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Aesculapius, known to the Greeks as Asklepios,
was the Classical god of medicine. Sanctuaries
dedicated to his powers dotted the
Mediterranean, perhaps the most famous being
the Asklepieion at Epidaurus, which was the
most celebrated healing center in the ancient
world. According to mythology, he learned the
art of medicine as a child from the wise centaur
Chiron, whom also raised the young god. He
was the father of two sons and a daughter,
Hygeia, the goddess of good health, with whom
he is represented here, by his wife Epione.
Hygeia was generally worshipped in conjunction
with her father, as this sculpture attests to.
In this magnificent marble sculpture, Aesculapius
is depicted in his traditional manner, with a thick
beard and mustache and a wreath crowning his
head. His identity is confirmed by the presence
of a coiled snake next to his left foot. The
serpent was both the source of many of his
remedies as well as a symbol of the god himself.
A himation has been draped over his left
shoulder and it covers his body from the waist
down, carved with deep grooves that emphasize
the folds of the fabric. By his right foot, a
container filled with rolled-up scrolls serves
iconographically as a reference to his knowledge
and functionally as a support.
His daughter, Hygeia, is shown standing to his
left, wearing a voluminous himation draped over
a lighter undergarment that has been belted
below her breasts and falls over her feet in
vertical folds. In her right hand, she holds
another snake wound around her arm that would
have presumably been drinking from a phiale
she would have carried in her now missing left
hand. Hygeia is commonly depicted with a snake
for the same reasons mentioned in reference to
her father. Did this sculpture once decorate a
sanctuary dedicated to these gods? We can
imagine sick and ill lining up in front of this
sculpture to offer libations and prayers to
Aesculapius and Hygeia, hoping to garner the
good favor and healing powers of this pair.
- (X.0163)
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