AINOS in THRACE 280BC Rare Authentic Ancient Greek Coin Hermes Caduceus i34308

Greek city of Ainos in Thrace (Northern Greece) Bronze 18mm (6.71 grams) Struck circa 280-200 B.C. Reference: Sear 1574 var. Head of Hermes left, wearing wide petasos. Caduceus; A-I / N-I / O-N in field, ivy leaf to right. Ainos was a prosperous city and trading center, situated on a peninsula at the mouth of the river Hebros.

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The caduceus from Greek "herald's staff" is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology . The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris , the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents , sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman iconography it was often depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury , the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves.

As a symbolic object it represents Hermes (or the Roman Mercury), and by extension trades, occupations or undertakings associated with the god. In later Antiquity the caduceus provided the basis for the astrological symbol representing the planet Mercury . Thus, through its use in astrology and alchemy , it has come to denote the elemental metal of the same name.

By extension of its association with Mercury/Hermes, the caduceus is also a recognized symbol of commerce and negotiation, two realms in which balanced exchange and reciprocity are recognized as ideals. This association is ancient, and consistent from the Classical period to modern times. The caduceus is also used as a symbol representing printing, again by extension of the attributes of Mercury (in this case associated with writing and eloquence).

The caduceus is sometimes mistakenly used as a symbol of medicine and/or medical practice , especially in North America , because of widespread confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius , which has only a single snake and no wings.

The term kerukeion denoted any herald's staff, not necessarily associated with Hermes in particular.

Lewis Richard Farnell (1909) in his study of the cult of Hermes assumed that the two snakes had simply developed out of ornaments of the shepherd's crook used by heralds as their staff. This view has been rejected by later authors pointing to parallel iconography in the Ancient Near East. It has been argued that the staff or wand entwined by two snakes was itself representing a god in the pre-anthropomorphic era. Like the herm or priapus , it would thus be a predecessor of the anthropomorphic Hermes of the classical era.

Ancient Near East

William Hayes Ward (1910) discovered that symbols similar to the classical caduceus sometimes appeared on Mesopotamian cylinder seals . He suggested the symbol originated some time between 3000 and 4000 BCE, and that it might have been the source of the Greek caduceus.[10] A.L. Frothingham incorporated Dr. Ward's research into his own work, published in 1916, in which he suggested that the prototype of Hermes was an "Oriental deity of Babylonian extraction" represented in his earliest form as a snake god. From this perspective, the caduceus was originally representative of Hermes himself, in his early form as the Underworld god Ningishzida , "messenger" of the "Earth Mother". The caduceus is mentioned in passing by Walter Burkert [12] as "really the image of copulating snakes taken over from Ancient Near Eastern tradition".

In Egyptian iconography, the Djed pillar is depicted as containing a snake in a frieze of the Dendera Temple complex .

The rod of Moses and the brazen serpent are frequently compared to the caduceus, especially as Moses is acting as a messenger of God to the Pharaoh at the point in the narrative where he changes his staff into a serpent.[13]

Classical antiquity

Mythology

The Homeric hymn  to Hermes relates how Hermes offered his lyre fashioned from a tortoise shell as compensation for the cattle he stole from his half brother Apollo . Apollo in return gave Hermes the caduceus as a gesture of friendship. The association with the serpent thus connects Hermes to Apollo , as later the serpent was associated with Asclepius , the "son of Apollo". The association of Apollo with the serpent is a continuation of the older Indo-European dragon -slayer motif. Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher  (1913) pointed out that the serpent as an attribute of both Hermes and Asclepius is a variant of the "pre-historic semi-chthonic serpent hero known at Delphi as Python ", who in classical mythology is slain by Apollo.

One Greek myth of origin of the caduceus is part of the story of Tiresias , who found two snakes copulating and killed the female with his staff. Tiresias was immediately turned into a woman, and so remained until he was able to repeat the act with the male snake seven years later. This staff later came into the possession of the god Hermes, along with its transformative powers.

Another myth suggests that Hermes (or Mercury) saw two serpents entwined in mortal combat. Separating them with his wand he brought about peace between them, and as a result the wand with two serpents came to be seen as a sign of peace.

In Rome, Livy refers to the caduceator who negotiated peace arrangements under the diplomatic protection of the caduceus he carried.

Iconography

In some vase paintings ancient depictions of the Greek kerukeion are somewhat different from the commonly seen modern representation. These representations feature the two snakes atop the staff (or rod), crossed to create a circle with the heads of the snakes resembling horns. This old graphic form, with an additional crossbar to the staff, seems to have provided the basis for the graphical sign of Mercury (☿) used in Greek astrology  from Late Antiquity.

Use in alchemy and occultism

As the symbol of both the planet and the metal named for Mercury, the caduceus became an important symbol in alchemy .

The crucified serpent was also revived as an alchemical symbol for fixatio , and John Donne  (Sermons 10:190) uses "crucified Serpent" as a title of Jesus Christ .

