Difference between revisions of "Asclepius" - New World Encyclopedia

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It is also written by Lewis Farnell, that some healing temples used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of the sick petitioners.<ref>Farnell (1921), 240.</ref>
 
It is also written by Lewis Farnell, that some healing temples used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of the sick petitioners.<ref>Farnell (1921), 240.</ref>
  
The original, ancient [[Hippocratic Oath]] begins with the invocation "I swear | by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods . . ." Scholars have written that this oath may not have been written by Hippocrates, but by or with others in his school, or followers of [[Pythagoras]].<ref>Farnell (1921), 269: "The famous Hippocratean oath may not be an authentic deliverance of the great master, but is an ancient formula current in his school."</ref>
+
 
 +
:In the inscriptions found at Epidaurus, there are several instances of patients being cured by snakes (Ephemris Arch. 1883, p. 215 1. 115 ;id. 1855, p. 22, 1. 117, 130). Similarly Plutus was cured of his blindness by the licking of the tongue of the sacred snakes which lived in the temple of Asclepius (Arist. PI. 730-740). They were regarded with veneration and were fed by the worshippers (Paus. ii. 11, 8) and were thought to be the embodiment of the god (Paus. ii. 10 ; Aurelius Victor de viris illustribus xxii. 1; Valerius Maximus i. 8, 2 etc.).<ref>E. F. Benson, 185.</ref>
 +
 
 +
Given the prominence of the demi-god and his universal appeal as a promoter of health and well-being, it is not surprising that the classical corpus contains numerous invocations to Asclepius. Intriguingly, one finds examples of these religious utterances in the words attributed to two of the preeminent figures of the classical Hellenistic period: [[Hippocrates]] (the founder of modern medicine) and [[Socrates]]. Specifically, the original, ancient [[Hippocratic Oath]] begins with the invocation "I swear | by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods."<ref>Farnell (1921), 269. Though evidence concerning the institution of this oath by Hippocrates himself is not extant, it has been demonstrated that it was already an ancient and well-respected formula at the academy established by the great clinician. As Farnell notes, "the famous Hippocratean oath may not be an authentic deliverance of the great master, but is an ancient formula current in his school."</ref> In a like manner, the famous last words of Socrates also make reference to the god: "Crito, we owe a cock to Æsculapius ['''Asclepius''']; pay it, therefore; and do not neglect it."<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Phaedo]]'' (155).</ref> While varying theories have been suggested as to the meaning of this oblique utterance, it seems reasonable to follow Minadeo's interpretation (quoted below)&mdash;especially when noting that the previous sections of the dialogue describe the philosopher's various other pious preparations for his execution:
 +
:I suggest, therefore, that at the dialogue's close Asclepius is quite naturally singled out as a chief representative of those gods whom one must leave behind at death and that Socrates' last words are a simple but due expression of pious gratitude for the ''therapeia''-the care-which the god has accorded him during his long life.<ref>Minadeo, 296.</ref>
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===Resonances===
 
===Resonances===
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==References==
 
==References==
 +
* Benson, E. F. "Two Epidaurian Cures by Asclepius." ''The Classical Review''. Volume 7(4), (April 1893). 185-186.
 
* Dillon, Matthew. ''Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece''. London; New York: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0415127750.
 
* Dillon, Matthew. ''Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece''. London; New York: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0415127750.
 
* Farnell, Lewis Richard. ''The Cults of the Greek States'' (in Five Volumes). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
 
* Farnell, Lewis Richard. ''The Cults of the Greek States'' (in Five Volumes). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
Line 73: Line 79:
 
*Kerenyi, Karl. ''The Gods of the Greeks''. London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 1951. ISBN 0500270481.
 
*Kerenyi, Karl. ''The Gods of the Greeks''. London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 1951. ISBN 0500270481.
 
* Mikalson, Jon D. ''Ancient Greek Religion''. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN 0631232222.
 
* Mikalson, Jon D. ''Ancient Greek Religion''. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN 0631232222.
 +
* Minadeo, Richard. "Socrates' Debt to Asclepius." ''The Classical Journal'' Volume 66(4) (April/May, 1971). 294-297.
 
* Parke, H. W. ''Festivals of the Athenians''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8014-1054-1.
 
* Parke, H. W. ''Festivals of the Athenians''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8014-1054-1.
 +
* Plato.  ''Apology, Crito And Phædo of Socrates.'' Translated by Henry Cary. Accessed online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13726/13726-h/13726-h.htm#phaedo_or_the_immortality_of_the_soul Project Gutenberg]. Retrieved June 22, 2007.
 
* Powell, Barry B. ''Classical Myth'' (Second Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. ISBN 0-13-716714-8.
 
* Powell, Barry B. ''Classical Myth'' (Second Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. ISBN 0-13-716714-8.
 
* Rose, H. J. ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology''. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959. ISBN 0-525-47041-7.
 
* Rose, H. J. ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology''. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959. ISBN 0-525-47041-7.

