Asclepius in the Ancient Sources: 57 Passages in Greek & English

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.61–67Asclepius, Echemus and the TyndaridsThe section begins with Serus and Alazygus and then discusses whether Asclepius was the son of Arsinoe or of Coronis. It goes on to Echemus and Timandra, and to the descent of Castor and Polydeuces and the story that Tyndareus forgot Aphrodite in a sacrifice.
Hesiod, Fragments 1.86–96Dionysus, Coronis and CyreneHere Hesiod describes the gifts of Dionysus, the wine that brings joy and sorrow, and the story of Coronis, to whom a crow brought word to Pytho. Apollo and Asclepius appear, and Zeus is angry with Apollo. Cyrene and her son Aristaéus follow, then Antiope, and the building of the walls of Thebes by Zethus and Amphion.

Homer (2)

Homer, Iliad 4.73–219Pandarus breaks the truce and wounds MenelausAthena goes down in the likeness of Laodocus and persuades Pandarus to shoot at Menelaus. The arrow passes through belt and corselet and draws blood, and Agamemnon, in dread, says that the broken oath will bring ruin on Troy. Talthybius is sent for Machaon, who sucks the blood from the wound and spreads soothing drugs upon it.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 12.1–18.12Hymns 12 to 18: Hera, Demeter, the Mother of the Gods, Heracles, Asclepius, the Dioscuri and HermesSeven short hymns. Hera is praised as queen of the immortals, sister and wife of Zeus, and Demeter and her daughter Persephone are asked to keep the city safe. The Mother of the Gods delights in rattles and timbrels, Heracles, born to Alcmena, now lives on Olympus with Hebe, Asclepius is born to Coronis, the Dioscuri are born to Leda, and Hermes is born to Maia.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.10.1–9Hermes, Asclepius, Leda and the suitors of HelenThe Pleiades are named, and Maia bears Hermes to Zeus, who steals Apollo's cattle, invents the lyre and trades it for the cattle and the art of divination. The line of Taygete and Lacedaemon leads to Hyacinth, to Asclepius, son of Apollo and Coronis, whom Zeus strikes with a thunderbolt for raising the dead, and to Tyndareus and Icarius. Zeus, as a swan, lies with Leda, who bears Helen and the Dioscuri (or, in another version, Nemesis lays Helen's egg), and Theseus carries Helen off. The kings of Greece court Helen, and Tyndareus, on Odysseus's advice, binds them by an oath to defend the chosen husband.

Pindar (1)

Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.1–115Pythian 3: for Hieron — Asclepius and CoronisPindar wishes that Cheiron were alive to heal Hieron as he once healed others through his pupil Asclepius. He tells how Coronis, carrying Apollo's child, took another lover and was killed, and how Apollo rescued the child from the pyre and gave him to Cheiron to learn healing. Asclepius, tempted by gold to raise a dead man, was struck down by Zeus; the ode ends with the sorrows of Peleus and Cadmus as proof that no man has unmixed happiness.

Sophocles (2)

Sophocles, Philoctetes 1314–1347Exodos (cont.): Neoptolemus urges Philoctetes to go to TroyNeoptolemus tells Philoctetes that men must bear what the gods send, but that clinging to self-made misery is not excusable. He says that the disease came from the gods, because he came near the guardian serpent of Chryse, and that it will be healed when he goes to Troy, where the sons of Asclepius will cure him. He says that he and Philoctetes will take the city, as the Trojan prisoner Helenus has said, and that this must happen in the coming summer.
Sophocles, Philoctetes 1408–1471Exodos (cont.): Heracles appearsHeracles appears above and tells Philoctetes that he must go to Troy, where he will be cured by the sons of Asclepius and win the highest honour, and that he and Neoptolemus must be like two lions guarding each other. Philoctetes agrees to obey, says farewell to his cave and the island, and the Chorus end the play with a prayer for a safe voyage.

Euripides (2)

Euripides, Alcestis 962–1007Third choral song: nothing is stronger than NecessityThe Chorus says that it has traced the paths of the Muses and studied the sky, and yet found nothing stronger than Necessity, that there is no remedy for it in the writings of Orpheus or in the herbs of the sons of Asclepius. They say that Alcestis, who died for her husband, will be honoured as a goddess, and the Chorus sees Heracles coming toward the hearth.
Euripides, Alcestis 77–140Parodos: the elders of Pherae ask whether Alcestis is deadThe Chorus of the elders of Pherae wonders at the silence in front of the palace and asks whether the queen is dead or alive. They notice that no water for purification has been set out at the door and no mourners are heard, and yet this is the appointed day. They say that only Asclepius could have saved her, that all sacrifices have failed, and they see a handmaid coming out in tears.

