Medical Mythology: Apollo Marc A. Shampo, Ph.D., and Robert A. Kyle, M.D.
"I swear by Apollo the physician, by Aesculapius, Hygeia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses...." Thus begins the Hippocratic oath, taken by all physicians; Apollo was the chief god of healing in the Greek Pantheon. His far-reaching arrows inflicted plagues and epidemics on humankind. Arrows shot at mortals symbolized sudden death not only in Greece but also in other civilizations. Apollo was the most revered and influential of all the Greek gods. His father was Zeus, and his mother was Leto. Apollo apparently was of foreign origin, coming either from somewhere north ofGreece or from Asia. Traditionally, however, Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis, were born on the isle of Delos (a small island in the south Aegean Sea). From there, Apollo went to Pytho (Delphi), where he slew Python, the female dragon who guarded the region. At Delphi, Apollo established his greatest oracular shrine. Other shrines of
Mayo Clin Proc 67:1185,1992
Apollo existed on the Greek mainland, at Delos, and in Anatolia (the part of Turkey that is the peninsula of Asia Minor). As Homer relates, Apollo was physician to the Olympian gods, whose wounds or diseases he cured by means of the root of the peony. This cure inspired the name "Paean" and the epithet "sons ofPaean" that has been applied to physicians. In time, Apollo became identified as the god ofhealing and as the father (by Coronis) of Aesculapius, the god of medicine. According to legend, a knowledge of medicine was communicated by Apollo and his sister Artemis to the centaur Chiron. As one skilled in music and surgery and especially versed in ancient lore, Chiron was entrusted with the rearing and education of the Greek heroes Jason, Hercules, Achilles, and Aesculapius. When Zeus had Aesculapius killed by thunderbolts for restoring Hippolytus (son of Theseus, legendary king of Athens) to life, Apollo in retaliation killed the Cyclopes (a race of giants in Greek mythology who had a single eye in the middle of their foreheads) for forging the thunderbolts. Zeus then banished Apollo from Olympus and compelled him to spend a year on earth as a mortal. During that year, he was a herdsman of cattle and horses for Admetus, king of Pherae in Thessaly (a region in eastern Greece). In the Trojan War, Apollo sided with Troy (an ancient city in northwest Asia Minor). Apollo has been featured on many Greek stamps, one of which, issued in 1959, shows a coin depicting the portrait of Apollo on one side.
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"I swear by Apollo the physician, by Aesculapius, Hygeia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses...." Thus begins the Hippocratic oath, taken by all physicians; Apollo was the chief god of healing in the Greek Pantheon. His far-reaching arrows inflicted plagues and epidemics on humankind. Arrows shot at mortals symbolized sudden death not only in Greece but also in other civilizations. Apollo was the most revered and influential of all the Greek gods. His father was Zeus, and his mother was Leto. Apollo apparently was of foreign origin, coming either from somewhere north ofGreece or from Asia. Traditionally, however, Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis, were born on the isle of Delos (a small island in the south Aegean Sea). From there, Apollo went to Pytho (Delphi), where he slew Python, the female dragon who guarded the region. At Delphi, Apollo established his greatest oracular shrine. Other shrines of
Mayo Clin Proc 67:1185,1992
Apollo existed on the Greek mainland, at Delos, and in Anatolia (the part of Turkey that is the peninsula of Asia Minor). As Homer relates, Apollo was physician to the Olympian gods, whose wounds or diseases he cured by means of the root of the peony. This cure inspired the name "Paean" and the epithet "sons ofPaean" that has been applied to physicians. In time, Apollo became identified as the god ofhealing and as the father (by Coronis) of Aesculapius, the god of medicine. According to legend, a knowledge of medicine was communicated by Apollo and his sister Artemis to the centaur Chiron. As one skilled in music and surgery and especially versed in ancient lore, Chiron was entrusted with the rearing and education of the Greek heroes Jason, Hercules, Achilles, and Aesculapius. When Zeus had Aesculapius killed by thunderbolts for restoring Hippolytus (son of Theseus, legendary king of Athens) to life, Apollo in retaliation killed the Cyclopes (a race of giants in Greek mythology who had a single eye in the middle of their foreheads) for forging the thunderbolts. Zeus then banished Apollo from Olympus and compelled him to spend a year on earth as a mortal. During that year, he was a herdsman of cattle and horses for Admetus, king of Pherae in Thessaly (a region in eastern Greece). In the Trojan War, Apollo sided with Troy (an ancient city in northwest Asia Minor). Apollo has been featured on many Greek stamps, one of which, issued in 1959, shows a coin depicting the portrait of Apollo on one side.
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