The myth of Asclepius, or Asclepius for the Romans, speaks not only of the god of medicine, but also of an entire family dedicated to the arts of healing, although almost all the gods had some healing power, Asclepio was the one who best mastered this knowledge to the point of having the power to resurrect the dead.
It is believed that the myth of Asclepius is based on the legend of an Egyptian character named Imhotep, who lived some 2000 years before Asclepius took the form of a myth of the Greek god, a scholar considered the father of modern medicine and the first to practice this profession.
- Imhotep was the author of a broad pharmacological prescription and.
- As far as we know.
- Was the first human being to discover clinical cases from a rational and non-magical point of view.
He even used opioids as an anesthetics and made the first known anatomical descriptions. It is believed that the myth of Asclepius was inspired by this real figure.
As is common among the Greeks, there are several versions of the myth of Asclepius, the best known indicating that this character was the son of the god Apollo, ruler of the sun and the arts, and of a mortal named Coronis.
Coronis is described as a woman of great beauty, so beautiful that she stole the heart of the god Apollo, who knelt at her feet when she saw her.
It tells the story that they were sexually involved in the vicinity of a lake and that, for this, the god had to become a swan, so Coronis became pregnant with Apollo after this event.
After that, Apollo had to return to Delphi, but ordered a white crow to care for his wife while he was not present, however, taking advantage of the absence of the god, Coronis became the lover of a warrior named Ischi. and quickly flew to warn his master.
Along the way, he encountered another bird that warned him that it was not a good idea to bring bad news to the god, but the crow ignored his warning, Apollo was completely upset. In the midst of his anger, he cursed the bird and condemned him to wear black fur forever. From then on, the crow began to be considered a “bird of bad omens”.
The myth of Asclepius tells that Apollo was where Columbus was and, full of anger, fired one of his arrows, crossing the woman’s chest, when he saw her die, the god repented and tried to revive her, but it was too late. Apollo took her to the funeral pyre. Then, while Coronis’ body was consumed by fire, Apollo decided to remove his son from his womb.
The son was Asclepius, and Apollo decided to entrust his education and education to Chiron, the centaur of healing, in this way the child grew up under the tutelage of a teacher who knew deeply the arts of healing, and since childhood has become familiar with medicinal plants and treatment techniques.
Asclepius had so many healing abilities that he even learned to resurrect the dead, this provoked the wrath of Zeus, who believed that reversing the condition of mortals was a danger, so, using a cyclops, he sent lightning and killed Asclepius.
Apollo, enraged by the murder of his son, killed the cyclops who had executed Zeus’ plan; soon, using his powers, he managed to get Asclepius to Olympus and become a god. As a result, many mortals began to surrender to their worship. and ask for their favors when they needed help with a disease.
The death of Asclepius also led to the development of great virtues in the family he had left on Earth; in this way, his wife, Epone, acquired the power to soothe pain; her daughter, Higea, has become a symbol of health prevention.
Panacea, another of her daughters, has become synonymous with treatment; Telésphorus became the symbol of convalescence and Macau and Podalori became protectors of doctors and surgeons.
Later, Hippocrates was said to be a descendant of Asclepius; the insignia of this god, a snake wrapped in a stick, has become the universal symbol of medicine.