I started researching healing ideas for this post and I was immediately drawn to this quote by William Wordsworth:
I wrote and re-wrote several posts but nothing felt right. So in my frustration I took to google and after a few wasted clicks around, I came across an article on gods of healing. Inspired I put pen to page (in reality fingers to keyboard) and started to pen a story about the Asclepius but in reality, the legend itself is really rather interesting so I thought I would share it instead.
The story of Asclepius
The ancient Greek god of healing and a son of Apollo, Asclepius is till today, still widely associated with medical assistance.
His staff is the de facto symbol of modern paramedic forces. Historically, many temples of Asclepius were also located throughout Ancient Greece. The most famous of these at Epidaurus is today, one of the most visited and important archeological sites in Greece.
Within Greek mythology, Asclepius was born in Epidaurus, the child of Apollo and a Thessalian princess named Coronis. Taught the art of medicine by the legendary Centaur Chiron, Asclepius eventually became so skilled with healing, he could even resurrect the dead.
Regrettably, doing so infuriated Hades, the Lord of the Greek Underworld, and on Hades’ complaint, Zeus struck Asclepius dead with a lightning bolt. The deceased physician was then placed among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus by Zeus. Later, Zeus also resurrected Asclepius and made him one of the Greek gods of healing.
INTERESTING FACT – THE WRONG STAFF
Many paramedic establishments use the “wrong” staff as a representation of medical assistance. In Greek myths, any staff with two serpents is that of Hermes, the Messenger God. Asclepius’ staff has only one serpent.
I have another story brewing in my head around the wrong staff ^ but it’s not coming to flesh either. I need my muse to pull her socks up and land on an idea, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy the quote and a bit of greek mythology.
Originally written in response to Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge (WQWWC – Healing). I used to take part in this wonderful prompt many years ago when it was run by Colleen and Ronovan, so I was pretty pleased to have recently come across it again now hosted by Marsha Ingrao at Always Right.
Much Love
KL
*Source Information on Asclepius: https://owlcation.com/humanities/gods-of-healing
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