Article on Hermes and Caduceus History

A really in-depth, fascinating interpretation of the meaning of the Caduceus and Hermes by A. L. Frothingham is available online here. The article follows the thread of the god Hermes back to his Babylonian antecedent Ningishzida, who was a snake god. One of the interpretations of the snake symbolism of the Caduceus is that the twin snakes are a fertility symbol and represent the sun (male snake) and the earth (female snake) in the spring.

The article delves into different associations of the snake symbol.

The single snake, the great

earth snake was the primal embodiment of the Mother Goddess

as the source of life. This was probably due to its fecundity,

love of moisture and its response to the spring heat-characteristics

that made it the emblem not only of life but of resurrection.

There are certain passages in the divination texts relating to

snakes which show how closely the Babylonians associated them

with life and with wealth. The following are taken from Dr.

Jastrow's work:1

" If a snake crawls up a man's foot it means a long life. That

man will become rich and will cry out: 'Where shall I house

my corn? Where shall I store my silver?'

" If a snake falls upon a little child and frightens it, that child

shall live under the protection of God.

" If a snake lies down on a little child, so shall it, whether it be

male or female, obtain renown and wealth, or its father and

mother will obtain renown and wealth.

" If a queen bears a snake the king will be strengthened."

As Dr. Jastrow says: "In the Semitic languages the groundstem

underlying the word for snake is identical with that of the

word meaning life and a similar unity of concept between snake

and life appear to lie at the base of the widespread belief among

Indo-germanic races that snakes are the embodiment of dead

ancestors."

In other words we must realize that in practically all ancient

thought the snake was the typical life-spirit or daimon. That

it was passed on to the Assyrians is shown, for example, in an

apparently insignificant detail in the notable Assyrian relief of

Bel fighting the Dragon, found in the palace of Assurnazirpal at

Nineveh. In drawing the dragon the artist has made his phallus

in the form of a serpent, so clinching the fact that the male

serpent stood for the organ of generation in the ancient Oriental

mind. This helps, later on, in the case of the Hellenic Hermes

to span the distance between his two emblems-snakes and phallus.