Asclepius

A classic study of the legendary Greek physician and—in the last stages of paganism—the Greek deity who posed the greatest challenge to Christ.Throughout nearly all of antiquity the legendary Greek physician Asclepius son of Apollo and Coronis was not only the primary representative of divine healing but also so influential in the religious life of later centuries that as Emma J. Edelstein and Ludwig Edelstein point out in the final stages of paganism of all genuinely Greek gods [he] was judged the foremost antagonist of Christ. Providing an overview of all facets of the Asclepius phenomenon this book first published in two volumes in 1945 comprises a unique collection of the literary references and inscriptions in ancient texts—given in both the original and translation—to the deity his life his deeds his cult and his temples as well as an extended analysis of them.