The temples and ritual of Asklepios at Epidauros and AthensTwo lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain . PLATE XXII—Remains of Asklepieion from the East shrines ot Serapis, Kore, Hypnos, Herakles, Panakia, Demeter,and other divinities have left no distinct traces. There areconsiderable remains of a large eastern portico or abaton ofpentelic marble, from which is reached a circular chamber inthe rock containing the sacred well. Some of the masonryhere seems to me to be of late Roman date. Plate XXI represents the Asklepieion as seen from thewestern end, and plate XXII from
The temples and ritual of Asklepios at Epidauros and AthensTwo lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain . PLATE XXII—Remains of Asklepieion from the East shrines ot Serapis, Kore, Hypnos, Herakles, Panakia, Demeter,and other divinities have left no distinct traces. There areconsiderable remains of a large eastern portico or abaton ofpentelic marble, from which is reached a circular chamber inthe rock containing the sacred well. Some of the masonryhere seems to me to be of late Roman date. Plate XXI represents the Asklepieion as seen from thewestern end, and plate XXII from the east. The building ASKLEPIOS AT EPIDAUROS AND ATHENS 2 5 inscribed western abaton in plan No. XX may have beena supplementary abaton or a priests house or a coveredgymnasium. A grove existed, perhaps occupying the spacebetween the Stoa of Eumenes and the temples, or situated ina large vacant space to the west. On an elevation above and close to the abaton is a curiouswell-like structure, surrounded by marble columns, whichperhaps was the serpent PLATE XXIII—Supposed Serpent Pit and remains of MarbledColumns round it Plate No. XXIII represents the remains of this curiousand mysterious structure. I examined the masonry carefully tosee if a direct communication between this supposed snake pitand the abaton could be traced, but failed to find it. If thepurpose of the Tholos at Epidauros is that suggested above,viz., a place of sacrifice to the sacred serpents, may we not havehere also the remains of a Tholos or Thymele on a small scale ?Possibly the four marble bases are those of columns surroundingan altar to which the serpents ascended from their pit beneath, 26 THE TEMPLES AND RITUAL OF to receive the sacrificial cakes of the worshippers, whothemselves stood beneath a roof carried by these of course is a mere hypothesis. The grove contained great numbers of statues, busts,ex-votos, and inscriptions. The theatre of Dionysos close athand was doubtless fr
Size: 1822px × 1371px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectmedicinegreekandroma
