Part 1

THE TEMPLES AND RITUAL OF ASKLEPIOS AT EPIDAUROS AND ATHENS

TWO LECTURES DELIVERED AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN

BY RICHARD CATON, M.D., F.R.C.P. _HON. PHYSICIAN LIVERPOOL ROYAL INFIRMARY EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LIVERPOOL_

_WITH THIRTY FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS_

SECOND EDITION

PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF LIVERPOOL

LONDON: C. J. CLAY AND SONS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AVE MARIA LANE 1900

LONDON: C. J. CLAY AND SONS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AVE MARIA LANE GLASGOW: 50, Wellington Street

LEIPZIG: F. A. Brockhaus NEW YORK: The Macmillan Company BOMBAY: E. Seymour Hale

PREFACE

Some apology is perhaps needed from one who can neither claim to be a classical scholar nor a professional archæologist in venturing upon the subject of these lectures.

Repeated visits to Greece and the Greek colonies during the past twenty years have enabled the author to observe, in their various stages, certain of the researches to be here briefly recounted. To him their interest appeared so considerable that it seemed probable the enquiry might be attractive to members of the medical profession generally, and perhaps also to other readers, from the side of the cult, if not from that of the classical archæologist.

The same motive explains the effort made to present a picture, in part hypothetical, of the ancient fabrics, and of the work carried on in them. More latitude in speculation in such a direction is perhaps allowable to one who traces the development of a cult, than to the scientific archæologist.

No originality is claimed in regard to the facts. Some of the sketches and restorations are original, and so are various theories or suggested explanations, such as that regarding the purpose of the Tholos and the Circular Pit at the Asklepieion; the suggestion that the Square Building was a Prytaneion, where sacrificial banquets were held and the perpetual fire maintained; the theory that certain of the buildings were hostels; the conjecture regarding the selection of sites for Greek Theatres, &c. Whether these are well-founded or otherwise only time and further research can decide.

The author desires to record his thanks to the learned Oxford friend who edited and translated the inscription on page 42, and who kindly pointed out various errors in the first issue, also to Mr. Sampson, the librarian of University College, Liverpool, for his highly valued advice and for his kindness in reading the proofs of the present edition.

THE TEMPLES AND RITUAL OF ASKLEPIOS

LECTURE I

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You are aware that during the last twenty-five years the energy and enthusiasm in archæological research of such men as Dr. Schliemann have not merely thrown light on historic and prehistoric Greece, but have also awakened a keener enthusiasm among classical scholars and in those Societies which in various countries are devoted to archæological investigation. Even Governments have been influenced and induced to help on the progress of these highly interesting studies. The Germans have spent large sums in the excavation of Olympia and Pergamos. The French government has wisely and liberally incurred a considerable expenditure in the excavation of Delphi and on other important works. The Greek Government, aided by members of the Greek Archæological Society, has devoted money and an infinitude of labour to investigations of the classic wealth of Greece and the Greek colonies.

In these three instances, although the amount paid may be trivial when viewed in the national balance-sheet, its archæological equivalent is great. These three countries have not only made the whole world their debtor by the liberality they have displayed, but each has quickened and stimulated a taste for learning and for art among its own people.

One or two other nationalities have had a share in the progress made, though of a more private and individual kind. The American School has explored the Argive Heræon and certain other classical sites, and our own British School in Athens, whose chief wealth has been the enthusiasm of its members, has done much, when we consider the difficulties to be met and the lack of that sufficient pecuniary support with which other countries have endowed their representatives.

Although considerable interest is felt by the English public in regard to much of the work just referred to, one important field of investigation has remained comparatively unknown in this country—I mean the exploration of the shrines of Asklepios, the god of healing, at Epidauros and Athens, about which I am to have the honour of speaking to you. As the time allotted is brief, it is needful to avoid all prefatory remarks, and to restrict this paper almost entirely to a consideration of the new discoveries and to inferences from them. As a matter of fact, apart from the Hippocratic writings there is but scant information as to the sanitary and medical aspects of Greek life in ancient literature. Homer and Pindar have brief references to Epidauros and other sanctuaries of the god; so also have Plato, Hippys of Regium, Strabo, and some of the dramatists, as Aristophanes, and certain of the late Greek writers, especially Pausanias. Under these circumstances most precious are the researches made by the spade.

The pioneer in this inquiry was M. Cavvadias, the eminent archæologist, Ephor of Antiquities and late Minister of Education in the Greek government. To him more than to any one else we owe the important additions lately made to this branch of archæology.

He worked in conjunction with the Greek Archæological Society, and was aided by M. Staïs, the Conservator of the National Museum. Herr Baunack and others helped to restore and decipher the hundreds of inscriptions which were found—a work of no small difficulty.

