The cult of Asklepios 420BCE - 200CE : landscape, experience, and religious healing

Abstract

This thesis studies the Greek cult of Asklepios, a healing deity, with particular reference to the experiential aspects of religious healing in the cult between the late Classical period and the entry of the cult to Athens (c.420 BC) and the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus (d. 211 CE). It draws on archaeological and literary material, and modern anthropological and phenomenological theory, to create an interdisciplinary understanding of ancient religious healing in the cult of Asklepios. Three archaeological sites are used as case studies: Epidauros, Athens, and Corinth.