Although, Aesculapius is a Greek God, He was adopted as a God of Healing by the Romans. To end a plague in 293 B.C.E., the Roman Senate consulted the Sibylline Books. They were told to go to Epidaurus in Greece (Aesculapius’ main center of worship) and ask Aesculapius to come to Rome. They sent an embassy. In answer to the Romans’ pleas, a huge snake slithered out of the temple and on to their boat.
This snake sailed home with the Roman emissaries. When they reached Tiber Island (Insula Tiberina), Tiberinus, the God of the River Tiber, raised His Hand in assent. Then, the snake swam ashore to the island, where the Romans established their Asclepilium. After the temple was built, the plague in Rome stopped abruptly.
Reference
Adkins, Lesley and Roy, Dictionary of Roman Religion, Oxford University Press, 1996.
Excerpted from Asklepios, Finest of Healers by Hester Butler-Ehle (Hearthstone) in Oak Leaves 24
Asklepios In Myth
A son of Apollo by the nymph Koronis, Asklepios’ birth was spectacularly mythological: when Apollo learned that Koronis had been unfaithful to him, he sent Artemis to destroy her, saving their child at the last possible minute by taking him from her on her funeral pyre. He learned the healing arts from the centaur Cheiron and became a healer of great skill. Eventually he attempted not only to heal the sick but to raise the dead, an act that prompted great objections from Hades and Asklepios’ resulting death at the hands of Zeus. (1)
Asklepios In Cult
Asklepios, like Herakles, was that rarity, a hero who was transformed into a god.
It seems likely that Asklepios was originally a local hero, a physician, although there is little agreement as to his origin; he is associated with Epidauros, the site of one of his greatest temples and the location of the earliest piece of evidence for his worship. Epidauros, like many other cities, had a history of honoring healer heroes, Asklepios being the latest and by far the most successful of these, and there are good reasons to favor this origin (including the words of Delphic Apollo) (8). It is hard to say just when Asklepios made the leap from hero to god, but it seems likely that this would have occurred before the process of becoming pan-Hellenic, as a purely localized hero would have been less mobile and less interested in anything other than local concerns. He was known at the time of Homer–his sons appear in the Iliad–but Homer gives no indication of his status.
Healing And Health
Asklepios became, over time, the most important healing deity in Greece. Whether he was also a god one would commonly turn to for issues of maintaining one’s existing health is debatable. Many of the other gods who shared this interest (his associate Hygieia, for example) were indeed focused on the preservation of health rather than the healing of illness (17), although others such Apollo Paian, whose temples were eventually turned over to Asklepios, can be assumed to have had some interest in healing as well (18). While there is evidence that Asklepios was also approached as a preventer of disease (19), there is so much more information on his role as a healer of existing disease that it seems clear that the latter is by far his more important function.
Asklepios’ Worship In The Ancient World
Asklepios was often honored in his own temples, which became quite widespread over time. The sick would pray for healing there, and leave votive thank-offerings when they were again well–a typical process for asking for individual favors from any god.
In Asklepios’ temples, however, a sick person could seek health in a different and unusual manner as well: incubation, in which the supplicant would spend the night in the temple, hoping for either a miraculous cure or (presumably more commonly) a dream directing him or her as to the best way to find that cure (20). Often a person who sought healing from Asklepios would approach him with a promise, telling the god what he or she would give him once he or she was healed (21). When the healing had taken place, the person would give the god the gift in question, keeping the promise he or she had made. Again, this procedure was far from unique, and many or most of the offerings made to Asklepios were similar to those made to other gods in their own temples.
Most common were votive offerings of various sorts. While we may think first of the ubiquitous small terracotta votive figures, and these were of course very common, the size and value of the offering would depend on the financial status of the person making offering, as well as the degree of gratitude he or she felt toward the god.
Along with the terracotta figures, a supplicant on a budget could present the god with a terracotta or wooden plaque, to be hung on the temple walls or on nearby trees. These small plaques could also be made of more precious materials, gold or silver (22). Larger offerings might be attached to a pedestal, either on top if a statue or on the side as a stone plaque or relief sculpture (23). A relief was likely to include an image of either the god in the act of healing the patient, or of the grateful recipient of healing making his or her offering to the god, perhaps accompanied by his or her family (24).
Particularly interesting, and as far as I know unique to Asklepios, were the terracotta votive offerings, often lifesized, of parts of the body. These were not a universal phenomenon, and the type of offering varied somewhat with the region, but in Corinth at least the life-size votive limbs and organs were very common (25).
