The temples and ritual of Asklepios at Epidauros and AthensTwo lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain . he temple, andcause him to present himself before the image of the god ;libations were poured, prayers and sacrifices offered, and ritesof an impressive kind enacted. Hymns and paeans were sungto the music of the double flute. The sick man was caused tolay his hand solemnly and reverently on the altar of the god,and then on the part of his own body presumed to be affected ;if there were really nothing the matter, he was proclaimed to be 31 THE TEMPLES AND RITUAL OF mira
The temples and ritual of Asklepios at Epidauros and AthensTwo lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain . he temple, andcause him to present himself before the image of the god ;libations were poured, prayers and sacrifices offered, and ritesof an impressive kind enacted. Hymns and paeans were sungto the music of the double flute. The sick man was caused tolay his hand solemnly and reverently on the altar of the god,and then on the part of his own body presumed to be affected ;if there were really nothing the matter, he was proclaimed to be 31 THE TEMPLES AND RITUAL OF miraculously cured by the god, and doubtless his imaginationwas so impressed that he often himself believed in the cure. If the patient were young, sacrifices were doubtless offeredat the shrine of Artemis-Hekate, and perhaps in all cases theprocession of priests and suppliants visited the Tholos (whichyou remember was the Thymele or sacrificing place) and offeredsacrifices there perhaps to the serpent, the incarnation of thegod of healing ; or the train of votaries ascended MountKynortion to the shrine of the great PLATE XXVII—AsKLEpiob with Serpent. The suppliants spent the day in rest or exercise, as wasmost agreeable to them. It must be remembered that theprecinct was as beautiful as the noblest works of Greek artcould make it ; moreover large and lofty trees formed a shadygrove, protecting from the suns heat, while the soft breeze andthe sweet pure air of the mountains formed in themselves apotent agency for the restoration of health. The patient hadmuch around him to please and interest—beautiful buildings,rich with sculpture and with colour, statuary figures and groups ASKLEPIOS AT EPIDAUROS AND ATHENS 33 representing Asklepios and other divinities or subjects from theold Greek mythology in marble and bronze. Plate XXVI represents a head of Asklepios (from theAsklepieion at the Piraeus), to which the genius of the sculptorhas given an expression of sorrow and sy
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectmedicinegreekandroma
