Asclepius was not among the twelve gods of Mount Olympus. According to Homer, he was just the king of Trikki of Thessaly¹ and father of the heroes Machaon and Podaleirius, the leaders of the Thessalian expeditionary corps in the Trojan War. The cult of Asclepius, associated with healing, appeared around the 6^th century BC and started to be increasingly important in the 5^th century BC. According to some researchers, this happened because medical science had progressed and, thus, had to be independent and have its own god.

There are at least two versions of Asclepius’ birth,²which claim that his father was Apollo. According to the most prevalent version,³ his mother was Coronis, the daughter of the Thessalian king Phlegyas, while, according to the second version, his mother was Arsinoe, the daughter of King Leucippus from the Peloponnese. The first version claims that Coronis was pregnant by the god and gave birth to her son in Epidaurus during a trip there with her father. Opinions are once again divided: according to some myths, Coronis abandoned the baby in the forest, where the shepherd Arethanas found it and brought it up by feeding it on goat’s milk. However, according to other myths explaining his ability to heal, Coronis gave the baby to the Centaur Chiron in Mount Pelion. Asclepius sat under the Centaur and learnt all herbs and poisons that could cure the people of various diseases.⁴

Asclepius married goddess Hygeia⁵ and had two sons, Machaon and Podaleirius,⁶ and three daughters, Akeso, Iaso and Panakeia. In his representations he is very often surrounded by his family. The god’s symbol was the snake coiled around a staff. However, representations of Asclepius in art and, particularly, on coins show him accompanied by a tiny creature, Telesphorus, the deity that helps the cure of the sick, while his symbol is the ‘omphalos’ (navel), bequeathed by Apollo’s cult.

Asclepius was originally worshipped as a hero. In Trikki, the place where he reigned, he was worshipped in a sacred place, according to the Epidaurian Hymn of Isyllus. From the 5^th century on the cult of Asclepius spread and he was then considered a demigod or god. His cult spread from Epidaurus to Sikyon, Corinth,⁷ Aegina⁸ and Athens.⁹ In some cases, such as in Corinth, he was worshipped together with Apollo. In the 4^th century BC the cult of Asclepius spread to Erythrae, Kos,¹⁰Pergamon, Delos, and Prousa of Bithynia.¹¹ Towards the late 4^th century BC there were about 400 Asclepieia in the wider Mediterranean. In 293 BC the cult spread to Rome as well, following a famine that decimated the city.¹²

During the religious syncretism of the Hellenistic period the cult of Asclepius blended with cults from other eastern deities, such as Imhotep of Egypt¹³ and Eshmun in Sidon on the Palestinian coast. That was the heyday of the cult of Asclepius probably due to its ‘personal’ and soteriological character, which applied to the social and spiritual conditions prevailing in the Hellenistic kingdoms of the time. However, in several Asia Minor cities Asclepius is represented like Zeus and in some cases there is the unusual combination of Zeus-Asclepius in important places of worship, such as Epidaurus, Lebena in Crete and Pergamon.

In the Roman period the cult of Asclepius won great fame. At least 300 Asclepieia are reported in the entire empire in the early 1^st century AD. In the 2^nd century Asclepius – often together with Hygeia – finds his place on the back of coins minted by the imperial mints.¹⁴ The most famous place of worship in Asia Minor at the time was in Aegae of Cilicia. This sanctuary is reported on the latest written evidence about the god’s cult – an inscription from Epidaurus dating from 355.¹⁵

Asclepius became a dangerous enemy of Christianity, since the new religion, apart from life after death, taught relief from physical pain and diseases. That is why Christianity was opposed to classical medicine and, mainly, medicine practiced in the numerous Asclepieia. Furthermore, they called him an ‘avaricious physician’.¹⁶ Even when the Roman Empire was Christianised several Asclepieia were transformed into Christian churches; however, their patron-saints were able to heal, such as the St. Anargyroi. A typical example is the church of St. Demetrios in Thessaloniki.

