Asclepius: The Greek God of Medicine who could bring the dead back to life 

Many of you may be familiar with the symbol of a doctor or medical care. It is part of the logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) as well. It depicts a staff with a serpent encircling it. Over the years this symbol has seen several variations, but it is most frequently linked to Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine.  

Also known as Asklepios, this character from the ancient Greek mythology was the child of Greek God Apollo and Coronis, a mortal woman from Trikala, a town in Greece. Asclepius was a great doctor who was known for his innate abilities in surgery, medicine, and all forms of healing practices. According to myth, Coronis passed away while giving birth to Asclepius and Apollo literally had to ‘cut the baby out’ of her womb. That’s where the Greek God of Medicine got his name from. Asclepius means ‘to cut open’. It is believed that he was such a powerful healer that he could bring the dead back to life and put the divine control over life and death in jeopardy. Let’s look at some more interesting facts about Asclepius which we are sure you haven’t heard of. 

Asclepius had a family of healers 
According to Greek mythology, Chiron, the centaur (mythical creature who is half man, half horse) gave Asclepius a formal education, and taught him the art of medicine. But his father Apollo, who was the God of healing and prophecy, granted him supernatural and extraordinary healing skills.  Not just his father, Asclepius’s entire family is said to have an association with healing and wellbeing, in some way or the other! While all of Asclepius' sons were healers, all his daughters were connected to wellness. His wife Epione was known to be the Goddess of Soothing Pain. 

He had a great connection with snakes 
Snakes were considered to be divine, enigmatic, extremely intelligent creatures with natural healing skills by the ancient Greeks. Asclepius was eager to learn from them as much as he could. There are two different legends surrounding the connection between Asclepius and snakes. One legend says that he saved a serpent from death, and in return, the serpent discreetly spoke into Asclepius' ear about the secret of medicine as a way of saying ‘thank you’. The second tale claims that Asclepius had become so strong that he could treat a snakebite, which was considered as one of the most lethal wounds in ancient times. 

Asclepius used to treat people with a special blood 
Legend claims that Greek goddess Athena gave Asclepius two tiny containers of miraculous Gorgon blood. According to Greek mythology, Gorgons refer to three sisters having hair made of venomous snakes. The blood from Gorgons’ right side was thought to revive the dead, while the blood from the left side was supposed to kill a mortal man. Asclepius, who travelled from town-to-town curing people of pain and illnesses, carried a bottle of this blood for treatment. Asclepius’s practice of bringing the dead to life had disturbed Greek God Zeus since it was upsetting the natural order of things. So, Zeus chose to punish him by putting a tragic end to his life through a deadly thunderbolt. Zeus intended to convey to the rest of humanity that there is a thin line between humans and gods that must not be crossed. On the other hand, Zeus did appreciate the immense service Asclepius had rendered to humanity and chose to immortalise him in the sky by making him into a constellation.