Machaon
Greek · quartigod · trojan war · Recorded classification
Quartigod elder son of Asclepius by Epione; the canonical Iliadic physician-warrior of the Achaean contingent at Troy. Healed Menelaus's arrow-wound in Iliad 4.193-219 — the foundational physician-scene of Greek-medical literature. Killed at Troy (variant: by Eurypylus per Quintus Smyrnaeus 6, or by Penthesilea per Apollodorus Epit. 5.1). Buried at Gerenia in Pylian Messenia; Pausanias 3.26.9 records the continuing imperial-period hero-cult. Father of Nicomachus and Gorgasus, founders of the Pharae-Asclepieion.
Parentage
- father: AsclepiusHom. Il. 4.193 (primary)
Children
Domains
- healing medicine
Powers
- Heal battle-wounds by the surgeon's art
- Treat battle-wounds and cut out arrows as army surgeon
Relations
- father: AsclepiusHom. Il. 4.193 (primary)
- mother: Epione (wife of Asclepius; mother of the Asclepiad children per the Erythraean Paean) · GreekAnonymous Erythraean Paean (Inscr. Erythrai 205, c.380 BCE) (primary)
- sibling: PodaliriusBrother through their shared parents Asclepius and Epione; the canonical Iliadic physician-warrior duo.Hom. Il. 2.732, 11.833 (primary)
- sibling: HygieiaAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
- sibling: IasoAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
- sibling: AcesoAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
- sibling: AegleAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
- sibling: PanaceaAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
- half sibling: TelesphorusHalf-sibling through their shared father Asclepius; Telesphorus's mother is unspecified in primary sources.Pausanias 2.11.7 (primary)
- half sibling: Aratus of SicyonHalf-brother through their shared father Asclepius; Aratus is Asclepius's son by Aristodama.Pausanias 2.10.3 (primary)
- father of: NicomachusPausanias 4.30.3 (primary)
- father of: GorgasusPausanias 4.30.3 (primary)
Sources
- existence: Homer, Iliad 2.731-732, 4.193-219, 11.504-520, 11.833-836; Apollodorus, Epitome 3.14, 5.1; Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica 6.390-435; Pausanias 3.26.9, 4.30.3, 4.36.7; the Anonymous Erythraean Paean (Inscr. Erythrai 205, c.380 BCE = IGRR IV 1505) (primary)
- parentage: Hom. Il. 2.731-732, 4.193 (primary)