Bowl of Hygeia Symbol – History And Meaning

The Bowl of Hygeia (also spelled ‘Hygieia’ and ‘Hygiea’) is a symbol from an ancient Greek legend. It is one of the symbols used for pharmacy.

If you want to learn more about the Bowl of Hygeia symbol, read on to find out the meaning, history, and significance of this Greek symbol.

Bowl of Hygeia Symbol – History And Meaning

The Bowl of Hygeia has symbolized pharmacy since 1796 when a coin minted for the Parisian Society of Pharmacy featured the logo of a chalice with a snake coiled around its stem and drinking from it. 

Hygeia is the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation. She is the helper and daughter of Asclepius, the god of healing and medicinal arts. While Asclepius’ symbol is the serpent-twined rod or staff, Hygeia’s is a cup or chalice with a serpent wrapped around its stem.

Bowl of Hygeia History

Since the Parisian Society of Pharmacy coin in 1796, the Bowl of Hygieia has been adopted by various other pharmaceutical associations in the world. It is a common image seen on signages of pharmacies. 

The chalice with a snake wrapping around and drinking from it is the Bowl of Hygeia.

In Greek religion, Hygeia was worshipped together with his father, Asclepius, the god of medicine. The earliest traces of the cult of Hygeia are in the west of Corinth. It spread along with the cult of Asclepius and was introduced in Rome in 293 BC. By then, Hygeia was starting to be identified with Salus, the Roman goddess of safety and social welfare.

In both Greek and Roman mythology, Hygeia was one of the Asclepiadae or the offsprings of Asclepius, and his wife Epione. Hygeia was the goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation.

Hygieia had four sisters, who, just like herself, each personified a facet of Apollo’s art: Hygieia (health, cleanliness, and sanitation); Panacea (universal remedy); Iaso (recuperation from illness); Aceso (the healing process); and Aglaïa (beauty, splendor, glory, magnificence, and adornment).

Hygieia played a significant role in her father’s cult. Asclepius was directly connected and identified with healing, while Hygeia was about sickness prevention, continued good health, and long life. 

The ancient Romans brought Hygeia to Rome and adopted her as their own Valetudo, the goddess of personal health. Eventually, however, she started to be identified with the goddess of safety and social welfare, Salus.

In ancient Greece, Hygeia’s primary temples were in Corinth, Cos, Pergamon, and Epidaurus. Depictions of Hygeia in statues were often as a young woman or virgin feeding a huge serpent that was coiled around her body or drinking from a cup or a jar she was carrying.

The Bowl of Hygeia Symbol

The bowl of Hygeia is a common symbol on signs outside of pharmacies in Europe,  although the mortar and pestle are also common in the United States. 

The unicorn is another symbol sometimes used in pharmaceutical branding. To the ancient Greeks, unicorns symbolized purity and grace. The mythical animal’s spiraling horn was believed to possess the power to heal and to act as an antidote to poisons. 

The Rx symbol is another representation related to pharmacy. These two letters are derived from the word recipere, which is Latin for “to take back” or “to receive.”

The snake in the Bowl of Hygeia is symbolic of Aesculapius (see the Rod of Asclepius) while the bowl itself represents Hygeia. Snakes were used in representations related to healing and medicine because ancient Greeks associated this animal’s ability to shed its old skin and grow a new one with wisdom, healing, and resurrection. The bowl represents the venom from the snake, which either kills or heals. 

Bowl of Hygeia Symbol Meaning

Hygeia is the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation. Together with the asklepian (Rod of Asclepius), Hygeia’s symbol—the Bowl of Hygeia—is one of the oldest and most important symbols associated with medicine. 

The word ‘hygiene’ was derived from the name of the goddess herself, which means ‘sound’ and/or ‘healthy’ both in Latin and Greek. Hygiene is defined as “conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through cleanliness.”