Aristophanes (2)

Aristophanes, Plutus 627–770Episode: Cario reports the cure of WealthCario comes out to tell the Chorus and the master's wife that Wealth has recovered his sight at the temple of Asclepius. He describes how they bathed Wealth in the sea and laid him in the temple at night, and how he himself stole a bowl of broth from beside an old woman while the priest swept the altar of its cakes. The god then came with two serpents that licked Wealth's eyelids, and Wealth rose seeing, to the joy of the honest men who now follow him.
Aristophanes, Plutus 322–414cEpisode: Blepsidemus and the risk of wealthChremylus welcomes the farmers and asks them to help save the god, and Blepsidemus arrives, having heard in the barbers' shops that his neighbour has grown rich. He suspects that Chremylus has robbed a temple and offers to hush the matter up for a fee, until Chremylus tells him that he holds Wealth himself, who is blind. They agree that no doctor can be found, so Wealth must sleep in the temple of Asclepius, and Blepsidemus urges Chremylus to be quick.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.71.1–4.75.6Asclepius, Aeacus, Pelops and the kings of TroyThe historian gives the birth and healing art of Asclepius and the descendants of Asopus' daughters, including Aeacus and his sons Peleus and Telamon. He then tells of Oenomaüs and the chariot race by which Pelops wins Hippodameia, and of Tantalus, and ends with the first kings of Troy, from Teucrus and Dardanus down to Priam.

Ovid (4)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.633–707Ocyroe and BattusChiron's daughter Ocyroe prophesies the greatness of the young Asclepius (Aesculapius) and, foretelling her own fate, is turned into a mare. Hermes (Mercury) steals Apollo's cattle, and the old man Battus promises to keep silent, but later betrays the theft to the disguised god for a reward, and Hermes turns him into a stone, the touchstone.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.622–744Asclepius comes to RomeA plague strikes Rome, and the Romans, on the advice of the Delphic oracle, send for the god Asclepius (Aesculapius), son of Apollo, from Epidaurus. The god, appearing in a dream to the Roman envoys, agrees to go with them, and takes the form of a serpent and goes to the ship. He comes to Rome and, on the Tiber island, takes his own form and stops the plague. The poet notes that Asclepius came from abroad, but Caesar is a god in his own land.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.527–632Coronis and the RavenThe crow warns the raven, who is flying to Apollo ('Phoebus' in More's translation) with the news that Coronis has been unfaithful, by telling him how she herself was punished for bringing a message and was changed from a girl into a bird. The raven goes on, and Apollo, enraged, kills Coronis with an arrow and then rescues the unborn Asclepius (Aesculapius) from her body. He turns the raven's white feathers black.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.477–551Egeria and HippolytusNuma, having learned these lessons, goes back to Rome and rules in peace, and when he dies his wife Egeria, grieving, wanders until she lies down in tears at the foot of a mountain. Hippolytus, now the god Virbius, tries to console her with the story of how he was killed by his own horses and restored to life by Asclepius (Aesculapius), and taken to the grove of Artemis (Diana). Egeria is not comforted, and Artemis in pity turns her into a spring.

