Asclepieion

The Asclepieion (Ancient Greek: Ἀσκληπιεῖον Asklepieion; Ἀσκλαπιεῖον in Doric dialect; Latin aesculapīum), plurally Asclepieia, was a healing temple in ancient Greece (and in the wider Hellenistic and Roman world) that was dedicated to Asclepius, the first doctor-demigod in Greek mythology.

[2] Treatment at these temples largely centered around promoting healthy lifestyles, with a particular emphasis on a person's spiritual needs.

This was a process by which patients would go to sleep in the temple with the expectation that they would be visited by Asclepius himself or one of his healing children in their dream.

In the Asclepieion of Epidaurus, three large marble boards dated to 350 BC preserve the names, case histories, complaints, and cures of about 70 patients who came to the temple with a problem and shed it there.

Some of the surgical cures listed, such as the opening of an abdominal abscess or the removal of traumatic foreign material, are realistic enough to have taken place, with the patient in a dream-like state of induced sleep known as "enkoimesis" (Greek: ἐγκοίμησις), not unlike anesthesia, induced with the help of soporific substances such as opium.

Prior to becoming the personal physician to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Galen treated and studied at the famed asclepieion at Pergamon.

[6][dubious – discuss] It is said that he was so named as a result of his mother's childbirth experience, during which time her womb had to be cut open in order for Asclepius to be born (now known as a cesarean section).

[1] Before his death, however, Asclepius had several children, including: Machaon, Podalirius, Hygeia, and Panacea, who themselves were regarded as highly effective healers.

Ancient mythographers generally regarded Trikka as the place of Asclepius' birth, but to date archaeological excavations have yet to uncover his sanctuary there.

Patients would come pay homage to the gods by making pilgrimages to the site, performing a prayer or a sacrifice, giving monetary gifts or even sleep at the temple.

It was eventually expanded to a one hundred eighty-room institution to house the dying and women in labour during the Roman Empire.

These dream visitations were prognostic in nature, revealing the projected course of the disease and ultimate patient outcomes.

Upon awakening, the patient would recount their dream to a temple priest, who would then prescribe a treatment based on their interpretation.