Asclepius the Healer

• Main Author: Stivala, Joan
• Format: Online
• Language: English
• Published: Centre for the Study of Myth and Religion in Greek and Roman Antiquity 2020
• Subjects: Medicine, Plants, Vegetables, Fruits, Disease, Magic, Religion; Greek mythology; Oresteia, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra; disbelief, iamata, epigraphic evidence, literary evidence, divine punishment, incubation; Iphigénie, Iphigénie en Tauride, sacrifice, protéleia, prémices; Asclepius, Justin martyr, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Contra Celsum, euhemerism; Hercules; Steve Moore; comics; myth;counterfeit;origami; repetition; Agamemnon, hero, Kassandra, Amyklai, Zeus; Asclepius, testimonials, medical treatment, Aristides; Heracles’ private life; Love; Family; Man /woman; Mythic parallels; greek mythology; Agamemnon, history, rhetoric, politics; Ηρακλής; Γέλα; Ακράγας; Ρόδος; Κρήτη; Snake, ambiguity, health in antiquity, healing cult, symbolism, ancient medicine, snake imagery, manipulation

Asclepius was the most popular healing deity of the ancient Graeco-Roman world. There are several reasons for this status. It was believed that he had been born a mortal, had trained in medicine and, in one version of his story, had been killed by Zeus for saving too many lives. Asclepius could thus...