Editing Caduceus (section)

===Mythology===
The ''[[Homeric Hymn]] to Hermes'' relates how his half brother [[Apollo]] was enchanted by Hermes's music from his lyre fashioned from a tortoise shell, which Hermes kindly gave to him. Apollo in return gave Hermes the caduceus as a gesture of friendship.{{sfnp|Tyson|1932|page=494}} The association with the serpent thus connects Hermes to [[Apollo]], as later the serpent was associated with [[Asclepius]], the "son of Apollo".<ref>{{cite book |last=Deldon |first=Anne McNeely |title=Mercury rising: women, evil, and the trickster gods |publisher=Spring Publications |date=1996 |isbn=978-0-88214-366-8 |page=90 |quote=Homer tell us that Hermes' caduceus, the golden wand, was acquired by Hermes from Apollo in exchange for the tortoise-lyre; later the caduceus changed hands again from Hermes to Apollo's son, Asclepius.}}</ref>

The association of Apollo with the serpent is a continuation of the older [[Indo-European mythology|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 (mythology)|Python]]", who in classical mythology is slain by Apollo.<ref>{{cite journal|first=S |last=Davis |title=Argeiphontes in Homer – The Dragon-Slayer|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=22|issue=64|year=1953|pages=33–38|doi=10.1017/S0017383500011712|jstor= 640827|s2cid=163106261 }} (citing W. H. Roscher, ''Omphalos'' (1913))</ref>

One Greek [[Etiology|myth of origin]] of the caduceus is part of the story of [[Tiresias]],<ref name=blayney>{{cite web|url=http://drblayney.com/Asclepius.html|title=The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius|last=Blayney|first=Keith|date=September 2002|access-date=2007-06-15|archive-date=2019-10-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016050753/http://www.drblayney.com/Asclepius.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.{{sfnp|Tyson|1932|page=495}}

In Rome, [[Livy]] refers to the ''caduceator'' who negotiated peace arrangements under the diplomatic protection of the caduceus he carried.<ref>Livy: [[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab Urbe Condita Libri]], 31,38,9–10</ref>