According to the Greek mythology, Asclepius could bring the dead back to life! This was probably his undoing. What is known about his life history makes an incredible story.
His birth was indeed controversial and interesting. His mother was Coronis from Trikala of Thessaly. She had a secret affair with Ischys. When Apollo learnt of this, he wanted to kill her. On his command, his sister Artemis killed her on the funeral pyre. While watching this, Apollo felt guilty of killing the unborn innocent baby and rescued it by splitting open the womb - probably the first recorded caesarean section in he history of mankind! He adopted this baby as his own and brought it up under the mentorship of half human half horse Chiron a famous for his medical skills. Thus Asclepius learnt his medical skills from Chiron. He bacme a very successful healer with exceptional medical skills. He mastered the art of surgery and the art of medicine including the use of drugs and aprodisiacs. He is supposed to have given Gorgon blood with magical properties to Athena. Gorgons were Gorgons had snakes for hair, bronze claws, wings and eyes that could turn humans into stones. The blood from left side of Gorgon would kill a man and that from the right side would bring back a man from death.
Ascalpions were built in his honor and memory after his death. The famous Hippocrates studied medicine from one such Asclepion on the Kos island and started his medical career there. One should also note that the original Hippocratic oath mentions the names of Asclapius and his daughter Hygea (goddess of hygeine) and Panacea (goddess of universal remedies). His 2 sons were Machaon and Podalarius who were great surgeons. They healed a 10 year old wound of an archer Philoctetes who later raised the bow to kill Peris to end the decade long Trojan war.
However, the Asclepion, a rod with a single serpent wound around it is more famous than Asclepius. This signifies his exceptional skills in treating snake bites. It became the symbol of doctors and modern medicine should not be confused with Caducius a staff with 2 snakes intertwined which is more a symbol of occult art carried by Hermis when he carried the souls from the land of living to the land of the dead.
Because of the indredible powers of Aesclepius, many who were supposed to die did not die. Hades, the god of dead complained to Zeus the god of skies who in turn struck Asclepius with a thunderbolt and killed him. Asclepius, his staff and the serpent became a constellation in the sky.
Even Bible mentions that Moses during the exodus out of Egypt wandering in wilderness in search ofthe Promised Land raised a serpent made of copper on his staff like the rod of Asclapius, called Nehushtan. Mere looking upon it was supposed to heal people with snakebite! Snakes were regarded to have great healing powers and non poisonous ones were left free in the dormitories where the sick lived. The snakes were believed to rejuvinate themselves by shedding their skin and therefore were believed to cure the sick!
His birth was indeed controversial and interesting. His mother was Coronis from Trikala of Thessaly. She had a secret affair with Ischys. When Apollo learnt of this, he wanted to kill her. On his command, his sister Artemis killed her on the funeral pyre. While watching this, Apollo felt guilty of killing the unborn innocent baby and rescued it by splitting open the womb - probably the first recorded caesarean section in he history of mankind! He adopted this baby as his own and brought it up under the mentorship of half human half horse Chiron a famous for his medical skills. Thus Asclepius learnt his medical skills from Chiron. He bacme a very successful healer with exceptional medical skills. He mastered the art of surgery and the art of medicine including the use of drugs and aprodisiacs. He is supposed to have given Gorgon blood with magical properties to Athena. Gorgons were Gorgons had snakes for hair, bronze claws, wings and eyes that could turn humans into stones. The blood from left side of Gorgon would kill a man and that from the right side would bring back a man from death.
Ascalpions were built in his honor and memory after his death. The famous Hippocrates studied medicine from one such Asclepion on the Kos island and started his medical career there. One should also note that the original Hippocratic oath mentions the names of Asclapius and his daughter Hygea (goddess of hygeine) and Panacea (goddess of universal remedies). His 2 sons were Machaon and Podalarius who were great surgeons. They healed a 10 year old wound of an archer Philoctetes who later raised the bow to kill Peris to end the decade long Trojan war.
However, the Asclepion, a rod with a single serpent wound around it is more famous than Asclepius. This signifies his exceptional skills in treating snake bites. It became the symbol of doctors and modern medicine should not be confused with Caducius a staff with 2 snakes intertwined which is more a symbol of occult art carried by Hermis when he carried the souls from the land of living to the land of the dead.
Because of the indredible powers of Aesclepius, many who were supposed to die did not die. Hades, the god of dead complained to Zeus the god of skies who in turn struck Asclepius with a thunderbolt and killed him. Asclepius, his staff and the serpent became a constellation in the sky.
Even Bible mentions that Moses during the exodus out of Egypt wandering in wilderness in search ofthe Promised Land raised a serpent made of copper on his staff like the rod of Asclapius, called Nehushtan. Mere looking upon it was supposed to heal people with snakebite! Snakes were regarded to have great healing powers and non poisonous ones were left free in the dormitories where the sick lived. The snakes were believed to rejuvinate themselves by shedding their skin and therefore were believed to cure the sick!
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