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| Asclepius, the god of medicine. | |
Asclepius was the god of medicine. He was the son of Apollo and Coronis (1), the daughter of the Thessalian king Phlegyas. Apollo was passionately in love with Coronis, but while she was carrying his child, she fell in love with a young man called Ischys. When Coronis married Ischys, Apollo killed both her and her husband. While her body was lying on the funeral pyre, Apollo tore the child who was still alive, from her womb. He took the child to Mt. Pelion, and entrusted him to the care of Centaur Chiron. This is how Asclepius was born. According to another tradition, when Phlegyas with Coronis came to Epidaurus, Coronis was seduced by Apollo, and she secretly gave birth to his son at the foot of Mount Myrtion. She abandoned the boy after the birth, but a she-goat came to suckle him and a dog to guard him. The shepherd Aresthanas who owned the animals soon arrived and found the boy, but he got scared when he saw a supernatural light over the child, and ran away. The boy remained in wilderness, until the day when he started his mission of teaching people the art of healing and medicine. Asclepius' teacher was Centaur Chiron, who taught him medicine. Asclepius soon developed exceptional skill for medicine, that he could even restore the dead to life. To do it, Asclepius used either the blood from Medusa's right vein, which Athena had given him, or a special herb which a serpent had told him about. Thus, Asclepius restored to life Capaneus, Glaucus (5), Hippolytus (1) and Tyndareus (see these names). Fearing that Asclepius might disturb the natural order of things and that the kingdom of the Underworld might become empty, Hades complained to Zeus. Zeus agreed that mortals must follow their destiny, and struck Asclepius dead with a thunderbolt. To avenge his son's death, Apollo killed the Cyclopes, who had forged the thunderbolt. For this, Zeus banished him from Olympus for some time, as a punishment for this massacre. After his death, Asclepius was changed into a constellation and became the plant serpentaria.
Some versions claim that Asclepius took part in the Calydonian boar hunt and in the expedition of the Argonauts. He was married to Epione, by whom he had sons Podalirius and Machaon, and five daughters, Aceso, Iaso, Panacea, Aglaea and Hygieia.
The centre of Asclepius' cult was in Epidaurus, in the Peloponnese. He also had other sanctuaries at Pergamum and Cos. The sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus became a famous international healing centre, from the 5th century BC through Roman times. Epidaurus was also the site of the festival called Asclepeia. During the festival, special rites were performed. After preparation period which included sacrifices, patient was allowed to spend the night in the temple of Asclepius. He usually slept either on the skin of the sacrificed animal or on a sofa which was placed near the statue of the god. This was the period of incubation. During the night, Asclepius would appear in the patient's dream and give himadvise, which was in the morning interpreted by the priests. Patient would then thank Asclepius by throwing gold into a sacred fountain.
Asclepius' attributes were serpents twined round a staff, pine-cones, crowns of laurel, she-goat and dog. Asclepius was sometimes represented as a serpent, but more frequently as a mature man with a beard and with an expression of kindness.