Revision as of 20:25, 22 June 2007


Asclepius (Greek Άσκληπιός, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) was the demigod of medicine and healing in ancient Greek mythology. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts, while his daughters Hygieia, Meditrina, Iaso, Aceso, Aglæa/Ægle and Panacea (literally, "all-healing") symbolize the forces of cleanliness, medicine and healing, respectively.

Origins, Etymology and Epithets

The etymology of the name is unknown. In his revised version of Frisk's Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, R.S.P. Beekes gives this summary of the different attempts:[1]

"H. Grégoire (with R. Goossens and M. Mathieu) in Asklépios, Apollon Smintheus et Rudra 1949 (Mém. Acad. Roy. de Belgique. Cl. d. lettres. 2. sér. 45), explains the name as 'the mole-hero', connecting σκάλοψ, ἀσπάλαξ 'mole' and refers to the resemblance of the Tholos in Epidauros and the building of a mole. (Thus Puhvel, Comp. Mythol. 1987, 135.) But the variants of Asklepios and those of the word for 'mole' do not agree.
The name is typical for Pre-Greek words; apart from minor variations (β for π, αλ(α) for λα) we find α/αι (a well known variation; Fur. 335 - 339) followed by -γλαπ- or -σκλαπ-/-σχλαπ/β-, i.e. a voiced velar (without -σ-) or a voiceless velar (or an aspirated one: we know that there was no distinction between the three in the substr. language) with a -σ-. I think that the -σ- renders an original affricate, which (prob. as δ) was lost before the -γ- (in Greek the group -σγ- is rare, and certainly before another consonant); Beekes Pre-Greek.
Szemerényi's etymology (JHS 94, 1974, 155) from Hitt. assula(a)- 'well-being' and piya- 'give' cannot be correct, as it does not explain the velar."

One might add that even though Szemerényi's etymology (Hitt. asula- + piya-) does not account for the velar, it is perhaps inserted spontaneously in Greek due to the fact that the cluster -sl- was uncommon in Greek: so, *Aslāpios would become *Asklāpios automatically.


Mythic Accounts

Statue of Asclepius in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.

Birth

Coronis (or Arsinoe) became pregnant with Asclepius by Apollo but fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus. A crow informed Apollo of the affair and he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis. Her body was burned on a funeral pyre, staining the white feathers of the crows permanently black. Apollo rescued the baby by performing the first caesarean section and gave it to the centaur Chiron to raise. Enraged by his grief, Coronis' father Phlegyas torched the Apollonian temple at Delphi, for which Apollo promptly killed him.

Asclepius, Excellence in Medicine and Apotheosis

Chiron taught Asclepius the art of surgery, teaching him to be the most well-respected doctor of his day. According to the Pythian Odes of Pindar, Chiron also taught him the use of drugs, incantations and love potions. In The Library, Apollodorus claimed that Athena gave him a vial of blood from the Gorgons. Gorgon blood had magical properties: if taken from the left side of the Gorgon, it was a fatal poison; from the right side, the blood was capable of bringing the dead back to life.

Asclepius' powers were not appreciated by all, and his ability to revive the dead soon drew the ire of Zeus, who struck him down with a thunderbolt. According to some, Zeus was angered, specifically, by Asclepius' acceptance of money in exchange for resurrection. Others say that Zeus killed Asclepius after he agreed to resurrect Hippolytus at the behest of Artemis. Zeus may or may not have smitten Hippolytus with the same bolt. Either way, Asclepius' death at the hands of Zeus illustrates man's inability to challenge the natural order that separates mortal men from the gods.

Statue of Asclepios
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara

In retaliation for Asclepius' murder at the hands of Zeus, Apollo killed the Cyclopes, who fashioned Zeus' thunderbolts. According to Euripides' play Alkestis, Apollo was then forced into the servitude of Admetus for nine years.

After he realized Asclepius' importance to the world of men, Zeus placed him in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus.

Other Tales

Trojan War

According to some, Asclepius fought alongside the Achaeans in the Trojan War, and cured Philoctetes of his famous snake bite. However, others have attributed this to either Machaon or Podalirius, Asclepius' sons, who Homer mentions repeatedly in his Iliad as talented healers. Asclepius, on the other hand, is only referred to in Homer in relation to Machaon and Podalirius.

Consorts and Offspring

Asclepius was married to Epione, with whom he had six daughters: Hygieia, Meditrina (the serpent-bearer), Panacea, Aceso, Iaso, and Aglaea, and three sons: Machaon, Telesphoros, and Podalirius. He also bore a son, Aratus, with Aristodama.

Symbolism

The name, "serpent-bearer," refers to the Rod of Asclepius, which was entwined with a single serpent. This symbol has now become a symbol for physicians across the globe. However, one should be careful not to confuse the Staff of Asclepius, which features a single serpent wrapped around a roughhewn branch, with the Caduceus of Mercury (Roman), or the Karykeion of Hermes. The Caduceus, which features two intertwined serpents (rather than the single serpent in Asclepius' wand), as well as a pair of wings, has long been a symbol of commerce. It is thought that the two were first confused in the seventh century C.E., when alchemists often used the caduceus to symbolize their association with magical or "hermetic" arts.