Various authorities more or less associated with the French School, such as M. Gérard, MM. Defrasse and Lechat, and Prof. Reinach; Dr. Dörpfeld, Prof. Furtwängler, Herr Baunack, Dr. Köchler, and others associated with the German School, have had a share in the work or in recording its results.

Comparatively little has been done by the English, and only a limited amount of description has been published in our language. An interesting paper by Professor Percy Gardner, in his _New Chapters in Greek History_, some valuable references by Miss Jane Harrison and Mrs. Verrall in their _Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens_, the admirable notes in Mr. Frazer’s new edition of _Pausanias_, and one or two articles in American journals, such as the _American Antiquarian_ and _Cornell Studies_, are among the chief.

Outline Restoration of Some of the Principal Buildings of the Hieron of Epidauros

(_Some emendations in this plate have been borrowed from the important work published by_ M. Cavvadias _during the present year._)

A South Propylæa, or possibly Temple of Hygeia. B Gymnasium (?). C Temple of Asklepios. D D East and west Abaton; the lower story of the latter and the steps leading down to it are shown. E The Tholos. F Temple of Artemis. G The Grove. H Small altar. I Large altar (?). J South boundary of sacred precinct, apparently of late construction. K The ‘Square building.’ L The baths of Asklepios and probable site of library. M Gymnasium or baths or hostel. N The building with four quadrangles, probably a hostel. O Roman building. P Roman baths. Q Supposed portico of Kotys. R North-eastern colonnade. S North-eastern quadrangle, a hostel (?). T Temple of Aphrodite. U Northern Propylæa on road from town of Epidauros. V Roman building. W Northern boundary of precinct (?). X Stadium. Y Goal, or perhaps starting-place. Z Mouth of subterranean passage, communicating with precinct (?). α Temple of Asklepios and Egyptian Apollo, according to Cavvadias. β Supposed temple of the bountiful gods, γ Temple of Themis (?). δ Reservoir or bath. ε Position of ancient cemetery.

The great theatre is situated about 200 yards to the south-east of the building marked N.

NOTE. THIS BUILDING (N) IS SITUATED 150 YARDS MORE TO THE EAST THAN IS HERE REPRESENTED.

For details of the work of the various writers _see_ appended list of authorities consulted.

I have to express my acknowledgment to the authorities I have named, but chiefly to M. Cavvadias for his kindness in giving me special facilities in Greece, and for allowing me the use of some of his plates; also to MM. Defrasse and Lechat, and to their publishers, who permit me to show you some of their beautiful restorations. Apart from these the lantern slides I shall show you are from photographs or sketches taken by myself on the scene of the various excavations or in museums.[1]

I. The Hieron of Epidauros

According to tradition, Asklepios, the son of Apollo and Koronis, was born in the Hieron valley, in the Argolic peninsula; the place names still preserve the legend; the hamlet of Koroni commemorates his mother, the hill Titthion owes its name to his having been there suckled by a goat, while on the opposite hill, Kynortion, stood the temple of the Maleatean Apollo.

The Hieron six miles from the town of Epidauros was the chief seat of the worship of Asklepios, though minor ones existed in Athens, at Delphi, Pergamos, Troizen, Kos, Trikke, and other places.

Plate I is an outline restoration, representing some of the principal buildings in the Hieron.

I must warn the reader that this plan does not profess to be accurate. The structural detail of the buildings is always more or less conjectural, even their relative size and their distances from one another are only approximately correct. The object of the plan is to give a general idea of the arrangement of the chief buildings hitherto discovered, exclusive of the theatre. (It should be stated here that the numbers which follow refer to the illustrations, while the capital letters correspond with those on Plate I).

_A_ represents the gateway or Propylæa (or perhaps temple of Hygieia) on the south of the precinct. Its close relation to the quadrangle _B_ has caused some observers to suppose it was the entrance to _B_ alone, but to the writer this seems improbable.

_B_ is a large quadrangle about 250 feet square, reminding one of the Palæstra at Olympia. The central space was surrounded by small rooms and a colonnade; some of the columns of the latter remain, embedded in the later Roman brickwork of a music hall or Odeon, constructed within the quadrangle. Nine rows of seats and part of the stage of the Odeon still remain. The building has been supposed to be a gymnasium; but if so, must have ceased to be the scene of gymnastic exercises after the quadrangle was built upon in Roman times. Was it a hostel?

_C_ represents the temple of Asklepios, the central shrine, a richly decorated and coloured doric building, erected in the fourth century B.C., the east end of which is shown in the accompanying restoration by Defrasse, Plate II. At the west and east gables were pediment groups representing a battle with Centaurs and a combat of Greeks and Amazons: one of the latter is shown in Plate III; together with acroteria, as in Plate IV, which shows one of the two Nereids alighting from horseback; these stood on the two sides, while a central winged victory occupied the apex of the gable.

A beautiful ivory door, which cost 3,000 drachmæ, closed the sanctuary; within, the cella was a single chamber; there was no opisthodomus.

Plate V, a restoration by M. Defrasse, represents the south side of the temple, and also, towards the left, a part of the Abaton.

Within the temple stood, as shown in Defrasse’s drawing, Plate VI, the great chryselephantine statue of Asklepios made by Thrasymedes of Paros, a work somewhat resembling the Parthenon figure, or the vast Zeus of Olympia, or the Hera at the Argive Heræon; the flesh was ivory, the rest gold splendidly enamelled in colours. So many small replicas of this figure remain—sculptured copies found at Epidauros, or small representations on ancient coins—that by the aid of Pausanias’ description M. Defrasse has doubtless reproduced the image with a near approach to accuracy.

The god was sitting on a throne, a large golden serpent rising up to his left hand; on his right lay a dog, and in front was an altar.

Gold and ivory were beautiful materials for the sculptor, though involving much difficulty when combined. The disappearance of all attempts at chryselephantine sculpture in modern times is perhaps due to this difficulty in production and to the cost, but probably more to the fact that the ivory usually tended to crack. The great figure of Athena in the Parthenon needed, we know, to be frequently moistened on its ivory surface with water. At Olympia, oil was applied to the great figure of Zeus, but curiously enough the Asklepios at Epidauros needed neither. As the god of medicine, it may be supposed that he was able to preserve his own integument, but Pausanias tells us that a well, beneath the pavement of the temple, diffused sufficient moisture to prevent contraction and cracking of the ivory.[2]

On the throne were representations, doubtless in relief, of Bellerophon killing the Chimæra, and of Perseus with the head of the Medusa.

Plate VII. represents the remains of the temple as they exist to-day. Fragments of column, capital, pediment, &c., with pavements and bases of walls, render the hypothetical reconstruction of the building fairly easy.

_D D_ in my first illustration is the Ionic portico or Abaton, a part of which is seen in Plates V. and X.; the western part is in two stories, the lower one being in the basement. It is open on the south side; a double colonnade supports the roof, the eaves of which, together with the walls and columns, showed colour decoration. This constituted the ward or sleeping place for the sick who were awaiting the miraculous interposition of the god. The Abaton was furnished with pallets, lamps, tables, altars, and probably curtains, the patients themselves supplying their own bed clothing. Other details of this building will be given in the next lecture. It may be added here that from one point of view these remains are highly interesting, for they constitute the earliest known example of a Hospital Ward. There is reason to believe that institutions closely related to Infirmaries or Hospitals existed in Egypt many centuries earlier than the founding of the Hieron, but no structural trace of such a building has been discovered.

The back or north wall of the Abaton, the front or south line of Ionic columns and the central line of columns can be clearly made out from the remaining fragments.

Plate VIII shows these remains of the eastern part of the Abaton. The photograph unfortunately is defective, and it gives the idea that the remains are less considerable and important than they really are.

In Plate IX the remains of the lower story of the western part are shown. This photograph was taken from the top of the stairs leading down to the area-like court from which access was obtained to the lower story.

The Tholos or Thymele, shown at _E_ in Plate I and in the annexed restoration by Defrasse, Plate X, was probably the most beautiful circular temple that the Greeks ever built, far surpassing the Philippeion at Olympia. It was built in the fourth century B.C., by Polykleitos the younger, and took twenty-one years to build; externally it presented a beautiful doric colonnade, with peculiarly rich cornice, coloured. Within was a circle of sixteen graceful Corinthian columns of marble; the wall and floor were also decorated with variously coloured marbles. Here were two celebrated paintings by Pausias, the Greek artist; the first represented Methe (drunkenness), a woman holding a large wine goblet to her lips, the glass of which was so painted that the face was seen through, or reflected in it. The second, a picture of Eros (love) laying aside his bow and quiver and taking up his lyre, a less dangerous weapon. Perhaps we may suppose that the painter here indicated the relation of Bacchus and Venus to the ailments which afflict mankind. The scourges which we are told the gods make out of the pleasant vices of men doubtless often brought the wealthy Greek as a suppliant to Asklepios.

What was the purpose of the Tholos? Defrasse and Lechat believe it was a drinking-fountain, a sort of pump-room, in which in old times a healing spring arose; if so, we can imagine the gouty Athenian being sent here to drink large draughts from the holy spring, he envying meanwhile Methe and her occupation on the wall before him. The foundations are curious, consisting of a series of circular walls forming a labyrinth, every part of which must necessarily be traversed by the explorer seeking the central space, Plate XI.

MM. Defrasse and Lechat think this singularly constructed basement was a water cistern from which the ‘pump-room’ above was supplied. The difficulties attending this rather attractive hypothesis are—(_a_) that the word ‘Thymele’ means a sacrificing place; (_b_) Pausanias speaks of the Tholos and of the sacred well as though they were entirely distinct places; (_c_) after careful search I can find no trace of a water conduit; (_d_) the basement space, I may say confidently, was not cemented, either on wall or floor, as in all probability it would have been if to hold water. Not improbably the Tholos was employed for minor sacrifices, and perhaps the labyrinth below may have been associated with some mysterious Asklepian rite of which we are now ignorant; _e.g._, the labyrinth may have been the home of the sacred serpents. We do not know what were the domestic economics of these creatures; they, in an especial degree, were the incarnation of the god. They were treated by the sick with the utmost veneration; perhaps this curious basement structure was their retreat, and conceivably the upper stage of the Tholos was employed for the offering of sacrifices to them as representatives of the god. Perhaps the sacrificial cakes (πόπανα) were here offered to them. An aperture in the floor may have been provided allowing the passage of the serpents from the labyrinth to the sacrificing place above. We know that the sick were in the habit of offering these cakes to the serpents as a matter of common usage.

Plate I, Letter _F_. The Temple of Artemis is smaller than that of Asklepios (see Plate XII); the eaves were decorated by a rich cornice of sculptured heads of dogs, the attribute of Artemis-Hekate. She, the sister of Apollo, was a divinity of healing and succour, the chaste moon goddess, who healed Æneas. Acroteria of Victories decorated the eastern gable; within was a row of marble columns, and externally stood a triple figure of Artemis-Hekate, and an altar.

Letter _G_ in Plate I shows the position of the grove, which probably extended also in the direction of the Tholos. _H_ in the same plate shows the position of an altar which may have been sacred either to Asklepios or to Artemis. The letter _I_ shows a foundation on which probably a much larger altar formerly stood; it may have been that of Asklepios, on which possibly holocausts were offered. _J_ represents the southern boundary of the precinct. β is thought to have been the shrine of the Ἐπιδόται or bountiful gods.

_K_ in Plate I represents the square building which has occasioned much discussion. It contains the base of an altar surrounded by many bones of sacrificial animals and much ash, also fragments of bronze and earthenware, many of them bearing dedications to Apollo or Asklepios. Its period of erection seems to have been not later than the beginning of the fifth century B.C. It contained great numbers of statues and inscriptions. It may have been a house for priests or officials, or even a hostel, or possibly was the Prytaneion, on the altar of which burnt the perpetual fire; no mention is, however, made of a Prytaneion in the inscriptions.

_L_ in Plate I represents a large building, irregular, and of various date; believed to have been the baths of Asklepios; this building perhaps may have also contained the library, dedicated to the Maleatean Apollo and Asklepios, which one would think is likely to have been in some central position.

_M_ in Plate I is intended to represent a rectangular building of which only small traces remain. Whether or not it was a definitely constructed quadrangle, such as I have drawn, may be uncertain. If it was, perhaps we have here the remains of one of the two gymnasia which the inscriptions tell us existed at the Hieron, or it may have contained baths.

_N_ in the same plate is a restoration of the building with the four quadrangles, only lately excavated. It is the largest building yet discovered at the Hieron, being nearly 90 yards square. Each of the four quadrangles is surrounded by a number of rooms. In all there were between seventy and eighty of these apartments, each of which opened into its own quadrangle, so far as I could judge. A colonnade ran round the interior of each quadrangle. Query, what is it?—a gymnasium, a palæstra, a college for the priests, or a great hostel? I confess the last-named seems the most probable. When one considers the large number of the sick who came to the Hieron, it is obvious that extensive accommodation must have been provided for them somewhere. The two chambers of the abaton could not have held more than 120 beds, supposing these to have been placed in two rows; or if we suppose the almost dark lower story of the western end to have been a dormitory also, 180 would then have been the greatest possible accommodation. This, if the extreme number to be entertained, scarcely accords with the accounts given by ancient writers of the multitudes who came for healing to the sanctuary. It appears likely, therefore, that this and other undetermined buildings were hostels for the accommodation of those whose ailments were slight or who were convalescent.

The remains of this curious structure are shown as seen from a distance in Plate XVII below.

_O_ in Plate I is a Roman building. Cavvadias thinks that α is the temple of Asklepios and the Egyptian Apollo.