AscLepius
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Greek God of medicine and healing;
son of Apollo and Coronis; father of Hygeia and others.
The Roman spelling of his name is Aesculapius.
According to legend, Asclepius learned the art of
healing from Chiron, the wise and gentle Centaur.
He mastered his craft so well that eventually, it
was said, Asclepius could raise the dead. The great
god Zeus, afraid that mere humans might become
immortal, struck Asclepius with a thunderbolt, but
then made him a minor god in charge of medicine
and healing.
The center of his cult was Epidaurus (northeast
Peloponnesus), but there were many others, including
Cos and Pergamum, where treatments were given
to the sick. Snakes, symbols of renewal because of the
frequent shedding of their skin, to reveal glossy new
skin underneath, were his emblem, usually depicted
as twined about a wand called a Caduceus.