the cult of asklepios

•He became the mythical God of healing•During the 4th century the cult of Asklepios spread throughout the Greek world. Epidauros was claimed as the birthplace of Asklepios

Who was Asklepios?•Homer originally related to Asklepios as a mortal “blameless physician” in 900 BC

•It was not until the 5th to 4th century BCE that Asklepios was deified by the mythic odes of Pindar and Hesiod

The Homeric Asklepios•He is considered to be a heroic mortal and not a God

•He was a skillful local physician of Trikka in Thessaly, which later became the oldest home of his cult

•His sons Machaon and Podaleirios appear in the Iliad not as sons of a god but craftsmen skilled in the art of healing

The Diefied AsklepiosAccording to Hesiod (700 BC)

•Apollo was in love with Coronis

•Apollo kills Coronis for her unfaithfulness with Ischys

•Asklepios is saved by Apollo while still in mother’s womb

•Asklepios learns the art of medicine where he becomes a god and hero

http://home.att.net/~hagardorn/epidaurus.htm

Votive relief from Tyrea, in Argolis (370 BC)

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/imbrow

The bottom left relief depicts a patient and his family approaching the Medical Gods of Asklepios and his children: Hygieia, Machaon, Podaleirios, Akeso, Iaso, and Panakeia

Cult of Asklepios•The Asklepian cult came to be located in Epidauros as well as in Athens, Pergamon and Kos

•From the Asklepieion of Epidauros, the cult spread to Athens and the rest of the Greco-Roman world

http://home.att.net/~hagardorn/epidaurus.html

http://www.bowdoin.edu/dept/clas/arch201/sanctuaries/kos.temple.remains.html

Right: Epidauros

Left: Sanctuary

Part of the complex of buildings comprising the shrine of Asklepios on the south slope of the Acropolis

http://nimbus.ocis.temple.edu/~jsiegel/sites/athens/South%20Slope/9804.htm

The sanctuaries of Asklepios are always associated with healing powers of sacred springs. The water supposedly carried the blessings of the earth spirits.

http://www.sacredsites.com/final40/181.html

This is a spring and shrine of Asklepios in the Acropolis, Athens

Healing Rituals of Asklepian Cult• A patient in pursuit of a cure came to the Asklepieion with

offerings of honey cakes at altar• The patient would then drink and bath in the sacred waters• Then the patient was induced to sleep in silence because it

was believed that Asklepios cured the sick in dreams• During the dream, Asklepios or his snakes would give them

clues in regards to healing their ailments• His staff symbolized the tree of life and the coiling snake

represented the healing powers of the earthPorphyrius, De abstinentia ii.19

http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/msjama/articles/vol_281/no_5/jms90003.htm

http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapplication/Images.cfm?Major=GR&Minor=A

Entrance at Temple of Kos

Picture shows a pot of milk being warmed and snakes surrounding altar


Votive relief of Archinos (370 BC)

The healing god Asklepios appears to the dreamer to cure him

Portico at Epidauros

The patient recieves a dream message from Asklepios



Patient is brought to holy tree to tempt snake to lick the wounds

Votives from the Asklepieion•These votives represented the a patient’s ailment and their thanks for the cure


http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/demandgreekcures.html

•These are terracotta votives from the Asklepieion at Corinth

The Symbolism Behind the Snake

• The symbol of the snake has been a paradox• The Bible illustrates the snake as the evil arch

enemy of man (Genesis 3: 1-16)• However, “the serpent of brass” made by Moses

cures the ailing Jews in Numbers 21: 9• The serpent becomes a magical creature amongst

the ancient Greeks and Romans• Asklepios adopts the snake as a symbol for

healing

http://216.33.240.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=0d0ee08f5f26ebe4c6527c6e57ef53c8&lat=986492500&hm___action=

http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ekfki%2ehu%2f%7earthp%2fart%2f

•The brazen serpent is depicted here by Michelangelo

Asklepian Connections

•Demeter was also seen as a healing deity

•Both Asklepios and Demeter were symbolized by snakes

•In addition, they both used the poppy seed for its curative properties

http://srd.yahoo.com/goo/demeter+and+snakes/9/*http://www.cybercomm.net/~grandpa/demeterx.html

Asklepios Comes to Rome•From the 3rd century BC and onwards, the Greek world fell into Roman hands. As a result, Asklepios becomes increasingly popular and even becomes threatening to Christianity and other religions

http://www.harlanjberk.com/departments/antq/page1/Asklep.htm

Etching of 2nd century Roman sature of Asklepios currently in the Uffizi, Florence

http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/msjama/articles/vol_281/no_5/jms90003.htm

from an ivory diptych, 5th century AD

http://www.britannica.com/eb/art?id=9293&type=A Asclepius

http://www.signalz.com/dionart/sama.htm

the cult of asklepios

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