Asclepius and the legacy of Thessaly

Abstract

The narrative of Pausanias offers a very unusual insight into the cults which existed at the time of his travels, c. A.D. 150. Nothing is abstract. Every god and every myth is firmly linked to the physical place in which the traveller encountered them; and though comparison is sometimes made by the author, what we are presented with is a series of regional specialities. 1 It is therefore unsurprising that in Book 2, when Pausanias is describing Epidaurus, his attention falls on Asclepius; nor that he describes in great detail the precise nature of the god's connection to that place. However, there are two factors which suggest that this episode should not simply be taken for granted as typical of the travelnarrative. The first is that the treatment which Asclepius receives in the account is quite distinct from the way in which Pausanias describes the other gods whose cultsites he encounters. The second is that a substantial quantity of evidence suggests that this emphasis on tying Asclepius to a location is not simply a feature of Pausanias' project, but rather that, in this case, the author was reflecting an important characteristic of the god and his cult in antiquity. The exploration of that characteristic, the special relationship between Asclepius and location, is the first purpose of this paper; the second is to suggest that it was an influential legacy of the pre-existing form of the cult in Thessaly. τλµθπιο δ εσ1ξ ν0µιτυα ε ξαι υ ξ η ξ π µ η τφνβ βθλε υοι δε With this programmatic opening (2.26.3), Pausanias introduces into his description of Epidaurus a lengthy excursus about that place's claim on the god. The nature of the µ ηοΚ in the quotation above soon becomes clear: Epidaurus is 'especially sacred to Asclepius' because, according to a myth which Pausanias relates, he was born there. But Pausanias does not let the matter rest there. He presents, in all, three different stories about the parentage of Asclepius-keeping, of course, the indispensable identity of the father, Apollo-and in the course of the description makes clear his preference for the one which connects Asclepius with Epidaurus. He is especially critical of the story which makes Asclepius the son of Arsinoë, for the obvious reason that if Asclepius was the son of Arsinoë, he would thus have been a Messenian rather than an Epidaurian. It is clear that the debate which is conducted in his account reflected a debate which existed outside it, in the centres of the Asclepius cult, and most notably in Epidaurus. The sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus seems to have been established no earlier than the sixth century B.C., 2 and there is no doubt that the intense debate which Pausanias, centuries later, reflects must have been greatly fuelled-though not

The Absence of Chiron

“…As I have argued in a previous article, location was of great importance in the worship of Asclepius, and the same could be said of the underground hero-type more widely. 9 Chiron's Thessalian location and identity are vital to his character. His mother Philyra, and also his (sometimes) grandson Peleus 10 and (sometimes) daughter Thetis, 11 all serve to tie him in with the Thessalian mythical-and natural-landscape.…”

Pinios (Peneus) River (Central Greece): Hydrological — Geomorphological elements and changes during the quaternary

“…But whilst the Pinios River provided local inhabitants in many benefits, it was also responsible for some catastrophic events [9]. Important civilizations have emerged along the course of Pinios River from the Paleolithic Age until the present day; several great individuals of the antiquity were born and raised at Thessaly, such as Asclepius [10], the great healer-god of the ancient world. During the recent historical period, Pinios and its tributaries shaped the life of the inhabitants of the cities of Thessaly (Larisa, Trikala, etc.…”