The doctor is in: Asclepius

Asclepius (Latin Aesculapius) is God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius was originally a demigod and later became the God of Medicine and Healing after death, according to the ancient Greeks. The myth of Asclepius connected to the origins of medical science and the healing arts. His cult was particularly popular all over Greece and people from all Mediterranean countries used to come to his temples, named Asklepieion, for a cure for diseases and ailments. Remains these temples are still visit today. His story is interesting.
Background
Asclepius said to be the son of Apollo, Olympian God of Sunlight and Healing and a mortal woman from Thessaly, named Coronis. While Coronis was pregnant with Asclepius, she fell in love with Ischys, another mortal man. Big mess, a god in love or horny especially a male god is very dangerous and deadly!  When Apollo learned their secret affair, he was upset and his sister Artemis killed Coronis to avenge her brother. Indeed, Artemis burned Coronis on a funeral pyre. Meanwhile, Apollo, who was watching this scene and realized that his unborn child is still alive, rescued the baby by cutting open the womb of the burning Coronis. The Greeks thought that this was had been the first Cesarean section in human history. Like many heroes, Apollo entrusted the baby to the wise, centaur Chiron, who was trainer of heroes and great healer. Chiron raised and trained Asclepius to a great hero and an excellent healer.
While Asclepius was in his teens, he was becoming even more famous as a highly regarded healer with exceptional skills. Aside from the art of surgery, Chiron had also taught him the effective use of drugs, spells and aphrodisiacs as aids to healing. Asclepius received a gift from Goddess Athena a vial of the Gorgon Medusa’s blood from her right side. The Gorgons were mythical female monsters that had snakes for hair, wings, bronze claws and eyes that could turn a human into stone. The blood from the left side of a Gorgon was instant death to a mortal man, while the blood from a Gorgon's right side can bring a person back to life. Therefore, a vial of Gorgon’s blood was a powerful remedy in the hands of Asclepius. He used it to go from town to town and heal people from pain and diseases.
Asclepius was reputed to have performed many miraculous cures, including the bringing back to life of many dead people. Reviving the dead people and making them immortal was a practice that outraged Hades, the Ruler of the Underworld, who thought that the dead souls rightfully belonged to him, the Fates and Gaia, Mother Earth. This practice also worried Zeus because Asclepius, in his way, was disturbing the normality of things and pissing Gaia off. It is not normal for people not to die and live forever. Imagine the problems that something like that would bring in the future! That is why the reason Zeus decided to punish Asclepius for the abnormalities he caused.
Zeus struck Asclepius down with a thunderbolt and gave him a tragic end. This punishment meant to forbidden to mortals to exceed their limit. With this action, Zeus also wanted to make the rest of the people understand that there is a bridgeless chasm between mortals and the gods. This enrage Asclepius’s father, Apollo to avenge his son. Fight Zeus was suicide, so Apollo killed the Elder Cyclopes that forged Zeus’s thunderbolts.
For this act, Zeus suspended Apollo from Mount Olympus and commanded Apollo to serve a king for a year. A detail description on what will come later.  Once the year had passed, Zeus brought Apollo back to Mount Olympus and revived the Cyclopes that made his thunderbolts. Zeus and Hades to prevent any further feuds with Apollo brought Asclepius back life as a god.

Comments

  1. Ray's CowboyJuly 15, 2013 at 10:24 AM

    love the pictures and the story.
    Thank you for sharing it with us.

    Hugs
    Ray

    ReplyDelete

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