Asclepios

(also known as Aesculapius, Asclepius, Aesclepius, Asculepius, Aesculepius, Asclapius, Aesclapius, and Asculapius, and originally identified as a real person rather than a god (Elliott, 1914; Jayne, 1962; Kelly, 2009)) the Greek god of medicine. His temples, which were often built at places of outstanding beauty or near springs whose waters had healing properties (Bailey, 1926; Elliott, 1914; Jayne, 1962; Millon, 2004; Nardo, 2006), were often used as therapeutic refuges for those with mental problems (Hills, 1901; Hinshaw, 2007; Stone, 2006), with sleep therapy being one of the main thrusts of treatment (Dock, 1920; Homer, 8^th century B.C.E.). This appears to have been recommended under the belief that Asclepios would appear in the patient’s dreams, and thus heal the condition (Colp, 2000; Darton, 1999; Dock, 1920; Elliott, 1914; Moulton, 1998; Nutton, 2004). It was Asclepios, with his staff and entwined holy snake (Dock, 1920; Kelly, 2009; Moulton, 1998; Nardo, 2006), who would later become the symbol of the medical profession (Jayne, 1962). Treatments at the shrines of Asclepios often involved the use of snakes, and at one of them, at Delphi, a pit of snakes was used as a cure for insanity. The patient was suspended over the pit, and the shock of being so suspended was intended to bring the patient back to his senses (Kent, 2003).

A terracotta statuette of Asclepios, currently housed in the Louvre, Paris, France.

References:

Bailey, H. (1926). Nursing mental diseases. New York, NY: Macmillan Company.

Colp, R. (2000). History of psychiatry. In Sadock, B.J. & Sadock, V.A. (Eds.), Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry. (7th edition). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Darton, K. (1999). Notes on the history of mental health care. Mind: London. Retrieved from http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Factsheets/History+of+mental+health/Notes+on+the+History+of+Mental+Health+Care.htm

Dock, L.L. (1920). A short history of nursing from the earliest times to the present day. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Elliott, J.S. (1914). Outlines of Greek and Roman medicine. New York, NY: William Wood & Company.

Hills, F.L. (1901). Psychiatry - ancient, medieval and modern. The Popular Science Monthly 59, 3, 31-48.

Hinshaw, S.P.  (2007). The mark of shame: stigma of mental illness and an agenda for change. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Homer (8^th century BCE). The Iliad. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2199.

Jayne, W.A. (1962). The healing gods of ancient civilizations. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books Inc.

Kelly, K. (2009). The history of medicine: early civilizations prehistoric times to 500 C.E. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Kent, D. (2003). Snake pits, talking cures and magic bullets – a history of mental illness. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books.

Millon, T. (2004). Masters of the mind: Exploring the story of mental illness from ancient times to the new millennium. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Moulton, C. (Ed.) (1998). Ancient Greece and Rome: an encyclopedia for students. New York, NY:  Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Nardo, D. (2006). The Greenhaven encyclopedia of ancient Greece. Farmington Mills, MI: Gale,   Cengage Learning.

Nutton, V. (2004). Ancient medicine. New York, NY: Routledge.

Stone, M.H. (2006). History of schizophrenia and its antecedents. In Lieberman, J.A., Stroup, T.S., & Perkins, D.O. The American Psychiatric Publishing textbook of schizophrenia. Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.