The ancient Greek god of healing was Asclepius. The circumstances of his life are known thanks to numerous mythological sources. During the heyday of ancient Greece, about 300 temples of Asclepius existed in the country, where priests treated their compatriots with the help of magical and empirical techniques.
Son of apollo
There are several theories about the origin of Asclepius. According to the most common of them, the god of healing was the son of Apollo and the nymph Coronida. Other sources call the mother Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus. The nymph Koronid was Apollo's lover, but, being pregnant from God, cheated on him with the mortal man Ishih. On Olympus, they decided to punish both. Ishiah incinerated with lightning. The cheater Coronida Apollo hit one of his sun arrows. Then he burned the nymph, having previously snatched the baby from the womb. This was the god of healing Asclepius.
Apollo gave the boy upbringing to the centaur Chiron. He was very different from most of his relatives. Almost all centaurs were known for their drunkenness, violence and dislike for people. Chiron was famous for its kindness and wisdom. When the Greek god of healing came to his education, the centaur lived on Pelion, a mountain in the southeast of Thessaly.
Learning from Chiron
Although Asclepius is known as the god of healing in ancient Greece, at birth he did not possess any superpowers. His patron Chiron began to teach the boy medicine, and soon he achieved amazing success. At one point, Asclepius in his skill even surpassed the wise centaur. He began to travel around Greece and treat people, and even taught the inhabitants of Kos island some of his secrets (Tacitus mentions this in the Annals).
Asclepius succumbed to deadly diseases. Hone his art, Asclepius (the god of healing in ancient Greece) learned to resurrect people. Thanks to his help, the ordinary inhabitants of Hellas gained immortality. The secret of Asclepius' unique ability was in the blood of the Gorgon. The healer received it from the goddess of war, Athens. Ferekid (one of the most revered ancient Greek seven sages) in his writings mentioned that Asclepius resurrected all the inhabitants of Delphi, where the temple of his father Apollo was located.
Death
When Asclepius, the god of healing among the Greeks, began to revive mortals en masse, his rituals provoked indignation among the other gods. Living at the ends of the world, Thanatos, who became the personification of death for the Hellenes, went with a complaint about what was happening to the main Olympian Zeus. Resurrection violated the world order. Having received immortality, ordinary people ceased to be different from the gods. This turn of events did not appeal to most Olympians. The gods longed for punishment.
After some thought, Zeus decided to punish Asclepius. The ancient god of healing was struck by the thunderbolt. Apollo, learning about the death of his son, became furious. He could not take revenge on the powerful Zeus and instead attacked the Cyclops, who forged lightning for that. As a result, all these one-eyed creatures were killed.
Until now, Asclepius was still considered mortal. Dying from the lightning of Zeus, he fell to the spirits of fate moira. They determined the moment of birth and death of each person. After the death of Asclepius, they decided to bring him back to life. So the resurrected son of Apollo became a god. Later, the Roman counterpart of Asclepius, the ancient Roman god of healing Aesculapius, inherited common biographical features.
Asclepius's Staff
In any mythology, the patron gods of healing have their own easily recognizable symbols. Asclepius had such a sign was his staff entwined with a snake. From the ancient Greeks, this image passed to the Romans, and then spread to most of human civilization. Today, the staff of Asclepius is an international medical symbol.
His story is connected with one of the myths about the god of healing. According to legend, Asclepius arrived in Crete to resurrect the son of the famous king Minos. Walking along the road, he came across a snake. The animal encircled the staff, and Asclepius, without hesitation for a second, killed him. Then a second snake appeared with grass in its mouth, with the help of which it miraculously resurrected the first. Surprised Asclepius began to look for a miracle cure and after a while he found it. Since then, the god of healing among the ancient Greeks always had at hand a potion made from Cretan grass. The staff of Asclepius is traditionally depicted as a wooden stick entwined with a snake.
In modern medicine, the influence of Hellenic mythology was reflected not only in the form of graphic symbols. A significant part of medical terms has roots related to the ancient Greek past. The origins of traditional medical techniques first appeared in literature written in this ancient language. Latin is even more important for modern international medicine, but the Romans owed most of their knowledge to the Greeks.