Symbol of commerce

A simplified variant of the caduceus is to be found in dictionaries, indicating a “commercial term” entirely in keeping with the association of Hermes with commerce. In this form the staff is often depicted with two winglets attached and the snakes are omitted (or reduced to a small ring in the middle). The Customs Service of the former German Democratic Republic employed the caduceus, bringing its implied associations with thresholds, translators, and commerce, in the service medals they issued their staff.

Misuse as symbol of medicine

It is relatively common, especially in the United States, to find the caduceus, with its two snakes and wings, used as a symbol of medicine instead of the correct rod of Asclepius, with only a single snake. This usage is erroneous, popularised largely as a result of the adoption of the caduceus as its insignia by the US Army medical corps in 1902 at the insistence of a single officer (though there are conflicting claims as to whether this was Capt. Frederick P. Reynolds or Col. John R. van Hoff).

The rod of Asclepius is the dominant symbol for professional healthcare associations in the United States. One survey found that 62% of professional healthcare associations used the rod of Asclepius as their symbol. The same survey found that 76% of commercial healthcare organizations used the Caduceus symbol. The author of the study suggests the difference exists because professional associations are more likely to have a real understanding of the two symbols, whereas commercial organizations are more likely to be concerned with the visual impact a symbol will have in selling their products.

The initial errors leading to its adoption and the continuing confusion it generates are well known to medical historians. The long-standing and abundantly attested historical associations of the caduceus with commerce, theft, deception, and death are considered by many to be inappropriate in a symbol used by those engaged in the healing arts. This has occasioned significant criticism of the use of the caduceus in a medical context.

 

Aenus modern Enez in Turkey , was an ancient Greek city on the southeastern coast of Thrace . Formerly called Poltyobria (or Poltymbria ), it was located near the mouth of the Hebrus River , not far from the Melas Gulf (modern Gulf of Saros ), which is formed by the Thracian Chersonesus to the east. The city was said to be founded (or at least settled) by Aeolian migrants from Lesbos .

Aenus is mentioned by several ancient authors (e.g., Homer, Strabo, Apollodorus, Thucydides), and makes several appearances in Greek mythology . Its mythical and eponymous founder was said to be Aeneus , a son of the god Apollo and father of Cyzicus . Another mythical ruler, named Poltys , son of Poseidon , entertained Heracles when he came to Aenus. On that occasion, Heracles slew Poltys' insolent brother Sarpedon on the beach of Aenus. According to Strabo, Sarpedon is the name of the coastline near Aenus, so both Poltys and Sarpedon would appear to be eponyms.

In the Iliad , Homer mentions that the leaders of Troy's Thracian allies, Acamas and Peiros , came from Aenus.  

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Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and additionally as a guide to the Underworld . Hermes was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. An Olympian god , he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds , of the cunning of thieves and liars, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics and sports, of weights and measures, of invention, and of commerce in general. His symbols include the tortoise, the rooster, the winged sandals, the winged hat, and the caduceus (given to him by Apollo in exchange for the lyre).

In the Roman adaptation of the Greek religion (see interpretatio romana ), Hermes was identified with the Roman god Mercury , who, though inherited from the Etruscans , developed many similar characteristics, such as being the patron of commerce.

The Homeric hymn to Hermes invokes him as the one "of many shifts (polytropos ), blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the deathless gods."

He protects and takes care of all the travelers, miscreants, harlots, old crones and thieves that pray to him or cross his path. He is athletic and is always looking out for runners, or any athletes with injuries who need his help.

Hermes is a messenger from the gods to humans, sharing this role with Iris . An interpreter who bridges the boundaries with strangers is a hermeneus. Hermes gives us our word "hermeneutics", the study and theory of interpretation. In Greek a lucky find was a hermaion . Hermes delivered messages from Olympus to the mortal world. He wears shoes with wings on them and uses them to fly freely between the mortal and immortal world. Hermes was the second youngest of the Olympian gods , being born before Dionysus .

Hermes, as an inventor of fire, is a parallel of the Titan , Prometheus . In addition to the lyre , Hermes was believed to have invented many types of racing and the sports of wrestling and boxing, and therefore was a patron of athletes.

According to prominent folklorist Yeleazar Meletinsky , Hermes is a deified trickster . Hermes also served as a psychopomp , or an escort for the dead to help them find their way to the afterlife (the Underworld in the Greek myths). In many Greek myths, Hermes was depicted as the only god besides Hades , Persephone , Hecate , and Thanatos who could enter and leave the Underworld without hindrance.

Hermes often helped travelers have a safe and easy journey. Many Greeks would sacrifice to Hermes before any trip.

In the fully-developed Olympian pantheon, Hermes was the son of Zeus and the Pleiade Maia , a daughter of the Titan Atlas . Hermes' symbols were the cock and the tortoise , and he can be recognized by his purse or pouch, winged sandals , winged cap , and the herald's staff, the kerykeion . The night he was born he slipped away from Maia and stole his elder brother Apollo 's cattle.