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29-547: The Asclepiads may have originally been members of a family claiming descent from the god of healing Asclepius , with the name only later being adopted by all doctors; or they may always have been an association of medical men venerating the god as their founder. Some hold that the Asclepiads were priests of Asclepion . The Asclepiadae could also have been a guild in honour of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, separate from

58-425: A mountain called Tittheion (from τίτθη "wet nurse", τιτθεύω "to suckle, breastfeed"). The child was given milk by one of the goats that pastured about the mountain, and was guarded by the watch-dog of the herd. Aresthanas, the owner of goats and the guard dogs found the child. As he came near, he saw lightning that flashed from the child, and thinking of it to be a sign of the divine, he left the child alone. Asclepius

87-572: A snake with a "head of linen" was an incarnation of Asclepius. The Greek language rhetorician and satirist Lucian produced the work Alexander the False Prophet to denounce the swindler for future generations. He described Alexander as having a character "made up of lying, trickery, perjury, and malice; [it was] facile, audacious, venturesome, diligent in the execution of its schemes, plausible, convincing, masking as good, and wearing an appearance absolutely opposite to its purpose." In Rome,

116-538: A son, Aratus , with Aristodeme . Asclepius once started bringing back to life the dead people like Tyndareus, Capaneus, Glaucus, Hymenaeus, Lycurgus and others. Others say he brought Hippolytus back from the dead on Artemis's request, and accepted gold for it. It is the only mention of Asclepius resurrecting the dead. In all other accounts he is said to use his skills simply as a physician. However, Hades accused Asclepius of stealing his subjects and complained to his brother Zeus about it. According to others, Zeus

145-540: A sort of honorary title in allusion to the ancient family of the Asclepiadae, or in order to signify that they themselves belonged to it, or even just to indicate that they were proficient healers. This Ancient Greek biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Asclepius Asclepius ( / æ s ˈ k l iː p i ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἀσκληπιός Asklēpiós [asklɛːpiós] ; Latin : Aesculapius )

174-417: Is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology . He is the son of Apollo and Coronis , or Arsinoe , or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters, the "Asclepiades", are: Hygieia ("Health, Healthiness"), Iaso (from ἴασις "healing, recovering, recuperation", the goddess of recuperation from illness), Aceso (from ἄκεσις "healing",

203-474: The Aesculapian snake ( Zamenis longissimus ) is named for the god. He was originally called Hepius but received his popular name of Asclepius after he cured Ascles, ruler of Epidaurus who suffered an incurable ailment in his eyes. Asclepius became so proficient as a healer that he surpassed both Chiron and his father, Apollo. Asclepius was therefore able to evade death and to bring others back to life from

232-534: The College of Aesculapius and Hygia was an association ( collegium ) that served as a burial society and dining club that also participated in the Imperial cult . The botanical genus Asclepias (commonly known as milkweed) is named after him and includes the medicinal plant A. tuberosa or "Pleurisy root". Asclepius was depicted on the reverse of the Greek 10,000 drachmas banknote of 1995–2001. At

261-484: The Therapeutae of Asclepius . The etymology of the name is unknown. In his revised version of Frisk's Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch ( Greek Etymological Dictionary ), R. S. P. Beekes gives this summary of the different attempts: Beekes suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form *(a)-s klap- . His name may mean "to cut open" from a story about his birth. Asclepius was the son of Apollo and, according to

290-522: The appropriate therapy by a process of interpretation. Some healing temples also used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of sick petitioners. In honor of Asclepius, a particular type of non-venomous snake was often used in healing rituals, and these snakes—the Aesculapian Snakes —slithered around freely on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept. These snakes were introduced at the founding of each new temple of Asclepius throughout

319-475: The art of medicine. It is said that in return for some kindness rendered by Asclepius, a snake licked Asclepius's ears clean and taught him secret knowledge (to the Greeks snakes were sacred beings of wisdom, healing, and resurrection). Asclepius bore a rod wreathed with a snake, which became associated with healing. Another version states that when Asclepius (or in another myth Polyidus ) was commanded to restore

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348-617: The brink of death and beyond. This caused an excessive abundance of human beings, and Zeus resorted to killing him to maintain balance in the numbers of the human population. At some point, Asclepius was among those who took part in the Calydonian Boar hunt. Also, he was one of the Argonauts . Asclepius was married to Epione , with whom he had five daughters: Hygieia , Panacea , Aceso , Iaso , and Aegle , and three sons: Machaon , Podaleirios and Telesphoros . He also sired

377-488: The city of Miletus , archaeologists discovered a cave under the city's theatre which was associated with Asclepius cult. At Hyperteleatum , Hypsi and Hyettus there were temples of Asclepius. Lycius (son of Clinis) Lycius ( Ancient Greek : Λύκιος , romanized :  Lúkios , meaning 'Lycian' or 'wolf-like') is a minor Babylonian figure in Greek mythology , who features in two minor myths concerning

406-481: The classical world. The original Hippocratic Oath began with the invocation "I swear by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods ...". Epidauria (τὰ Ἐπιδαύρια) was a festival at Athens in honour of Asclepius. Some later religious movements claimed links to Asclepius. In the 2nd century AD the controversial miracle-worker Alexander claimed that his god Glycon ,

435-403: The cult of Asclepius grew very popular and pilgrims flocked to his healing temples ( Asclepieia ) to be cured of their ills. Ritual purification would be followed by offerings or sacrifices to the god (according to means), and the supplicant would then spend the night in the holiest part of the sanctuary– the abaton (or adyton). Any dreams or visions would be reported to a priest who would prescribe

