Caduceus
The caduceus, the kērykeion, is the staff of the herald carried by Hermes, the messenger god, and in Greek literature it is the token of his office, the rod with which he conducts souls to the underworld, lulls the watchful, and opens the way before him; in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes the staff is given to the young god by Apollo together with the golden wand and the arts of prophecy. Its familiar form, a staff entwined by two serpents and topped with a pair of wings, is the later iconography that became standard in Roman art and was revived in the Renaissance, and through it the caduceus came