Asklepios welcomed offerings of many sorts, including cakes and other foods, and animals (a cock was common): “People in exchange for the fulfillment of their wishes could give and actually gave almost anything: money, frankincense, laurel, olive shoots, oak leaves, garlands, songs, branches, chaplets, pictures on which Asclepius was painted as well-doer… Some patients even dedicated their sandals to the god; they had made a long trip in order to visit him, and thus it seemed fitting that they should give him their shoes. Whatever it was, the god received it graciously.” (26)
Asklepios’ Worship In Modern Paganism
Asklepios is a healing god. That is what he does; that is what he likes to do. He is also a responsive god, with an interest in the good of humanity. In my experience, Asklepios listens to sincere prayers and is more than willing to lend his abilities to those in need. He doesn’t generally deal in miracles (although I certainly would not discount the possibility) but will support any efforts the person asking his aid makes on their own behalf.
Modern Worship and Offerings
With the obvious lack of modern temples to Asklepios, we moderns are at a slight disadvantage; however, even in ancient times a trip to the Asklepeion was not a requirement, and the god was thought to hear prayers made from home as well as those made within a temple. The custom most strongly associated with Asklepios was incubation, sleeping in the temple in hope of finding a cure through dreams. Someone who is seeking Asklepios’ aid might be advised to take particular note of any dreams he or she may have.
An offering to the god would also be a possibility. It was customary to promise a thank-offering during the initial prayer, and to present it after the cure had been completed; however, the timing of the offering could also depend on the type of offering being given, the nature of the help asked for, or of the ailment itself. In addition, the post-cure offering presupposes an ailment that can be quickly cured. If you are asking for help with something chronic, or less cut-and-dried, you may want the help asked for, or of the ailment itself. In addition, the post-cure offering presupposes an ailment that can be quickly cured, and if you are asking for help with something chronic, or less cut-and-dried, you may want to give your offering after some improvement has been shown, even if the ailment is still present to some degree.
Asklepios welcomed all sorts of offerings, so there’s no need to be anxious about your choice. Traditional votives are appropriate, as are more seemingly-modern offerings such as candles and incense, perishable items such as food and flowers, and immaterial ones such as prayers and songs. In fact, this article you are reading right now is a thank-offering to Asklepios. If you do choose to make a traditional votive offering, there is a wide range of possibilities; however, one type particular to the worship of Asklepios is the terracotta model of the part of the body you are asking to be healed. While making a life-sized model may be beyond our resources, a smaller one is far simpler and may be made of either oven-dried or air-dried clay without much difficulty.
Another consideration, and one to take into account while choosing the type of offering to make, is what to do with the offering once it is made. Songs and prayers, of course, will not be a problem for most people. Perishable offerings can be left on one’s home altar for an appropriate length of time, which will vary with one’s circumstances (for example, if you have house pets, you may not want to leave food offerings out for very long at all); if this is not possible, they can be left outdoors. More permanent offerings can also be left on the altar, indefinitely if an altar item or if you have room, for a shorter period of time if not. You can also bury these items in a respectful manner. if and when you are no longer able to keep them there.
Finally, you will want to consult your doctor or other health care provider in addition to any prayers or offerings you give to Asklepios. Asklepios, father of physicians, is most likely to help those also who take steps to ensure their own health.
END NOTES
1) Gantz, p. 91. 8) Garland, p. 117. 17) Parker, Athenian Religion, p. 175. 18) Parker, Athenian Religion, p. 175. 19) Edelstein and Edelstein, p. 182-3. 20) Burkert, p. 215. 21) Mikalson, p. 23. 22) Van Straten, p. 195-6. 23) Van Straten, p. 192. 24) Van Straten, p. 198. 25) Garland, p. 123. 26) Edelstein and Edelstein, p. 190.
REFERENCES
Edelstein, Emma J. and Ludwig Edelstein. Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies, Volume II. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1945. (1998)
Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Volume 1. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
Garland, Robert. Introducing New Gods: The Politics of Athenian Religion. London: Gerald Duckworth and Co., Ltd, 1992.
Mikalson, Jon D. Athenian Popular Religion. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
Parker, Robert. Athenian Religion: A History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
van Straten, Folkert. “Votives and Votaries in Greek Sanctuaries,” in Richard Buxton (ed), Oxford Readings in Greek Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
