Storia e valenza simbolica del caduceo

The word ‘caduceus’ has a Greek root (cherukeion) and means ‘herald’s emblem’. However, the significance of the Caduceus should not be linked to Greek mythology and the winged staff of Hermes (Mercury, for the Romans). The symbol of the Art of Medicine is, rather, an old mystic symbol common to various peoples and civilisations. Images showing this symbol have been found not only in Greek temples, but also on ancient Vedic tablets, on Egyptian monuments and in Babyloinan myths associated with the god Mingzida. The oldest example, from the Bronze Age, was found in the Mesopotamian city of Lagash, in the region of the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates and one of the oldest centres of Sumerian civilisation, inscribed on a goblet belonging to the king Guda (2300 BC). Such a widespread diffusion serves only to emphasise the importance and significance of the symbol. The appearance of the Caduceus is not always the same, but in all cases is composed of the same elements: the rod, the snake and the wings, symbols which conceal an ancient wisdom which was subsumed into myths, beliefs and religions. Analysis of the symbolic meaning that these elements have had for mankind reveals the universal values which determine the choice of the Caduceus as the symbol of the Art of Medicine. The rod, snake and the wings of the Caduceus are archetypal symbols which express, at both physiological and metaphysical levels, the enigma of the complexity of human beings and their infinite possibilities of positive development when in harmony with the Supreme Being.