Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus

Especially, the theatre

The following is mostly a lightly edited extract the Wikipedia article about Epidaurus, but with some changes by me, so don't blame Wikipedia for all of it, but give it credit for good bits...

Epidaurus somehow gained a reputation as the birthplace of Apollo's son Asclepius.

Asclepius was believed to be the most powerful god of healing.

As seems to be the way with these things, that reputation was good for the local economy. Going to Epidaurus for your health goes back at least as far as the 6th century BC. According to Wikipedia, "Epidaurus was the most celebrated healing center of the Classical world"

Major expansions took place in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. It was looted and plundered from time to time, but fame and prosperity continued throughout the Hellenistic period. The Romans came, saw and conquered, in particular in the 2nd century BC. The Christians came and said, "tisk, tisk... no heathen praying to healing gods, thank you very much"... but the local economy re-branded, and the town became a "place of pilgrimage" (not Wikipedia's way of explaining this... mine!) (Same profits, different marketing.) Still known as a place of healing as late as the mid 5th century.

Next paragraph: Lifted unaltered from Wikipedia...

The prosperity brought by the Asklepieion enabled Epidaurus to construct civic monuments too: the huge theatre that delighted Pausanias for its symmetry and beauty, which is used once again for dramatic performances, the ceremonial Hestiatoreion (banqueting hall), baths and a palaestra. The theater was designed by Polykleitos the Younger in the 4th century BC. The original 34 rows were extended in Roman times by another 21 rows. As is usual for Greek theatres (and as opposed to Roman ones), the view on a lush landscape behind the skene is an integral part of the theatre itself and is not to be obscured. It seats up to 15,000 people.

The theatre has a reputation for exceptional acoustics, which we experienced for ourselves. Wikipedia says there is almost perfect intelligibility of un-amplified spoken word to all 15,000 spectators, regardless of their seating. The theatre is used to this day for productions. Voices carry from the stage, of course. Some tourists who are that way inclined arrive at the theatre with some bit of poetry or other prepared for declaiming. Guides demonstrate the transmission of voice, and the sound of a piece of paper being torn, or of coins jangling. Scientists have investigated, and found some of the "secrets", though I believe I've heard it said that acoustics remains as much an art as a science a the present time. One discovery of the scientists is that the theatre anticipates Dolby, in that useful frequencies are amplified preferentially, and unhelpful frequencies are discarded.

You say caduceus (two snakes), I (now) say rod of Asclepius (one snake)

Snakes were involved, with healing, with oracles in general (see elsewhere the bronze column from Delphi in the center of Istanbul... it was three intertwined snakes, until the heads were stolen. (Some may be amused to recall the small snake in the road at the sanctuary of Asklepios. I was carefully not getting too close, lest I spook it, and lose the chance of my photo. It turned out that the snake was dead, and going nowhere.)

Anyway... snakes involved... That much we can all agree on, I hope. However, in writing this up for you, I made the following discovery...

Many, I suspect, will consider the Caduceus (on the left) as a symbol of medicine. Here's what Wikipedia has to say.... "It is relatively common, especially in the United States, to find the caduceus, with its two snakes and wings, used as a symbol of medicine instead of the correct rod of Asclepius, with only a single snake. This usage is erroneous, popularised largely as a result of the adoption of the caduceus as its insignia by the US Army medical corps in 1902 at the insistence of a single officer."

On the right: Wikipedia Rod of Asclepius. (One snake.) I fear this horse may have left the stable, but now you know, anyway. Sigh.

And what about Hippocrates??

Asclepius was a mythical god. Hippocrates was a human, 460 BC - c. 370 BC, sometimes referred to as "the father of Western medicine"... but, like most such things, you may find it interesting to dig a little deeper, beyond the primary school headlines. (Not that he isn't associated with important beginnings.) He is believed to have worked primarily on the island of Kos, 10 miles SE of Bodrum, our first port in Turkey, 27 June.

Hippocratic Oath

(Again, mostly a lift from Wikipedia): The Hippocratic Oath is rarely used in its original form today, but it serves as a foundation for similar oaths and laws that define good medical practice and morals. Such derivative oaths are regularly sworn today by graduating medical students.

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