Cult
Like any other ancient Greek cult, the Asclepius cult was especially popular in a certain region of the country. With the greatest zeal, this deity was revered in Epidaurus - a city located in the northeast of the Peloponnese peninsula. Today, in its place there are only the ruins of an ancient theater and, most importantly, the temples of Asclepius. There were also pools with healing thermal waters. They hid in the dungeon of the temple, built in the V century BC. e. the famous architect Polycletus the Younger. The sanctuaries of Asclepius were most often built on the site of mineral springs and cypress groves distinguished by the healing air. At the excavations in Epidaurus, ruins of columns were discovered, on the stelae of which descriptions of happy cases of healing of patients were carved. In addition, the sanctuary was filled with rare artifacts - images of cured parts of the body (arms, legs, hearts, eyes and ears) made of gold, silver and marble. They went to the temple as a fee for services.
The shrines of Asclepius existed according to the set of sacred rules. For example, it was impossible to die in them. Because of this, the terminally ill (even those who arrived from the other end of the country) were not allowed into the temple. Women in childbirth also had no right to enter. The priests of Asclepius were guided by strict principles. For them, treatment was not a medical service, but rather a religious ritual, the rules of which were established according to a strictly stipulated canonical rite. In particular, the rules prescribed that everything related to birth and death should be excluded from the sanctuary. Another important feature of the temple of Asclepius is the observance of crystal purity. Each newcomer should first wash in the source.
The first sanctuaries in honor of Asclepius, the Asclepades, appeared in Greece in the VI-IV centuries. BC e. In addition to Epidaurus and Kos, the center of medicine was also the Thessalian Trikka. Altogether, in the sources of ancient authors, historians found evidence of more than 300 Asclepius sanctuaries scattered throughout ancient Greece. Compared to modern medical facilities, they were more like medical sanatoriums, rather than hospitals. The temples combined both magical and secular methods of treatment. In ancient Greek medicine, these two schools were not opposed to each other. For example, if a particularly severe patient fell into the temple of Asclepius, the priests could consult with their secular colleagues who did not work in shrines.
Priests
The ancient god of medicine and healing had his own priests who received compatriot patients. For healing, people came to them from all over Hellas. The health of the ancient Greeks was associated with sports, so the same Epidavros was famous for its stadium, gymnasium and competitions dedicated to Asclepius. There were also temples of his daughter Hygiei, Aphrodite, Artemis and Themis. The rituals of treatment were accompanied by animal sacrifices (most often roosters), therefore a large altar was a mandatory attribute of any sanctuary.
The God of Healing acquired his cult around the 7th century BC. e. Historians believe that this mythological character had a real prototype - a doctor with the same name who became legendary during the Trojan War - Asclepius. Moreover, he was also the king of Thessaly, as well as the creator of his own family medical school.
Ancient Greek medical education had some similarities with modern. Archaeologists and historians have proven that these medical schools took place in Pergamum and on the Spit. Those who gave the sacred oath and joined the Asklepiad community were allowed to serve in the temple. For the first time this term appeared in ancient Greek literature in the VI century BC. e.
Ancient Greek medicine
Healing in temples combined magical and empirical techniques. The most common treatments have been medicines, water sources, and gymnastic exercises. The rite of sacred healing each time ended with an incubation ritual held in a long gallery along the walls of the temple, which could only be accessed with special permission. The priests, using narcotic substances and hypnosis, introduced patients to a state of artificial sleep. The ritual was famous for theatrical performances (the phenomenon of sacred snakes or even God himself).
In 430 BC e. Greece was struck by a terrible plague that claimed thousands of lives. Traditional medicine was powerless before the epidemic, so the population began to pay more and more attention to all kinds of magical practices. Then the sacred snake Asclepius was transferred from Epidaurus to Athens, where a new temple was built in the Acropolis. The cult of the god of healing shone with unprecedented power. Religious rituals brought tremendous income to the priests of Asclepius. The ancient temples of this god were distinguished by the outstanding wealth of their decoration.
It is curious that not all Greeks related to the incubation and inventions of priests with religious reverence. In the famous comedy “Plutos” (388 BC), the author Aristophanes tells of numerous bitter disappointments in the effectiveness of the magic sleep ritual.
The place of Asclepius in the ancient Greek pantheon
The mythological image of Asclepius with all its characteristic attributes has certain roots. The healing god of Greece was often associated with the chthonic serpent-healer. Throughout the ancient world, this animal was revered as a symbol of renewal, wisdom and power of natural forces.
