Asclepius

Half-Olympian son of Apollo by Coronis; rescued from his mother's funeral pyre by Apollo; trained by Chiron in medicine. Resurrected the dead (variously Hippolytus, Glaucus son of Minos, or others); Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt to preserve the boundary between mortality and immortality. Posthumously worshipped as the god of healing — cult mother-sanctuary at Epidaurus, with major Asklepieia at Cos (Hippocratic medical school), Pergamon, Athens, and Rome (Tiber Island, imported 293 BCE during a plague). The Rod of Asclepius (single-serpent staff) remains the international symbol of medicine. The Hippocratic Oath invokes him alongside Apollo, Hygieia, and Panacea.

Parentage

• paternal: Apollo
• maternal: Coronis

Children

• Aceso
• Aegle
• Machaon
• Podalirius
• Aratus of Sicyon
• Hygieia
• Iaso
• Panacea
• Telesphorus

Domains

• medicine and healing
• resurrection power
• prophecy

Powers

• Cure the sick through dream-vision in temple incubation
• Stay disease and wounds as the gentlest of physicians
• Raise the dead with the Gorgon's blood
• Heal disease and wounds
• Raise the dead

Epithets

• Ἀσκληπιὸς Σωτήρ greek · Asklēpiòs Sōtḗr'Asclepius the Saviour' — widespread healing cult-epithet, e.g. at Epidaurus and AthensIG II² 4514 (Athens, Asklepieion dedication) (primary)
• Παιάν greek · Paián'Healer' — the healing-cry/epithet applied to Asclepius the physician-godAristophanes, Wealth 636 (primary)
• Σωτήρ greek · Sōtḗr'Saviour' — the principal cult-epithet of Asclepius at Epidaurus and beyondAristophanes, Plutus 701 (primary)
• Παιών greek · Paiṓn'Healer' — Asclepius invoked as the healing physician-godIG IV²,1.128 (Isyllus' paean, Epidaurus) (primary)
• Ἀσκληπιὸς Ἐπιδώτης Greek · Epidotes · cultthe Bountiful / Giver of goodPausanias, Description of Greece 2.27.6 (primary)

Relations

• lover: Aristodama
• spouse: Epione
• father of: MachaonHom. Il. 4.193; Apollod. Epit. 3.14 (primary)
• father of: PodaliriusHom. Il. 11.833; Apollod. Epit. 3.14 (primary)
• father of: HygieiaAnonymous Erythraean Paean (Inscr. Erythrai 205) (primary)
• father of: IasoAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
• father of: AcesoAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
• father of: AegleAnonymous Erythraean Paean (primary)
• father of: PanaceaAnonymous Erythraean Paean; Hippocratic Oath (primary)
• father of: TelesphorusPausanias 2.11.7 (primary)
• father of: Aratus of SicyonSon by Aristodama through Sicyon Asclepieion incubation-conception.Pausanias 2.10.3 (primary)
• syncretism: ImhotepPtolemaic cult fused deified Imhotep (Imouthes) with Asklepios; both healing patrons of mortal origin. Preserves incubation-healing and the deified-physician arc; Imhotep keeps his scribe-architect side.P.Oxy. XI 1381 (aretalogy of Imouthes-Asklepios) (primary)
• interpretatio: EshmunThe Sardinian trilingual formally equates Eshmun with Asklepios. Preserves the healing youth-god (both with serpent emblem); breaks on Eshmun's dying-reviving myth and city-tutelary role at Sidon.KAI 66 (trilingual of San Nicolò Gerrei, Sardinia: Eshmun = Asklepios = Aesculapius) (primary)
• syncretism: The Thracian Horseman, Hero-God of the ReliefsAt Thracian healing sanctuaries (e.g. Batkun) the Rider is invoked as Asklepios in inscriptions while keeping rider iconography. Preserves the healer function; the Rider's hunter-hero nature is untouched.N. Dimitrova, 'Inscriptions and Iconography in the Monuments of the Thracian Rider', Hesperia 71 (2002) (secondary)
• counterpart of: AsklepiosTradition-specific counterpart; this link does not transfer parentage.Orphic Hymns 66 (Taylor; modern 67) (primary)
• counterpart of: AesculapiusTradition-specific counterpart; this link does not transfer parentage.Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.622–745 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Hesiod fr. 50-53; Pindar Pythian 3 (full Asclepius narrative); Homeric Hymn 16; Apollodorus 3.10.3-4; Pausanias 2.26-28; Ovid Metamorphoses 15.622-744; Hippocratic Oath (primary)