" JSsculapius was worshiped all over Greece, and many towns 

 claimed the honor of his birth. His temples were usually built in 

 healthy places, on hills outside of towns and cities, and near wells 

 or springs, which were believed to have healing powers. These 

 temples were not only places of worship, but were frequented by 

 great numbers of sick persons, and may, therefore, be compared to 

 modern hospitals. (Plut. Quaest. Rom., p. 286., D.) 



" The principal seat of his worship in Greece was Epidaurus, where 

 he had a temple, surrounded with an extensive grove, within which no 

 one was allowed to die, and no woman to give birth to a child. His 

 sanctuary contained a magnificent statue of ivory and gold, the work 

 of Thrasymedes, in which he was represented as a handsome and 

 manly figure, resembling that of Zeus. (Paus., ii. 26.) 



" He was seated on a throne, holding in one hand a staff, and with 

 the other resting upon the head of a dragon, (serpent,) and by his 

 side lay a dog. (Paus., ii. 27, 2.) 



" Serpents were everywhere connected with the worship of .ZEscu- 

 lapius, probably because they were a symbol of prudence and reno- 

 vation, and were "believed to possess the power of discovering herbs 

 of wondrous powers, as is indicated in the story of ^Esculapius and 

 the serpents in the house of Glaucus. (Paus.) 



" After jEsculapius had grown up, reports spread over all countries 

 that he not only cured all the sick, but called the dead to life again. 

 Several persons, whom JEsculapius was believed to have restored to 

 life, are mentioned by the Scholiast on Pindar, (Pyth., iii. 96,) and 

 by Apollodorus, (C. 6.) When he was exercising this art upon Glau- 

 cus, Zeus killed JEsculapius with a flash of lightning, as he feared 

 lest men might gradually contrive to escape death altogether, (Apol., 

 iii. 10, $ 4 ;) or, according to others, because Pluto had complained of 

 jEsculapius diminishing the number of the dead too much. (Diod., 

 iv. 71 ; comp. Schol. Pind., Pyth., iii. 102.) But, on the request of 

 Apollo, Zeus placed ^Esculapius among the stars." (Hygin. Poet. 

 Astr., ii. 14.) From Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and 

 Mythology. 



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