Coronis
A Thessalian nymph or princess beloved by Apollo, whose infidelity led to the birth of Asclepius, god of medicine.
The Myth of Coronis
Coronis was a beauty from Thessaly who caught Apollo's eye and conceived his child. Apollo, unable to watch her constantly, left a white crow as her guardian. But Coronis took a mortal lover, Ischys, while carrying the god's son. The crow flew to Apollo with the news.
Apollo's reaction was characteristically extreme. He cursed the crow, turning its feathers from white to black — which is why all crows are dark to this day. Then he sent his sister Artemis to kill Coronis with her arrows. As Coronis burned on her funeral pyre, Apollo felt a sudden pang of grief — not for her, but for their unborn child. He snatched the baby from the flames and entrusted him to the centaur Chiron for raising.
That rescued child was Asclepius, who grew to become the greatest healer in Greek myth, capable of raising the dead. The entire tradition of Greek medicine — the temples, the Hippocratic oath, the serpent-and-staff symbol used by doctors worldwide — flows from this moment of rescue at a funeral pyre.
Parents
Phlegyas
Symbols
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