Asclepius
Asclepius began as a mortal hero trained by Chiron who became so skilled at medicine that he could raise the dead — Zeus struck him down, then deified him.
The Myth of Asclepius
Taught by Chiron, Asclepius mastered surgery, drugs, and incantations. When he raised Hippolytus from the dead, Hades complained and Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt for disrupting the natural order. Apollo, furious at his son's death, killed the Cyclopes who forged the bolt. Zeus later placed Asclepius among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus and allowed his cult. His healing sanctuaries (Asklepieia) at Epidaurus, Kos, and Pergamon became the hospitals of the ancient world.
Parents
Apollo and Coronis
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Rod of Asclepius (one snake, one staff) is the true medical symbol — the caduceus (two snakes, wings) is a common error.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Asclepius
⚡ godGod of medicine who could raise the dead
The divine physician whose healing art grew so powerful that he could resurrect the dead — forcing Zeus to strike him down to preserve cosmic order.
Aesculapius
⚡ godMedicine, healing, physicians
Roman god of medicine and healing, adopted from the Greek Asclepius
Asclepius
🗡 heroGod of medicine and healing
The legendary physician who could cure any illness and even raise the dead. Son of Apollo, his skill in medicine was so great that Zeus struck him down to preserve the natural order.
God of Healing
💭 conceptHealing, medicine, plague, purification
Apollo and his son Asclepius govern healing — Apollo as the source of medical knowledge and Asclepius as its practitioner.
Machaon
🗡 heromedicine
Son of Asclepius and chief surgeon of the Greek army at Troy, killed by Eurypylus son of Telephus.
Apollo
⚡ godGod of light, music, prophecy, and plague
Apollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and rational thought, the divine embodiment of Greek civilisation.
Paean
⚡ godHealing, deliverance from evil
A healing deity invoked in hymns of thanksgiving, later absorbed into the worship of Apollo
Podalirius
🗡 heromedicine
Son of Asclepius and Greek physician at Troy who specialized in internal medicine while his brother Machaon was the surgeon.
Epione
goddesssoothing of pain, healing, comfort
Goddess of the soothing of pain, wife of Asclepius and mother of the healing deities who attended his cult at Epidaurus.
Ophiuchus
💭 conceptastronomy, healing
The serpent-bearer constellation identified with Asclepius, who learned to resurrect the dead and was placed in the sky by Zeus after being struck down for overstepping mortal limits.
Apollo
⚡ godGod of prophecy, music, and plague
The radiant god of light, prophecy, music, healing, and plague — the most complex deity in the Greek pantheon.
Telephus
🗡 herofate
Son of Heracles and Auge, king of Mysia, who was wounded by Achilles and could only be healed by the same spear.