worm.
PSA: if you don’t know what a Guinea worm is, do yourself a favor and don’t look it up. Just know it’s extremely unpleasant and never, ever drink unpurified water in Asia or Africa. Trust me. You can’t unsee that shit.
OTOH, if you don’t know what a Guinea worm is and you’re into gross medical stuff involving visible-to-the-naked-eye-sized internal parasites, you’ll really want to check it out.
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Excellent point (Maybe I should have followed the two click rule!)
It is interesting that this parasite has been with us for so long and we are only now close to eradicating it.
I’m suspicious of the identification with snakes. If you look at the old Greek vase paintings of the caduceus (the double-spiral rod carried by hermes, you’ll notice that is only has spirals – there are no indications that those things are snakes; they lack snake heads. This is true even when the drawing is large enough to include details like snake heads. (Look at the images here, for instance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus )
the rod of Asclepius has a single spiral, and in later imagery is drawn as a snake, as well. Again, there’s nothing to suggest that spiral was orioginally a snake.
This is the thing that some have proposed is associated with the Guinea worm. The single spiral MAKES IT A BETTER FIT, AND I HAVE NO OTHER SUGGESTION FOR THE ORIGIN OF THE IMAGE, BUT I’d LIKE AT LEAST ONE MORE POINT OF CORROBORATION BEFORE I’d DECLARE IT ANYHTHING BESIDES AN INTERESTING SPECULATION.
(Sorry – I don’t mean to shout. Ai accidentally hit that “Caps lock”, and I;m not about to retype all that)
Oddly enough, they immediately make me think of the big pharmaceuticals.
If it weren’t for Jimmy Carter, we wouldn’t be trying to eradicate it at all. And it still will be around in wild animals, even if eradicated among humans and domestic animals.
Well, I brought it up…
It may remain as speculation. The CDC pretty much leaves it at that.
It’s also mentioned in an NIH article discussing the use of the Cadeuces vs the Rod of Asclepius: Link.
It’s not really relevant to the discussion but… Aesculapian snakes are alive and well on the banks of the Regent’s Canal, North London.
j
Next up: Save the Polio Virus Society
I hate it when that happens. These people will fix it for you if you cut and paste: https://convertcase.net/
I was pretty sure the snake was a symbol for medicine because of its ability to shed its skin, but I suppose that might be a post hoc explanation after already thinking the snake is what’s being represented.
Nice try folks. Apollo adorned his staff with a snake because snakes are the shizzle and it looks totally cool. He wanted to do a flame job on his helmet, too, but Artemis told him that would look stupid, so he went with wings instead.
I suppose that by having the snakes around the hospital they would control the rats and mice that would otherwise abound.