A snake coiled around a cup
Perhaps the most ancient symbol of medicine is the snake. The roots of this symbol go back centuries, to the times when primitive people considered the snake a totem animal. Later, the image of a snake as a totem grew into a symbol uniting two opposite principles: good and evil. The snake was attributed with many positive qualities: eternal youth, immortality, power, wisdom and knowledge. Perhaps this is why the first doctors, who lived in the 2nd millennium BC, chose the snake as an emblem. Initially, it was depicted alone, without any attributes, which appeared on the emblems of doctors much later, during the times of Ancient Greece.
Later, another element of medical symbolism joined the snake – a cup. Researchers’ opinions on the meaning of this symbol are contradictory: some claim that the cup contains snake venom, while others, on the contrary, talk about an antidote. However, this symbol soon lost its original meaning and became the personification of the healing powers of nature.
With the advent of Christianity, the interpretation of the snake symbol changed dramatically – this reptile became the personification of evil. The image of a bowl with a snake disappeared from history for a long time. Only in the 13th century was this symbol rehabilitated. The pharmacists of Padua chose it as their own emblem. And five centuries later, a snake wrapped around a bowl became the official symbol of the formation in almost all European countries.
The Staff of Asclepius
It was in Ancient Greece that the cult of the god of healing Asclepius, better known by the ancient Roman name of Aesculapius, arose, whose attributes subsequently became the main emblems of medicine and pharmacy in many nations.
Legend has it that Asclepius’ father was the god of the sun, arts and medicine, Apollo. Apollo’s symbol was a bow and a quiver of golden arrows, with which he could cause or cure epidemic diseases. Homer describes Apollo as the physician of the gods of Olympus. “The physician of the gods and the god of physicians” healed diseases and wounds using flowers and herbs.
Immediately after Asclepius’ birth, Apollo brought the boy to Mount Pelion to the herbalist centaur Chiron. Here Asclepius learned the healing power of trees, herbs and fruits, and mastered the art of a healer.
Asclepius’s talent for healing was so great that he could even resurrect the dead, whom he stole from the god of the underworld, Hades. For this, Asclepius used the blood of Medusa Gorgon – a special medicine given to him by the goddess Athena. Such unceremonious interference of Asclepius in the laws of nature angered Zeus and the doctor was killed by a lightning strike.
However, Asclepius was later revived and even elevated to the rank of gods. He refused to resurrect the dead and Zeus sent him to Earth with the parting words: “Now you are the god of men, not the god of gods.”
Each of Asclepius’s many children embodies one of the aspects of the healer’s activity. Thus, Machaon and Podalirius are the progenitors of surgery and therapy. Another of the mythical sons of the god of healing, Theosphorus, is considered the patron of recovery. The word “hygiene” comes from the name of Asclepius’s eldest daughter and companion, Hygeia, and his youngest daughter, Iaso, went down in history as the goddess of healing. But the most famous daughter of Asclepius was, of course, Panacea, the patroness of treatment with medicines.
The ancient Greeks created many images and sculptures of Asclepius. Initially, he was depicted as a snake and only later acquired a human form. And the staff of Asclepius, entwined with a snake crawling upwards, is a symbol of help and support, and the thickenings on the staff indicate the complexity and wisdom of healing. This image runs like a red thread through the entire history of medical symbolism. Today, it can be found, for example, on the emblem of the World Health Organization.
The Staff of Hermes
According to legend, Hermes received his staff from Apollo as a reward for his wonderful performance on the lyre. When presenting the gift, Apollo said: “I give you the magic staff of abundance and health.” Hermes, wanting to test the power of the divine gift, placed the staff between two wrestling snakes and they immediately wrapped themselves around it. Hermes liked it so much that he decided to keep them forever.
The staff of Hermes came into medical symbolism from a relative of pharmaceuticals — alchemy. The doctor and botanist of that time, Albert the Great, called healing with the help of medicines “purification,” comparing this process with the purification of base metals, which alchemists tried to turn into precious ones. Alchemists often put a seal with the image of Hermes on vessels with preparations. Incidentally, this is where the term “hermeticity” originates. Soon the staff of Hermes became a full-fledged medical and pharmaceutical emblem.
Symbols of the Middle Ages: Mortar and Pestle
In the Middle Ages, pharmaceutics finally separated from medicine. Moreover, pharmacists began to be associated more with grocers than with doctors. Creating their own guilds, workshops and unions, pharmacists, of course, did not forget about emblems. Thus, the coat of arms of English pharmacists of the 17th century depicted the god Apollo with a bow and arrow radiating light, trampling the disease in the form of a dragon. The image was accompanied by an explanatory inscription, the author of which belonged to Ovid: “And they will call me everywhere on earth the one who gives help.”
On the apothecary emblems of that time one could see images of a unicorn, a hand with an apothecary spatula, a still, a cornucopia, various animals and plants that were used in the preparation of medicines. Most often, the emblem of pharmaceutics was a mortar and pestle. This symbol has retained its meaning to this day.
