INNER JOURNEYS

MYTHIC

Aesculapius (Asclepius) the God of Healing

Aesculapius was the orphaned son of Apollo, the God of Healing, and Cronis, the daughter of Phlegyas of Thessaly. When He suspected her of infidelity, Apollo set the pregnant Coronis on fire. However, He did rescue his unborn son from the inferno.

Raised by the Centaur Chiron, Aesculapius learned all the healing arts. With his considerable gifts, Aesculapius became a well-known doctor. After Athena gave him the blood from the Gorgon, Aesculapius could bring people back to life.

Once Aesculapius started raising people from the dead, Zeus,the Ruler of the Gods, became alarmed. Moreover, Aesculapius’ acts prompted great objections from Hades, the God of the Dead. After Aesculapius raised Hippolytus, the son of Theseus of Athens, against the wishes of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, Zeus killed both of them with a thunder bolt.

However, Aesculapius’ story does not end there.  To end a plague, the Roman Senate consulted the Sibylline Books. The Romans were told to go to Greece. In answer to their pleas, a huge snake slithered on to their boat. 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.

Themes in this myth, common to the myths of Prometheus and Pandora, are (1) Aesculapius disobeying the Gods, (2) upsetting the natural order of things, and (3) pushing human knowledge further into the domain of the Gods.  By raising people from the dead, Aesculapius accomplished all three. Zeus and the other Gods saw humans as the eventual competitors to the Gods. They reasoned that if humans are kept ignorant, they could not threaten the Gods.  Since Zeus had overthrown his father Cronus, He believed that humans, with power and knowledge, would do the same to the Olympians as well.

Not only did Aesculapius teach people how to heal themselves, but also for a fee, he brought them back from the dead. Like a God, he changed people’s fates. Like a God, he received their offerings. By ignoring the Gods, Aesculapius defied Them. Therefore, Zeus felt that He had to punish him.

Zeus and the other Gods are particular about how the universe is conducted. Raising people from the dead upset their natural order of things. Hades did not receive his due. The Fates no longer had their final say on people’s futures. The Gods demanded respect, but Aesculapius did not give it to them. Instead, he made Them irrelevant.

However, the acceptance by the Romans demonstrated that Aesculapius did achieve God status. Like Prometheus, he became a hero to the people. Like Pandora, he left them hope. Aesculapius became the God of Healing for Romans and Greeks alike.

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