Asclepius

• Asclepius was the God of Medicine and Healing in Ancient Greece. He was the son of Apollo sharing with him the title of ‘Paean’ meaning ‘The Healer’.
• He was associated with the Roman God of Healing, Vejovis, who also had Temples erected to him.

The Daughters of Asclepius

• Hygeia:
  • Goddess of sanitation and hygiene.
• Iaso:
  • Goddess of recuperation from illness.
• Aceso:
  • Goddess of the healing process.
• Aglaea:
  • Goddess of magnificence and glory.
• Panacea:
  • Goddess of universal remedy.

The Rod of Asclepius

• The Rod was a staff entwined by a snake, which is still the symbol of medicine today.

The Asclepieion

• This was a Healing Temple dedicated to Asclepius. They were the first hospitals of the classical world.
• The sick and infirm came from far and wide to make offerings to the God in the hopes of receiving a cure.
• They stayed in an adjacent guesthouse and drank from sacred springs nearby.

The Four Temples of Asclepius

• Epidaurus
  • In the Peloponnese, this was the most famous and the oldest temple, dating from the 6th century BCE.
    Rebuilt in the 4th century BCE it contained a guesthouse with 160 guestrooms.
    It’s ruins can be seen today.
    It was still known in the 5th century CE, although as a christian healing centre.
• Kos
  • Home to Hippocrates, the father of medicine.
• Trikala
  • Gortys in Arcadia.
• Pergamum
  • In Asia.

Temple of Asclepius in Rome

• • The Temple was located on Tiber Island in the middle of the River Tiber.
  • Built in 293 BCE after a great Plague hit Rome, it was completed in 291 BCE, by order of the Roman Senate after consulting the Sibylline Books.
  • A ship was sent to Epidauras to obtain a statue of Asclepius.
  • A snake entwined itself around the mast (like the Rod of Asclepius) and on arrival in Rome, it slithered onto the island and was seen as a sign sent from Asclepius to build his Temple there.
  • Tiber Island was then shaped like a ship as a reminder of this event.
    It was given a prow and a stern, and an Obelisk was placed in the centre to represent the mast.
  • Today, in keeping with the same theme, a hospital built in 1584 CE stands on the site of the Temple.

Tiber island