The most famous cult centre of Asklepios, or Asclepius, was in Epidauros in south eastern Greece. In the fourth century BCE, a new temple was built there; this relief is one of the sculptures found on the site.
Asklepios was born a mortal but was raised to divine status. He was worshipped as a bringer of health and regarded as benign and caring, in contrast to the other more vengeful gods. Pilgrims flocked to his temples, hoping to be cured of their illnesses
Athens National Museum 173
Purchased in 1930
Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 220 (n.12)
Richter: Sculpture & Sculptors of the Greeks (1950), 279, fig.714
Picard: Archéologie Grècque; Sculpture III (1948), 342-
Lawrence: Classical Sculpture (1928), 238
Papaspiridi: Guide du Musée Nationale d’Athènes (1927), 62
Excavated at site of the Temple of Asklepios at Epidauros in 1884