Like all infirmaries, the Asclepieia were usually within some distance from cities so that the patients could be calm and additional buildings for their needs could be constructed. Moreover, the sanctuaries should be surrounded by a thicket, usually a pinewood, which was associated with treatment,¹⁷ as meditation and autosuggestion of the patients while they were trying to communicate with the god must have played a crucial role in their treatment.¹⁸ The main characteristic of most temples-infirmaries of Asclepius was the spring, for the contact with water was considered therapeutic. As regards architecture, most Asclepieia followed the architectural patterns of Epidaurus and Kos. Apart from the sanctuary, which comprised the main temple,¹⁹ in front of which there were usually several altars, the Asclepieion also included one or more buildings (often with two floors), where the patients and the members of their families that accompanied them were accommodated. The patients were offered there medical care so that the treatment could be easier and they could relax from the tiring journey they had made. The Asclepieion should also have a dormitory. This was like a stoa and the patients-believers slept there often wrapped in a hide of an animal they had sacrificed; in this way, the god would reveal in their dreams the way they would regain their health. Furthermore, the Asclepieia were completed with baths. An inscription found in Pergamon describes in detail the stages of the process the patients should follow: at first, before they went to the sanctuary, they had to sacrifice to the god in the morning and make a contribution to the treasury of the temple. Before they slept in the dormitory they had to offer confectionary to Mnemosyne so that she would help them remember in the morning the dream they had seen, as well as to Themis so that the dream could come true. Finally, the patients were generally advised to practice continence, that is, to eat a little and refrain from sexual pleasure.

Earthen or metal effigies or the engraved parts of the body (i.e. limbs) suggesting the ailment of the patient who had offered them to Asclepius are typical findings from almost all Asclepieia.²⁰ In addition, inscriptions dedicated to the god by all who had been healed were found in several Asclepieia. In particular, the so-called ‘hiamata’ were found in Epidaurus; they were long inscriptions put up possibly by the priests. Some typical cases of patients whose cure was followed by visions as well as the miraculous intervention of the god are described on them.

The Asclepieion of Pergamon was founded in the first half of the 4^th century BC by Archias, the first prytanis of the city and son of Aristaechmus, who recovered from the wound he had received in Epidaurus. In thanks for the god’s help he built a sanctuary on a cliff, within about 1 km to the SW of the city, near a spring with medicinal waters.²¹ In 191/190 BC²² and in 156 BC²³ the sanctuary was damaged and the most important loss was the removal of the devotional statue of the god made by Phyromachus. Towards the late 1^st century AD the Asclepieion of Pergamon was extended.²⁴In 123, on the occasion of the imperial visit of Hadrian, the sanctuary was completely restored. The older buildings, apart from the main temple, were pulled down and a building complex measuring a total of 102 x 140 m was built; it included altars and dormitories and was surrounded by Ionic colonnades on its three sides. Access to the sanctuary was through a monumental Corinthian propylon, where the ‘sacred road’ ended. The road connected the sanctuary with the city and in the Roman years it was paved and surrounded by a roofed colonnade (via tecta), on either side of which there were shops. In 140 the consul L. Cuspius PactumeiusRufinus built a circular temple (tholos), dedicated to Asclepius, to the south of propylon, following the architectural design of the Pantheon of Rome. Shortly after Hadrian died, a notable woman from Pergamon, Flavia Melitene, built to the north of the propylon a library dedicated to the memory of the emperor, where a colossal statue of the emperor was found. Finally, there is the theatre dating from the late 2^nd century and seating 3,500 spectators. The theatre and the library proved that the patients during their stay were entertained and educated. Hence the famous orator Aelius Aristides managed to remain there for a long time leaving behind an extensive work that assessed positively the infirmary and the methods of treatment, which included baths, herbal therapy, dormitories, drinking of sacred water and autosuggestion.²⁵ In 214 AD Emperor Caracalla visited Pergamon because he suffered from some ailment. On the occasion of the imperial visit the Asclepieion was once again restored. The motif of Asclepius with his sacred egg-shaped stone omphalos and Telesphorus, appearing on the coins of Pergamon, was now ornamenting the imperial coins. Asclepius took the place of the dominant god of Pergamon and was worshipped as Deus Pergameus ever since.²⁶