Pausanias (39)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.26.1–10Epidauria: its early rulers and the birth of AsclepiusAt Lessa the road enters Epidauria. Pausanias gives what the Epidaurians say of their early rulers, including Pityreus and Deiphontes and Epidaurus’ various parentages. He then recounts the competing stories of Asclepius’ birth, from Coronis and Apollo, left on Mount Titthium and suckled by a goat, to the version making him a son of Arsinoe, which he refutes with an oracle. He also lists the daughter sanctuaries at Athens, Pergamum, Smyrna, Cyrene and Lebene.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.23.1–11Aegium: Argyra, Selemnus and the sanctuaries of the cityPausanias passes the ruins of Argyra and the river Selemnus, whose water is said to cure love, and the river Bolinaeus and Cape Drepanum. At Aegium he mentions the colonnade of the athlete Strato and the sanctuaries of Ilithyia and Aesculapius, with images by Damophon. He reports a conversation with a Sidonian about Phoenician views of Aesculapius and Apollo. He also lists the temples of Athena, Hera, Dionysus and Saviour Zeus, and the bronze images called the gods from Argos.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.25.1–13Thelpusa: Demeter Fury, Poseidon and the horse ArionPausanias follows the road from Psophis to Thelpusa and the course of the Ladon, noting the sanctuary of Eleusinian Demeter and the temples of Aesculapius and the Twelve Gods. At Onceum he describes Demeter Fury and Lusia, with the story that Demeter, turned into a mare, was taken by Poseidon in the form of a horse and bore the horse Arion, and he cites the Iliad, the Thebaid and Antimachus on Arion and Adrastus. He also mentions the sanctuary of the Boy Aesculapius and the tomb of Trygon, and the confluence of the Ladon with the Alpheus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.27.1–7Epidaurus: sanctuary of Asclepius, the Tholos, healing tablets and the theatrePausanias describes the grove of Asclepius at Epidaurus, where no one may die or be born, and Thrasymedes’ gold and ivory image of the god. He lists the Tholos with Pausias’ paintings, the tablets recording cures, the tablet of Hippolytus and the Aricia story, and the theatre by Polyclitus. He also names the other buildings and the works of the Roman senator Antoninus, including a house where women may give birth and the sick may die, and the sanctuary of Maleatian Apollo on Mount Cynortium.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.3.1–10Messenia: Nestor, the sons of Aesculapius and the Dorian conquest under CresphontesAfter the death of Lynceus and Idas, Nestor rules all Messenia, and Pausanias gives the Messenian claims that the sons of Aesculapius were Messenian. He tells how the Dorians drove out the descendants of Neleus, how Cresphontes won Messenia through the trick of the lots, and how he was murdered. Aepytus is restored, and the line of Glaucus, Isthmius, Dotadas and Sybotas follows.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.11.1–8Sicyon to Titane: sanctuaries around the city and Asclepius at TitaneOutside Sicyon Pausanias describes the temple of Athena built by Epopeus, the sanctuaries of Hera, Demeter and Carnean Apollo, the grove Pyraea with Protecting Demeter, and the grove of the Eumenides. He then climbs to Titane, where Titan is said to have lived, and describes the sanctuary of Asclepius founded by Alexanor, with its veiled images of Asclepius and Health, the cults of Alexanor and Euamerion, and the offerings and colonnade.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.24.1–11Laconian coast: Zarax, Cyphanta, Brasiae, Las and HypsaPausanias describes Zarax, destroyed by Cleonymus, the grotto of Aesculapius at Cyphanta with its spring struck by Atalanta, and Brasiae, whose people say Semele and the infant Dionysus drifted there in a chest. He then describes Las, with its temple of Athena Asia, the fountain Galaco, the river Smenus and the grave of Las. He argues from Homer that Achilles cannot have been a suitor of Helen.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.26.1–11Thalamae, Pephnus, Leuctra, Cardamyle and Gerenia: the Machaon shrinePausanias describes the dream oracle of Ino near Thalamae, the islet of Pephnus where the Dioscuri were said to be born, and Leuctra, with its shrines of Aesculapius, Cassandra and Love and the Ithomatian Zeus found in a burnt wood. He then describes Cardamyle and Gerenia, with the tomb and sanctuary of Machaon, Mount Calathium and Alagonia, and explains why Eurypylus’ name is not spoken at Pergamus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.10.1–7Sicyon: the sanctuary of Hercules, Asclepius, Aphrodite and the gymnasiumIn the gymnasium stands a Hercules by Scopas, and the Paedize enclosure has the Sicyonian dual sacrifice to Hercules as hero and god. Pausanias describes the sanctuary of Asclepius, entered by a building with images of Sleep, with Calamis’ gold and ivory god brought from Epidaurus in the form of a serpent. He also describes the sanctuary of Aphrodite, with Canachus’ image, the paideros plant and its restricted priesthood, and the gymnasium with Pheraean Artemis.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.23.1–8Argos: Hollow Street, the Asclepieum and disputed Argive tombsAlong Hollow Street are a temple of Dionysus, brought from Euboea, the house of Adrastus, and shrines of Amphiaraus, Eriphyle, Asclepius and Baton. Pausanias disputes Argive claims to hold the tombs of Hyrnetho, Deianira and Helenus and the Palladium, noting that the Palladium went to Italy and Deianira died near Trachis. He also describes the underground chamber of Acrisius’ daughter, the tomb of Crotopus, and the temple of Cretan Dionysus, where Ariadne’s coffin was said to be found.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.22.1–13Laconian coast: Cranae, Helos, Acriae, Geronthrae, Asopus and BoeaePausanias describes the stone of Orestes near Gythium, Cranae and Migonium, then Trinasus, Helos and Acriae with its temple of the Mother of the Gods. He then describes Geronthrae, Marius and Asopus, with its giant bones and the cape Onugnathus, and finally Boeae, founded by Boeus, where a hare led the settlers to a myrtle sacred to Artemis Saviour.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.4.1–7Corinth: Athena the Bridler, the kings of Corinth and the road up to Acro-CorinthNear the tomb of Medea’s children is the sanctuary of Athena the Bridler, which leads Pausanias to Bellerophon and Pegasus and to the lineage of Corinth’s kings from Sisyphus to the Dorian Aletes, the Bacchids and the tyrant Cypselus. He describes the theatre, the Daedalic Hercules, the spring Lerna and the temples of Zeus and Asclepius, and the shrines of Isis, Serapis, the Mother of the Gods, the Fates, Demeter and Bunaean Hera on the way up to Acro-Corinth.

27 more passages of Pausanias that name Asclepius

Orpheus (attributed) (1)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 67–71Hymns 67-71: Aesculapius, Health, the Furies, MelinoeAesculapius is invoked as the healer and physician of mankind, and Health as the much-desired, life-bearing queen. Two hymns call on the Furies, the first as vociferous Bacchanalian powers and the second as the Eumenides, dread beings who watch over the counsels and deeds of men. Melinoe, the saffron-veiled child of Pluto's queen, is invoked as a ghostly power who appears to mortals in spectral forms.

Asclepius in the ancient sources

Hesiod (2)

Homer (2)

Apollodorus (1)

Pindar (1)

Sophocles (2)

Euripides (2)

Aristophanes (2)

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Ovid (4)

Pausanias (39)

Orpheus (attributed) (1)