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Why Is the Medical Symbol a Snake on a Stick?

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In one version of Hermes' myth, he is given the staff by Apollo, the god of healing . In another version, he receives the staff from Zeus, the king of the gods, and it is entwined with two white ribbons. The ribbons were later replaced by serpents, as one story tells that Hermes used the stick to separate two fighting snakes , who then coiled around his staff and remained there in balanced harmony.


In one telling, Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt for disrupting the natural order of the world by reviving the dead, while another version states that Zeus killed him as punishment for accepting money in exchange for conducting a resurrection. After he died, Zeus placed Asclepius among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus, or "the serpent bearer."

The Greeks regarded snakes as sacred and used them in healing rituals to honor Asclepius, as snake venom was thought to be remedial and their skin-shedding was viewed as a symbol of rebirth and renewal. Which is a good thing to keep in mind the next time you spot a medical alert bracelet featuring the seemingly sinister serpents.

