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Joseph Riggs (josephriggs@earthlink.net)
Wed, 29 Nov 2000 00:09:06 -0800
-Z- wrote:
The staff of
> Aesculepius, the Greek god of healing, which didn't have wings and was entwined
> by a SINGLE snake, was also called a caduceus.
As I recall, the Greek myth had the son of one of the gods (Apollo, I think,
although there's a pretty good chance I'm wrong) save either one, or a pair of young
snakes. In return, the snakes 'cleaned' his ears, and he was able to understand the
speech of the animals He managed to turn it to beneficial use by learning enough
from the animals to become a great doctor. In fact, his skill was such that he was
eventually able to bring people back from the dead. As a result, Hades (ruler of
the underworld) complained to Zeus about this (as the dead were being taken from
under Hades control back into the world of the living), and Zeus decided that action
needed to be taken, and had the doctor killed.
I believe that's where the Greek snake comes from.
junior
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