Abstract:

Greek mythology encloses whole of the sacred story that was told about the paganism as adopted in the Hellenic world. Although they formed the worldviews of human beings in ancient times as much as the Olympian gods did, figures described as heroes in the mythical narrative about these gods and their adventures have not been discussed adequately in academic works. One of these is definitely Asklepios. Sources spoke of him as a man but later he became a deity with the help of the cults and temples built in his name. As the cult was deeply embraced by the Greco-Roman world, with the Christian faith’s spreading in the same region, it was demonized and gradually disappeared from the scene. This study presents a twofold reading on the basis of the historical facts. The first one will deal with the process of Asklepios’s deification while the second one will enlighten the way towards his demonization.

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