ASCLEPIUS

God of Healing


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The cult of Asclepius emerged in the late fifth century BCE. Arguably, the spread of this religion is as significant to the history of medicine as the contemporaneous developments around the Greek physician Hippocrates (ca. 460–ca. 375 BCE).

A white sculpted head with tousled, wavy hair. The forehead, eyes, and cheeks are unlined. The nose is long and touches the thick mustache, which connects to the curly, forking beard.

Head of Asclepius, cut from a larger-than-life-size statue. Hellenistic, 325–300 BCE. Parian marble. Shrine of Asclepios, Melos, Greece. H. approx. 60 cm. British Museum: 1867,0508.115. Photo: © The Trustees of the British Museum. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

While many gods were ascribed healing powers and people frequently prayed to different deities for relief from illness, Asclepius did not belong to the original canon of Greek deities. Though a relative latecomer, he quickly came to symbolize the power of divine healing and the medical art itself: healing gods were not usually a distinct category of deity, making Asclepius unique in his specialization. An abundance of coins minted in the Roman Empire bearing Asclepian iconography illustrates his ongoing importance in the first three centuries CE. Tellingly, his snake-entwined staff remains an icon of medicine even today.

Gold coin with raised images of a man’s head on one side and a group of figures with a building on the either. Small dots and text run around the edges on both sides.

Coin (aureus) issued by the emperor Caracalla. Obverse (left): bust of Caracalla, laureate. Reverse (right): Caracalla worshipping before a temple in which Asclepius stands on an altar. Roman, 215 CE. Gold. Minted in Rome. Diam. 2.1 cm; Wt. 7.3 g. British Museum: 1844,1015.239. Photo: © The Trustees of the British Museum. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Mythological accounts of Asclepius’s origins vary and occasionally conflict. It was widely believed that he was the son of the god Apollo and a mortal woman, Coronis. Apollo, himself a god associated with healing, first taught Asclepius about medicine; the centaur Chiron then guided his formal education in the discipline.

A rectangular painting with a centaur in the center. A man with a raised arm stands to the left, while another figure sits to the right.

The centaur Chiron standing between Apollo and Asclepius. Roman, 1st century CE. Fresco. Casa della Danzatrice (VI.17.10), Pompeii. H. 38 cm; W. 51 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli: 8846. Photo: Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e per il Turismo / Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli.

While scholars debate the origins of Asclepius, there is no doubt about how rapidly his cult expanded. The epicenter of the cult was in Epidaurus, his reputed birthplace, but, already by 420 or 419 BCE, a sanctuary to the god stood on the south side of the Acropolis in Athens, and the playwright Sophocles produced a paean in the god’s honor; by the third century BCE, the cult had arrived as far away as Rome, imported in the hope of driving away an outbreak of plague. The worship of Asclepius coexisted with other beliefs; over the course of centuries, the god easily syncretized with other deities, sometimes even superseding them.

A square mosaic with three figures: a seated, elderly man in a white toga to the left, with a large rock behind him; a man with a brownish toga descending a ship, greeted by a man in a helmet to the right. Curling vines and floral motifs form a border.

Mosaic depicting Asclepius’s arrival at Kos, Greece. Roman, 2nd or 3rd century CE. Asclepieion of Kos. H. 115 cm; W. 115 cm. Archaeological Museum of Kos. Photo: Archaeological Museum of Kos.

A square painting that depicts two shelves holding green peach-shaped fruits, some attached to a leafy branch. Two fruits have been cut open to reveal a brown pit. A glass vessel of water stands on the lower shelf.

Detail of a wall painting with fruit. Roman, 45–79 CE. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli: 8645. Photo: Ministero per i Beni e le Attivita Culturali e per ii Turismo / Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli.

Asclepius then visited the physician in his sleep and advised him to cut the artery between his index and middle fingers. Galen followed the god’s instructions, adjusted his diet, added exercise at the gymnasium—and enjoyed good health for decades afterward. Galen was not shy about his devotion to Asclepius, telling the emperor Marcus Aurelius:

“I had declared myself his [Asclepius’] servant ever since he had saved me from a deadly condition of an abscess.”