| No Title | |
|---|---|
| [[1st century Roman statue of the goddess|250px]] 1st century Roman statue of the goddess | |
|
No Title |
No information |
In Greek and Roman mythology, Hygieia (Greek Template:Polytonic or Hygeia Template:Polytonic, Latin Hygēa or Hygīa), was a daughter of the god of medicine, Asclepius. She was the goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation. She also played an important part in her father's cult. While her father was more directly associated with healing, she was associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health. Her name is the source of the word "hygiene".
History[]
At Athens, Hygieia was the subject of a local cult since at least the 7th century BC.Template:Citation needed "Athena Hygieia" was one of the cult titles given to Athena, as Plutarch recounts of the building of the Parthenon (447-432 BC):
Template:Cquote
Hygieia in Gustav Klimt's painting Medicine, 1901
However, the cult of Hygieia as an independent goddess did not begin to spread out until the Delphic oracle recognized her, and after the devastating Plague of Athens (430-27 BC) and in Rome in 293 BC.
In the second century AD, Pausanias noted the statues both of Hygieia and of Athena Hygieia near the entrance to the Acropolis of Athens.[1]
Worship[]
"Hugieia" (Template:Big: health) was used as a greeting among the Pythagoreans.[2]
Hygieia's primary temples were in Epidaurus, Corinth, Cos and Pergamon. Pausanias remarked that, at the Asclepieion of Titane in Sicyon (founded by Alexanor, Asclepius' grandson), statues of Hygieia were covered by women's hair and pieces of Babylonian clothes. According to inscriptions, the same sacrifices were offered at Paros.
Ariphron, a Sicyonian artist from the 4th century BC wrote a well-known hymn celebrating her. Statues of Hygieia were created by Scopas, Bryaxis and Timotheus, among others, but there is no clear description of what they looked like. She was often depicted as a young woman feeding a large snake that was wrapped around her body or drinking from a jar that she carried.[3] These attributes were later adopted by the Gallo-Roman healing goddess, Sirona. Hygieia was accompanied by her brother, Telesphorus.
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Pausanias, I.23.4; the statement in Pliny's Natural History (xxxiv.80) Pyrrhus fecit Hygiam et Minervam has been applied to these statues: see H. B. Walters, "Athena Hygieia" The Journal of Hellenic Studies 19 (1899:165-168) p. 167.
- ↑ Template:Cite book
- ↑ Similar images, though of a goddess in a more warlike aspect, represent Athena and Erichthonius.
References[]
- M. Beumer, M., "Hygieia: Godin of personificatie", in: Geschiedenis der Geneeskunde, jaargang 12, nr. 4 (2008) 221-227.
- Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Hygieia"
External links[]
Template:Commons category
- Theoi Project: Hygeia Greek and Latin notices, in translation.
- Template:Wikisource1911Enc Citation
az:Higeya br:Hygieia bg:Хигия cs:Hygieia cy:Hygieia da:Hygieia de:Hygeia (Mythologie) el:Υγιεία es:Higía (mitología) eu:Higia (mitologia) fa:هیگیهیا fr:Hygie ia:Salute it:Igea he:היגיאה ka:ჰიგეა lb:Hygieia lt:Higėja hu:Hügieia mk:Хигија nl:Hygieia ja:ヒュギエイア pl:Higieja pt:Hígia ru:Гигиея sk:Hygieia (bohyňa) sr:Хигија fi:Hygieia sv:Hygieia th:ไฮเจีย tr:Hygieia uk:Гігіея zh:许癸厄亚