464-524: The earliest accounts, a mortal woman named Koronis (Coronis), who was a princess of Tricca in Thessaly. When she displayed infidelity by sleeping with a mortal named Ischys , Apollo found out with his prophetic powers and killed Ischys. Coronis was killed by Artemis for being unfaithful to Apollo and was laid out on a funeral pyre to be consumed, but Apollo rescued the child by cutting him from Coronis' womb. According to Delphian tradition, Asclepius

493-440: The entire family. The family begged the gods to help them, and they were all transformed into various birds. Lycius was changed into a white raven by Apollo, the only member of the family to be saved directly by him. In ancient Greece, a 'white raven' came to be a proverbial expression about things that did not exist. Sometime later, Lycius, now a raven, was tasked by Apollo to watch over Apollo's pregnant lover Coronis while he

522-505: The god Apollo . He was originally a man born to a wealthy family who disobeyed the orders of Apollo, thus becoming a white raven. Later the god made him his watchman. Lycius was one of the four children born to a rich Babylonian man named Clinis and his wife Harpe . He had two brothers, Harpasus and Ortygius , and a sister named Artemiche . When his father Clinis saw the Hyperboreans sacrifice donkeys to Apollo, he meant to do

551-656: The goddess of the healing process), Aegle (the goddess of good health) and Panacea (the goddess of universal remedy). He has several sons as well. He was associated with the Roman/Etruscan god Vediovis and the Egyptian Imhotep . He shared with Apollo the epithet Paean ("the Healer"). The rod of Asclepius , a snake-entwined staff similar to the caduceus , remains a symbol of medicine today. Those physicians and attendants who served this god were known as

580-461: The healing temples and closely related to Hippocratic tradition. Plato gives Hippocrates this title in his Protagoras , referring to him as “Hippocrates of Kos, the Asclepiad”. It may also have been used to refer to a group of people who claimed to be descended from Asclepius. Asclepiades was the name of several Hellenistic physicians, some of whom probably assumed this appellation either as

609-481: The life of Glaucus, he was confined in a secret prison. While pondering on what he should do, a snake crept near his staff. Lost in his thoughts, Asclepius unknowingly killed it by hitting it again and again with his staff. Later, another snake came there with an herb in its mouth, and placed it on the head of a dead snake, which soon came back to life. Seeing this, Asclepius used the same herb, which brought Glaucus back. A species of non-venomous pan-Mediterranean serpent,

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638-572: The most famous temples of Asclepius was at Epidaurus in north-eastern Peloponnese , dated to the fourth century BC. Another famous asclepeion was built approximately a century later on the island of Kos , where Hippocrates , the legendary "father of medicine", may have begun his career. Other asclepieia were situated in Gortys (in Arcadia), and Pergamum in Asia . From the fifth century BC onwards,

667-570: The sake of Apollo, put among the stars." Asclepius was killed by Zeus, and by Apollo 's request, was subsequently immortalized as a star. The most ancient and the most prominent asclepeion (or healing temple) according to the geographer of the 1st century BC, Strabo, was situated in Trikala . The 1st century AD Pool of Bethesda , described in the Gospel of John , chapter 5, was found by archaeologists in 1964 to be part of an asclepeion. One of

696-443: The same, only to be prohibited under pain of death by the god himself. Lycius and Harpasus both urged their father to sacrifice the donkeys nevertheless, but Clinis called off the sacrifice, convinced by Ortygius and Artemiche, who advised him to obey Apollo. Lycius and Harpasus undid the halters of the donkeys anyway, and set to drive them towards the altar, thereupon Apollo drove the animals insane, who then attacked and began to devour

725-440: Was afraid that Asclepius would teach the art of resurrection to other humans as well. Concerning the fate of Asclepius, Ovid writes that "the youth [Asclepius] blasted by ancestral bolts [of Zeus] soars from earth [rising as the constellation Ophiuchus] and flings his hands coiled with double snakes." Later accounts read "The Serpent-Holder. Many astronomers have imagined that he is Aesculapius [Asclepius], whom Jupiter [Zeus], for

754-535: Was born in the temple of Apollo, with Lachesis acting as a midwife and Apollo relieving the pains of Coronis. Apollo named the child after Coronis' nickname, Aegle. Phoenician tradition maintains that Asclepius was born of Apollo without any woman involved. According to the Roman version, Apollo, having learned about Coronis' betrayal with the mortal Ischys through his raven Lycius , killed her with his arrows. Before breathing her last, she revealed to Apollo that she

783-419: Was gone. Coronis then proceeded to cheat on Apollo with a man named Ischys or Alcyoneus. Lycius immediately flew to Apollo and informed him of Coronis's infidelity. Enraged, Apollo took out his anger on Lycius, who instead had expected some sort of reward for his good job, and changed him into a black raven. An unspecified time later, he recounted his woes during a conversation with the crow, Corone , who had

812-472: Was later taken by Apollo. According to Strabo and other traditions, the birthplace of Asclepius is considered to be Tricca (modern Trikala city in Thessaly ). Apollo named the rescued baby "Asclepius" and reared him for a while and taught him many things about medicine. However, like his half-brother, Aristaeus , Asclepius had his formal education under the centaur Chiron who instructed him in

841-408: Was pregnant with his child. He repented his actions and unsuccessfully tried to save her. At last, he removed their son safely from her belly before she was consumed by the fire. In yet another version, Coronis who was already pregnant with Apollo's child, had to accompany her father to Peloponnesos . She had kept her pregnancy hidden from her father. In Epidaurus , she bore a son and exposed him on

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