Asclepios
was the Greek god of medicine and healing (called Aesculapius in Rome). He was
the son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis according to legend, but most probably a
mortal who originally practiced healing in the area of Trikkala on the
Thessalian plain of central Greece and came later to be considered a god.
He’s most famous sanctuary was located in Epidaurus. The temples of Asclepios
are always associated with sacred springs, whose waters carried the healing
powers of the Earth. The main attribute of Asclepius is a physician's staff with
an Asclepian snake wrapped around it; this is how he was distinguished in the
art of healing, and his attribute still survives to this day as the symbol of
the modern medical profession.
This Asclepios statue shows him as a venerable old man
with thick and wavy hair and a heavy beard. He wears his himation or cloak in
the style worn by learned teachers in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.,
leaving most of the breast uncovered. It is also said that Hippocrates was a
descendant of Asclepios. This Asclepios statue reproduces a marble original
found in the Temple of Asclepios at Epidauros. |
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