The other side of the image of Asclepius is his belonging to the generation of children of gods (heroes) who encroached on the establishment of a new world order. The healer learned to resurrect the dead, thereby upsetting the global balance. The rules established by the Olympians were in danger, and it was for this that Asclepius paid. The God of healing with his fate reminds other heroes who rebelled against their omnipotent parents.
Each god of the ancient Greek pantheon had his own "economy". Although Asclepius is associated with healing, some of its functions are also characteristic of other Olympians. Apollo’s sister Artemis was not only the mistress of animals and the patroness of hunting, she was also revered as the protector of women in childbirth, children and female chastity. The wife of Zeus Hera took care of the marriage and the well-being of the family. About the same thing is connected Hestia - the goddess of the hearth, happiness and health. It is impossible not to recall Hypnos. This god, who lived at the ends of the world, watched the full and healthy sleep of people.
Family and descendants
According to legend, Asclepius married Epion, daughter of the ruler of the island of Kos Merops. In the ancient era, this place turned into one of the most important centers of ancient medicine.
Asclepius had several children who also became famous characters in ancient Greek myths. The god of healing was the father of Machaon, a famous doctor and surgeon. It is believed that he even participated in the Trojan War and led 20 ships. Machaon not only fought on the side of the Greeks (Achaeans), but also healed the wounded. The surgeon helped the famous archer Philoctetus bitten by a poisonous snake. The wound was terrible, pus oozed from his leg. The besiegers of Troy, meanwhile, still could not take the city. They desperately needed their best shooter. Then the Greeks rescued the Greeks. Apollo plunged the Trojan coast into a magical dream, and his grandson Machaon operated on Philoctetus. A recovering archer later killed Paris and, in the company of his comrades, hid in the Trojan horse, with the help of which the Achaeans nevertheless captured an impregnable city. With the filing of the biologist Carl Linnaeus, a common family of butterflies was named Machaon in honor of Asclepius' son.
The eldest daughter of the god of healing Hygiea is the goddess of health. The Greeks portrayed her as a young woman feeding a snake from a bowl. Hygiene named the scientific discipline hygiene. In addition, the symbols of the bowl and the snake have become international attributes of medicine and pharmacy. The vessel of Hygiea can be found in any pharmacy and hospital. Like the ancient Greek god of healing, he is associated with a snake - a traditional chthonic creature of ancient Greek mythology. Gigiei's vessel again became known to Europeans at the end of the 18th century, when this symbol was engraved on a commemorative coin, ordered by the Paris Pharmacy Society.
The next daughter of Asclepius is Panakeia, who became the personification of healing. The panacea is named after her - the legendary cure for any disease. Interest in the miraculous drug increased again in the Middle Ages. European alchemists of that era used ancient sources, trying to synthesize this unknown vaccine. Nobody found a panacea, but the phraseological unit has been preserved. Other less well-known daughters of Asclepius are Iaso, Agley, Meditrin and Akeso. All of them learned the art of healing from their wise father.
The god of healing in ancient Greek mythology was considered a distant ancestor of many famous ancient doctors, whose existence is documented. The descendant of Asclepius was Hippocrates (he was born on Kos in 460 BC) and even Aristotle (his father worked as a court healer for the Macedonian king).
Aesculapius
In 293 BC e. in Rome a pestilence epidemic broke out. Hundreds of people died, and the city authorities could not do anything with the terrible natural misfortune. Then the Roman sages advised to build on the banks of the Tiber the sanctuary of the ancient Greek god of healing Asclepius.
A magnificent embassy set off for Epidaurus. The Romans managed to find a common language with the priests of the ancient deity. When the guests returned to their ship, they were followed by the sacred temple snake - the symbol and personification of Asclepius. The animal was settled on the small Tiber island (Tiberine) located within the boundaries of Rome. In 291 BC e. On this piece of land they built and consecrated the temple of Asclepius. The god of healing in Roman mythology received the name of Aesculapius. At first, the Hellenes were his priests in Rome. Like many other gods of the pantheon of the Eternal City, Aesculapius borrowed many features from his Greek predecessor. For example, roosters were sacrificed to him in the same way. The god of healing among the Romans was especially popular among the people. His cult disappeared one of the last after the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire.