«ASCLEPIUS: COLLECTION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE TESTIMONIES» BY E. AND L. EDELSTEIN – THE FIRST FUNDAMENTAL WORK ON THE STUDY OF THE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS
Abstract
This article is devoted to the study of the work of the German-American classical philologists and historians of medicine E. and L. Edelstein "Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of Testimonies" (1945), and aims to determine its contribution to the historiography of the cult of Asclepius. The cult of the god of healing Asclepius stood out among a vast number of ancient cults for its peculiarities, among which there were specialization of Asclepius temples on chronic diseases; use of both irrational and traditional healing methods in the asclepeions; and the accessibility of the temples to various strata of the population. Its historiography spans almost a century and a half. The monograph of the Edelsteins is the most complete generalizing study on the subject. It consists of two volumes: the first volume contains all the literary and most of epigraphic sources on the cult of Asclepius; the second volume is a detailed history of the development of the cult, based on written sources. The scholars studied the origin of Asclepius; relations between temple and secular medicine; and coexistence of the cult of Asclepius and early Christianity. L. Edelstein offered a new interpretation of a number of concepts that dominated the historiography of the time. First, he hypothesized that Asclepius was originally a hero and not a chthonic deity, as his contemporaries believed. Secondly, L. Edelstein proved that ancient Greek rational medicine arose not in the temples of Asclepius, but was the domain of medical craftsmen; thirdly, the scientist explained popularity of the cult of Asclepius in the ancient world by the philanthropic nature of the deity and his individual approach to his patients. the Edelsteins’ monograph became the foundation for the study of certain aspects of the cult by successive generations of historians and was of enormous practical value. Thus, the Edelsteins’ made a major contribution to deeper understanding of ancient medicine.
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