Hygieia

The role of Hygieia in antiquity

One notable reference regarding Hygieia's role as a goddess of health can be found within the Hippocratic oath. This oath is used by physicians in order to swear before various healing gods, one of which being Hygieia, that they would follow a code of established ethical standards of practice.

Section of the translated oath from Greek to English:

: I swear by Apollo Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture.

Hygieia and Asclepius

The worship of Hygieia was closely associated with the cult of Asclepius. While Asclepius was more directly associated with healing, Hygieia was associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health. In the second century CE, the famous traveler Pausanias provided an account based on what he witnessed within the state of Greece. In his encyclopedic text Description of Greece, written circa 160 CE to 174 CE, Pausanias described encountering statues of Asclepius and Hygieia, located at Tegea.

In addition to statues which represent the two figures, the incorporation of Hygieia within the cult of Asclepius can also be seen in medical iconography on numerous ancient Graeco-Roman coins. The close association between Hygieia and Asclepius indicates the important place she held in the cult of Asclepius.

Worship

Hygieia's primary temples were in Epidaurus, Corinth, Cos and Pergamon. At the Asclepeion of Titane in Sicyon (founded by Alexanor, Asclepius' grandson), the Greek historian Pausanias remarked that a statue of Hygieia was covered by women's hair and pieces of Babylonian clothes. According to inscriptions, similar sacrifices such as this were offered at Paros.

Hygieia was also associated with the Greek goddess Athena. In the 2nd century AD, Pausanias noted statues both of Hygieia and of Athena Hygieia near the entrance to the Acropolis of Athens. "Athena Hygieia" was one of the cult titles given to Athena, as Plutarch recounts of the building of the Parthenon (447–432 BC):

The poet Ariphron, from the Greek city-state Sicyon, wrote a well-known hymn during the 4th century BC which celebrated Hygieia. Statues of Hygieia were created by Scopas, Bryaxis and Timotheus, among others, but there is no clear description of what they looked like. In the surviving depictions, she is often shown as a young woman feeding a large snake that was wrapped around her body or drinking from a jar that she carried. These attributes were later adopted by the Gallo-Roman healing goddess, Sirona.

Hygieia was modified by the Romans into the goddess Valetudo, the goddess of personal health. There exists some debate about whether Hygieia can also be identified with the Roman goddess of social welfare, Salus; however, this has yet to be fully substantiated.

Recent discoveries

In August 2021, archaeologists from Dumlupınar University announced the discovery of statue of Hygieia in the Ancient Greek city Aizanoi. The human sized statue was portrayed with a snake in its arms. The statue was revealed inside the columned gallery throughout the south wing of the agora.

Citations

General and cited references

• Mark Beumer, 'A Woman’s Touch. Hygieia, Health and Incubation', in: Journal of History of Sciences and Technology/DVT - Dejiny ved a techniky, Volume LV – Number 1-2 (2022) 25-55.
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Hygieia".

References

1. Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary''. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.
2. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Du%28gi%2Feia^ ὑγίεια], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus
3. [https://www.academia.edu/49453855/Mark_Beumer_A_Woman_s_Touch_Hygieia_Health_and_Incubation_in_Journal_of_History_of_Sciences_and_Technology_DVT_Dejiny_ved_a_techniky_Volume_LV_Number_1_2_2022_25_55 Mark Beumer, 'A Woman’s Touch. Hygieia, Health and Incubation', in: Journal of History of Sciences and Technology/DVT - Dejiny ved a techniky, Volume LV – Number 1-2 (2022) 25-55].
4. Norman, Naomi J.. (1986). "Asklepios and Hygieia and the Cult Statue at Tegea". American Journal of Archaeology.
5. Hippocrates of Cos. (1923). "The Oath". Loeb Classical Library.
6. "Pausanias, Description of Greece, Arcadia, chapter 47".
7. Compton, M. T.. (1 July 2002). "The Association of Hygieia with Asklepios in Graeco-Roman Asklepieion Medicine". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.
8. Compton, M. T.. (1 July 2002). "The Association of Hygieia with Asklepios in Graeco-Roman Asklepieion Medicine". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.
9. COMPTON, MICHAEL T.. (2002). "The Association of Hygieia with Asklepios in Graeco-Roman Asklepieion Medicine". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.
10. "Pausanias, Description of Greece, Corinth, chapter 11".
11. Pausanias, I.23.4; the statement in [[Pliny's Natural History]] (xxxiv.80) ''[[Pyrrhus of Athens. 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.
12. Plutarch. ''Life of Pericles'' 13.8, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pericles*.html#13 on-line text].
13. Allman, George Johnston. (1889). "Greek Geometry from Thales to Euclid". Hodges, Figgis, & Co..
14. Athenaeus, ''Deipnosophists'', xv.702, [http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus15.html#702 on-line text].
15. Similar images, though of a goddess in a more warlike aspect, represent Athena and [[Erichthonius of Athens. Erichthonius]].
16. (20 August 2021). "Statue of Greek health goddess Hygieia unearthed".
17. "Statue of Greek Goddess Hygieia Unearthed in Turkey".