Download the Cult of Asklepios

Asclhpios
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
•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
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 Asklepios
According 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
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
Votive relief from Tyrea, in Argolis (370 BC)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/imbrow
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 GrecoRoman world
Right: Epidauros
Left: Sanctuary
http://home.att.net/~hagardorn/epidaurus.html
http://www.bowdoin.edu/dept/clas/arch201/sanctuari
es/kos.temple.remains.html
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.
This is a
spring and
shrine of
Asklepios in
the Acropolis,
Athens
http://www.sacredsites.com/final40/181.html
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 earth
Porphyrius, De abstinentia ii.19
http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/msjama/articles/vol_281/no_5/jms90003.htm
Entrance at Temple of Kos
Picture shows a pot of milk being warmed and snakes surrounding altar
http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapplication/Images.cfm?Major=GR&Minor=A
Votive relief of Archinos (370 BC)
The healing god Asklepios appears to the dreamer to cure him
http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapplication/Images.cfm?Major=GR&Minor=A
Portico at Epidauros
The patient recieves a dream
message from Asklepios
http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imag
eapplication/Images.cfm?Major=GR
&Minor=A
Patient is brought to holy tree to tempt snake to lick the wounds
http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapplication/Images.cfm?Major=GR&Minor=A
Votives from the Asklepieion
•These votives represented the a patient’s ailment and
their thanks for the cure
http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapplication/Images.cfm?Major=GR&Minor=A
•These are terracotta votives from the Asklepieion at Corinth
http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/demandgreekcures.html
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
•The brazen serpent is depicted here by Michelangelo
http://216.33.240.250/cgibin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=0d0ee08f5f26ebe4c6527c6e57ef53c8&lat=986492500&hm
___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ekfki%2ehu%2f%7earthp%2fart%2f
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
from an
ivory diptych,
5th century AD
http://www.b
ritannica.com/e
b/art?id=9293
&type=A
Asclepius
Etching of 2nd century Roman sature of Asklepios currently in the Uffizi, Florence
http://www.signalz.com/dionart/sama.htm