This painting, by the French artist Louis-Héctor Leroux (c. 1829–1900), envisions an ancient scene of worshippers invoking help from the goddess, Hygieia. Also known as Hygeia, Hygea, Hygia, Hugieia, and Salus (to the Romans), this goddess was the concept of health incarnate. As the personification of good health, she was believed to be able to grant improved physical and mental conditions to her supplicants.
In the ancient Greco–Roman world, her worship was almost always paired with the more famous healer god, Asclepius (also known as Aesculapius), and the two deities often shared the same temples. Hygieia and Asclepius were said to have been family. Most of the ancients believed they were daughter and father, but a less popular tradition insisted they were spouses. Other members of their healthy family included Panacea (whose name means Cure-All or All-Heal) and Iaso (Remedy). Generally, Hygieia, Panacea, and Iaso were all considered sisters who served as skilled attendants to their healer-god father, Asclepius. This divine family’s importance to ancient health and medicine is illustrated in their inclusion within the famous Hippocratic Oath, loosely attributed to the father of medicine, Hippocrates (460-375 BCE). The oath begins with the statement, “I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract” (Hippocratic Oath, translated by Michael North for the National Library of Medicine, 2002).
Regarding iconography and symbols, both Asclepius and Hygieia were represented alongside snakes in ancient artworks. Asclepius usually possessed a staff with a snake wrapped around it, and Hygieia often carried a serpent in her hands, or had it otherwise wrapped or draped about her person. Additionally, Hygieia could often be seen offering her snake sustenance from a hand-held cup or bowl in ancient art. It is this symbolism and iconography that Louis-Héctor Leroux re-creates in his painting.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, edited by Simon Price and Emily Kearns. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/AsklepiasHygeia.html
- https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Asklepios.html
- https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/AsklepiasIaso.html
- https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/AsklepiasPanakeia.html
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hygieia
- https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/topics/greek-medicine/index.html
- https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/114995/documents/HHRG-117-IF02-20220719-SD007.pdf
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hippocratic-oath
- https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/9427