Cult

Sacred Places

Asclepius' most famous sanctuary was in Epidaurus in Northeastern Peloponnese. Another famous "asclepieion" was on the island of Kos, where Hippocrates, the legendary doctor, may have begun his career. Other asclepieions were situated in Trikala, Gortys (in Arcadia), and Pergamum in Asia.

Sacred Practices

In honor of Asclepius, snakes were often used in healing rituals. Non-venomous snakes were left to crawl on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept. Starting about 300 B.C.E., the cult of Asclepius grew very popular. His healing temples were called asclepieion; pilgrims flocked to them to be healed. They slept overnight and reported their dreams to a priest the following day. He prescribed a cure, often a visit to the baths or a gymnasium.

It is also written by Lewis Farnell, that some healing temples used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of the sick petitioners.[1]


In the inscriptions found at Epidaurus, there are several instances of patients being cured by snakes (Ephemris Arch. 1883, p. 215 1. 115 ;id. 1855, p. 22, 1. 117, 130). Similarly Plutus was cured of his blindness by the licking of the tongue of the sacred snakes which lived in the temple of Asclepius (Arist. PI. 730-740). They were regarded with veneration and were fed by the worshippers (Paus. ii. 11, 8) and were thought to be the embodiment of the god (Paus. ii. 10 ; Aurelius Victor de viris illustribus xxii. 1; Valerius Maximus i. 8, 2 etc.).[2]

Given the prominence of the demi-god and his universal appeal as a promoter of health and well-being, it is not surprising that the classical corpus contains numerous invocations to Asclepius. Intriguingly, one finds examples of these religious utterances in the words attributed to two of the preeminent figures of the classical Hellenistic period: Hippocrates (the founder of modern medicine) and Socrates. Specifically, the original, ancient Hippocratic Oath begins with the invocation "I swear | by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods."[3] In a like manner, the famous last words of Socrates also make reference to the god: "Crito, we owe a cock to Æsculapius [Asclepius]; pay it, therefore; and do not neglect it."[4] While varying theories have been suggested as to the meaning of this oblique utterance, it seems reasonable to follow Minadeo's interpretation (quoted below)—especially when noting that the previous sections of the dialogue describe the philosopher's various other pious preparations for his execution:

I suggest, therefore, that at the dialogue's close Asclepius is quite naturally singled out as a chief representative of those gods whom one must leave behind at death and that Socrates' last words are a simple but due expression of pious gratitude for the therapeia-the care-which the god has accorded him during his long life.[5]


Resonances

Some later religious movements claimed links to Asclepius. In the 2nd Century AD The False Prophet Alexander claimed that his god Glycon was an incarnation of Asclepius.

The Greeks used the name Asclepius interchangeably with the then well known Egyptian genius Imhotep.

Trivia

  • The botanical genus Asclepias (commonly known as milkweed), is named after him, due to its numerous uses in folk medicine.

See also

Wikisource-logo.svg
Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:
Asclepius
  • Rod of Asclepius

Notes

  1. Farnell (1921), 240.
  2. E. F. Benson, 185.
  3. Farnell (1921), 269. Though evidence concerning the institution of this oath by Hippocrates himself is not extant, it has been demonstrated that it was already an ancient and well-respected formula at the academy established by the great clinician. As Farnell notes, "the famous Hippocratean oath may not be an authentic deliverance of the great master, but is an ancient formula current in his school."
  4. Plato, Phaedo (155).
  5. Minadeo, 296.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Benson, E. F. "Two Epidaurian Cures by Asclepius." The Classical Review. Volume 7(4), (April 1893). 185-186.
  • Dillon, Matthew. Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece. London; New York: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0415127750.
  • Farnell, Lewis Richard. The Cults of the Greek States (in Five Volumes). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
  • Farnell, Lewis Richard. "The Cult of Asklepios" in Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921. 234-279.
  • Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. ISBN 080184410X.
  • Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths (Complete Edition). London: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0140171991.
  • Harrison, Jane Ellen. Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1908.
  • Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 1951. ISBN 0500270481.
  • Mikalson, Jon D. Ancient Greek Religion. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN 0631232222.
  • Minadeo, Richard. "Socrates' Debt to Asclepius." The Classical Journal Volume 66(4) (April/May, 1971). 294-297.
  • Parke, H. W. Festivals of the Athenians. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8014-1054-1.
  • Plato. Apology, Crito And Phædo of Socrates. Translated by Henry Cary. Accessed online at Project Gutenberg. Retrieved June 22, 2007.
  • Powell, Barry B. Classical Myth (Second Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. ISBN 0-13-716714-8.
  • Rose, H. J. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959. ISBN 0-525-47041-7.

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