#SLEEPING DOGS HEALTH SHRINE SERIES#

He was admired for serving people despite their class and social status, which was not a common practice by Olympians. Starting around 350 BC, the cult of Asclepius became increasingly popular. Before his death, however, Asclepius had several children, including: Machaon, Podalirius, Hygeia, and Panacea, who themselves were regarded as highly effective healers. As one story goes, Asclepius was killed by Zeus at the request of Hades, the god of the underworld, who feared Asclepius was stealing souls away from him. His abilities quickly drew attention and jealousy from the other gods. Through his studies, Asclepius became so deft at medicine, especially the art of surgery, that he was able to return the living from the dead. Under Apollo's mentorship, Chiron grew in his craft so much so that Apollo himself entrusted Chiron to train his son, Asclepius. It was through Apollo that Chiron, the wise and peaceful centaur, learned the art of healing. Р”Р„sclepiusРІР‚в„ў father Apollo was himself a patron god of medicine. But by Hippocrates' day, he had become elevated to the status of a god. In Homer's Iliad, Asclepius was a man, a physician to soldiers wounded on the battlefield at Troy.

The ancient Greeks had Asclepius, the god of medicine. All traditional cultures have some personification of the Divine Healer or miracle working physician. It is said that he was so named as a result of his mother's childbirth experience, during which time her womb had to be cut open in order for Asclepius to be born (now known as a cesarean section). In Greek mythology and religion, Asclepius was the God of Medicine РІР‚вЂњ descendant of the God Apollo and mortal Coronis. Prior to becoming the personal physician to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Galen treated and studied at the famed asclepeion at Pergamon.Р”Р„sclepius holding the staff with a snake wrapped around it that serves as the inspiration for the symbol of medicine. Hippocrates is said to have received his medical training at an asclepeion on the isle of Kos. Р”Р„sclepeions also became home to future physicians as well. Some of the surgical cures listed, such as the opening of an abdominal abscess or the removal of traumatic foreign material, are realistic enough to have taken place, with the patient in a dream-like state of induced sleep known as ' enkoimesis' ( Greek: Р±СС’РћС–РћС”РћС—РћР‡РћСРћВ·РџС“Рћв„–РџвЂљ), not unlike anesthesia, induced with the help of soporific substances such as opium. In the Asclepeion of Epidaurus, three large marble boards dated to 350 BC preserve the names, case histories, complaints, and cures of about 70 patients who came to the temple with a problem and shed it there. Р”Вespite these methods being regarded as РІР‚В faith healing,РІР‚в„ў they were highly effective, as is evident by the numerous written accounts by patients attesting to their healing and providing detailed accounts of their cure.

#SLEEPING DOGS HEALTH SHRINE SERIES#

It consisted of a series of cleansing baths and purgations, accompanied by a cleansing diet, which lasted several days. The preliminary treatment for admission into the Asclepions was catharsis, or purification. The priest would then interpret the dream and prescribe a cure, often a visit to the baths or a gymnasium. At the very least, they would wake up having not been directly visited by a deity and instead report their dream to a priest. During this time, they would be told what it is that they needed to do in order to cure their ailment. Characteristic of the Asclepeion was the practice of incubatio, also known as 'temple sleep.' This was a process by which patients would go to sleep in the temple with the expectation that they would be visited by Asclepius himself or one of his healing children in their dream. Treatment at these temples largely centered around promoting healthy lifestyles, with a particular emphasis on a person's spiritual needs. So stemming from the myth of his great healing powers, pilgrims would flock to temples built in his honor in order to seek spiritual and physical healing.Р”Р„sclepeions included carefully controlled spaces conducive to healing and fulfilled several of the requirements of institutions created for healing. Asclepius was said to have been such a skilled doctor that he could even raise people from the dead.

Tourists enjoying the panoramic view of the city from the Askleipion on KosР”Р„sclepeions ( Ancient Greek: Р±Св‚¬РџС“РћС”РћВ»РћВ·РџР‚Рћв„–РћВµР±С—вЂ“РћС—РћР… Asklepieion Р±Св‚¬РџС“РћС”РћВ»РћВ±РџР‚Рћв„–РћВµР±С—вЂ“РћС—РћР… in Doric dialect Latin aesculapР”В«um) were healing temples located in ancient Greece (and in the wider Hellenistic and Roman world), dedicated to Asclepius, the first doctor-demigod in Greek mythology.

Sleeping dogs health shrine