Asclepius (or Aesculapius)
In Greek mythology, the son of Apollo and Coronis who was
instructed in the arts of healing by the centaur Chiron. Asclepius
married Epione, who begat Hygeia (health). So successful
was Asclepius in the art of healing that Zeus was fearful that he
would make mankind immortal, so he killed him with a thunderbolt.
Apollo retaliated by attacking the Cyclopes who had
forged the thunderbolt, and Zeus was eventually prevailed
upon to admit Asclepius to the ranks of the gods.
The worship of Asclepius centered in Epidaurus, and the
cock was offered to him in sacrifice. The serpent and the dog
were sacred to him, and his symbol of the serpent coiled about
a staff still remains as the sign of medical practice. Asclepius is
also featured in the Hermetic literature connected with Hermes
Trismegistus (Thrice-greatest Hermes).
Sources
Edelstein, Emma Jeanette Levy. Asclepius a Collection and Interpretation
of the Testimonies. New York Arno Press, 1975.
