Shrinking Banshee Presents:
Asclepius, God of Healing
Asclepius is the God of Healing and Medicine. He was
the son of Apollo and Coronis, although some mythology says his
mother was Arsinoe. Artemis killed Asclepius' mother on Apollo's
orders for her infidelities. While her corpse was still burning
Apollo took Asclepius from her womb and gave him to the centaur
Chiron to raise. Another of Asclepius' birth myths says that he
was abandoned by his mother and found be a goatherd, who
recognized him as a god by the ras of light eminating from him.
Asclepius married Epione, the daughter of Merops. Together they had sons Machaon and Podalirius and daughters Acesis (Remedy), Aegle, Iaso (Cure), Janiscus, Hygieia (Health), and Pannacea (All-healing). His daughter's names are probably personifications of their father's powers.
Asclepius was the physician of the Argonauts on their voyage. He cured so many injured men that Hades complained to Zeus. Zeus struck Asclepius down with a thunderbolt and killed him because he believed that with the help of Asclepius mortals may learn to escape death altogether. He was thrust into the stars as the constellation Serpentarius, because the serpent coiled around a staff was a symbol sacred to him. This is where the modern day symbol for the medical profession comes from.
After his death Asclepius was deified. Temples were dedicated to him in Epidaurus and Kos. There many cults devoted to him throughout Greece. Each one having its oen shrine, containing baths and a gymnasium for health. His worshippers would also spend an entire evening in the shrines waiting from a message from their chosen God.
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