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Gallery: Olympian Healers

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Vase painting featuring the bearded centaur; Achilles and Chiron are making eye contact; large, stylized flowers surround the pair.
Vase painting featuring a man kneeling and treating the left arm of a seated man.
Engraving of statue of a bearded Asclepius standing in a toga with his staff to his right with a single snake wrapped around it, to his left is his attendant.
Cross-section of restored temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus, showing a statue of the gad seated on a throne with snakes on and behind the throne.
Two snakes entwined around a winged staff
Illustrated title page featuring snakes, including the single-snake staff of Asclepius and the double snake of the caduceus with other ancient medical and mythological images involving snakes.
Photograph of a frieze of the Parthenon showing Apollo, seated, wearing a toga and facing left.
Eileithyia stands behind Zeus, who is seated, and Hera stands in front of him, both with outstretched hands to catch Athena.
Engraving of a Greek statue of Hygieia standing in robes and holding a snake that is entwined around her left arm

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Illustrated title page featuring snakes, including the single-snake staff of Asclepius and the double snake of the caduceus with other ancient medical and mythological images involving snakes.

The Snake and Its Medical Associations

Title page of Marco Aurelio Severino. Vipera Pythia. (Patavii: Typis Pauli Frambotti, 1651) The snake symbolized rejuvenation and healing to many ancient Mediterranean cultures. On this 17th-century title page, the single-snake staff of Asclepius and the double snake of the caduceus appear with other ancient medical images involving snakes.

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