The Asclepieion of Aegae in Cilicia, where Asclepius Aegeus was worshipped, was the only Asclepieion in Asia Minor whose fame spread beyond the local area perhaps because the region was closely connected, already from the pro-Hellenistic period, with supernatural phenomena. Unfortunately, little is known about its operation and architectural structure. In 215, one year after he visited Pergamon, Emperor Caracalla visited Aegae as well.²⁷

According to Eusebius, the Asclepieion of Aegae was destroyed in 331 by order of Constantine the Great perhaps because Aegae had supported his opponent Licinius.²⁸ However, the income from such a tourist centre of pilgrimage could not be given away. As a result, the cult of Asclepius was replaced by the worship of the physicians Saints Agioi Anargyroi, namely Cosmas and Damianus,²⁹ and the thaumaturgist St. Thallelaios. In the 5^th century a church dedicated to the thaumaturgist St. Thekla was built in Seleuceia ad Calycandus.³⁰

Apart from qualified doctors, quacks are very common even nowadays. They were commoner in Antiquity, since there was loose or even no control at all. Alexander, who was born in Abonuteichos of Paphlagonia circa 105 and became very popular in his time, is a typical example.³¹ After he travelled a lot and was connected with Apollonius of Tyana, he returned to his birthplace and started to put out a story that he was the son of Podaleirius and grandson of Asclepius and had the ability to heal and foresee the future. What is more, he founded an oracle after he had cunningly announced that Asclepius would visit the place.³² He then found a tamed snake, which he called Glykon, and prophesied with its help. The oracle became very famous in Paphlagonia, Bithynia, the Black Sea and Galatia, even in Rome, as evidenced by representations of Glykon on coins. However, in several cases the prophecies were not fulfilled, particularly during the plague epidemic that struck the city in 165.

Because the cult of Asclepius was spread relatively late – definitely after the Greeks stopped to make up their mythological tales –, there are few myths about his life and action and, as a result, the modern world is short of narrative representations of Asclepius. The god is usually represented standing or treating patients. On relief representations from the 4^th century BC he is represented calm, with a fine beard, either sitting or standing. This model was based on the devotional statue of the god from Epidaurus,³³ made by Thrasymedes from Paros. His facial features in the Hellenistic period are strongly reminiscent of the respective representations of Zeus, Poseidon or Sarapis. Perhaps that is why (so as not to be confused with them) he is always represented together with typical living creatures or things. However, his main feature is the staff, around which a snake is wrapped. This symbol has been the emblem of the medical profession ever since. In Epidaurian representations he is accompanied by a dog, which reminds of the local myth about his desertion and his upbringing by a shepherd. Quite often he appears with the omphalos, the symbol of Apollo’s cult, which reminds of Asclepius’ origins and his chthonic powers. In some other cases the god is holding an egg. After all, the typological differentiation between his representations is barely noticeable. Most representations are copies or variations of the god’s devotional statues from local Asclepieia. Even on the boundaries of the Greek world or in regions where the god mingled with local deities, his features were hardly affected. It is worth noting that there were few representations of the god in painting and they were mainly used as dedicative items, while in pottery there is only one example from some Attic workshop founded at the same time as the Asclepieion in Athens,³⁴ and some much later examples from the Roman Imperial period with relief representations of the god. There are often relief representations of the god on offerings or items connected with his cult, such as oil lamps or oblations. They were massively reproduced items of low quality with standard representations. Apart from the established motif of Asclepius, there were also some attempts to represent the god in less conventional versions, such as the god as a baby,³⁵ the god in his youth, the god beardless and often as a young man laying back with a wreath on his head³⁶ – a motif particularly popular in the Roman period – on imperial medals.³⁷ An extremely rare representation exists on a mosaic from Palmyra, dating from the early 3^rd century, where the god appears beardless, sitting and facing forward; he is sacrificing before a small altar.³⁸ Literary sources refer to representations of Asclepius by famous sculptors of Antiquity. According to Strabo (8.3-4), Colotes, the student of Phidias had made a statue of the god from wood and ivory slabs, which was in Cyllene of Elis. Pausanias, on the other hand, reports that he once saw in Mantineia a statue of Asclepius made by Alcamenes, the partner and successor of Phidias.³⁹ However, none of these splendid devotional statues has been identified.