Healer Gods and Soothsayers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Athens

Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos was one of the Seven Against Thebes, the seven champions who fought to reinstate Polynices, the son of Oedipus, to the throne of Thebes. During the conflict, Amphiaraus was struck by Zeus with a thunderbolt and was swallowed up by the earth, thus becoming a chthonic god, a daemon.

His oracle, one of the most well-known and revered in ancient Greece, was in Oropos, 60 km north of Athens, and it included a temple, theater, and "cleansing" quarters, or baths, where those seeking the god's help would cleanse themselves, pray, and meditate. Part of the temple was dedicated to the healer deities of Panacea, Hygieia, Iaso, and Athena Paeonia.

Answer: Chiron

Chiron was unique among the centaurs since he was the half-brother to Zeus and the other Olympian gods, son of Cronus and Philyra, a sea nymph. He lived at the foot of Mount Pelion and was a teacher and mentor to many gods and demigods, like Asclepius, Heracles, Achilles, and Jason.

He was wise and just, and he possessed excellent knowledge of medicine, botany, the healing powers of herbs and plants, and the preparation of ointments and potions. He was killed tragically by his student, Heracles, who exchanged his immortality for the life of the Titan, Prometheus.

His brother, Zeus, placed him in the sky as the constellation Centaurus.

Answer: Snakes

The Aesculapian snakes, named after the god Asclepius, are among the largest nonvenomous European snakes. In antiquity, the snakes were used in the healing rituals performed in the temple-hospitals of Asclepius. People believed that the snakes symbolized rejuvenation and healing, since they shed their skin and continued living with new skin.

The "Asclepian staff", or "Asclepian rod", was a staff with a single snake entwined around it, and it was the symbol of Asclepius. The god was usually depicted as a mortal man, leaning on his staff with a dog by his feet. Asclepius was the son of Apollo, who killed his mother, Koronis, because she had an affair with a mortal. Apollo rescued the baby and handed him to Chiron, who taught him to hunt and the secrets of curing and healing.

Answer: Epione

Epione was the wife of Asclepius and the mother of Hygeia, Iaso, Aceso, Aegle, Panacea, Telesphorus, Podaleirios, and Machaon, all deities related to health and medicine, "a series of pale and shadowy figures without any myths" according to "The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology": Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", 7th Edition.

She was the daughter of Merops and the personification of "epian pharmakeian," soothing medication and treatment. Her name comes from the Greek word, "epios", meaning mild or soothing.

Answer: He could understand the language of animals

Melampus rescued and raised two baby snakes, and those snakes licked his ears, giving him the ability to understand the language of animals and use it to cure people of diseases and ailments. He cured the daughters of King Proetus from the madness inflicted on them by the ever-jealous Hera, and the son of king Phylacus from impotence. According to the historian, Herodotus, Melampus introduced the cult of Dionysus in Greece.

His line produced famous seers and healers, among them Ampiaraus and Theoclymenos.

Theoclymenos is mentioned by Homer in "The Odyssey" as the prophet from Argos who told Telemachus that his father, Odysseus, was already in Ithaca.

Answer: Hygeia

Hygeia, the goddess of continued good health and hygiene, was closer to her father than the other many children of Asclepius and Epione. Most of the sanctuaries dedicated to Asclepius were also dedicated to her, as in Epidaurus, Kos, Titane, and elsewhere.

Hygieia was considered the goddess of continued good health obtained through cleanliness, diet, hygiene, exercise, a strict regimen, and living according to the laws of nature. She was indispensable to Asclepius because she preserved the good results he brought through his healing powers. In modern terms, we would say that Asclepius cured the disease with medication and medical procedures while Hygeia prevented it by promoting and observing a healthy lifestyle. A bust of the goddess, Hygeia, is very commonly found in doctors' offices.

Answer: True

Aegle was the goddess of radiant good health, the healthy glow that comes from a human body when the recuperation process has been successful. Sometimes she is also mentioned as Aceso, the goddess of recuperation. Mostly, though, Aceso is referred as a separate daughter of Asclepius. Aegle's name comes from the Greek word "aeglaos", for light, glow, brightness, and splendor in Greek.

Answer: Eileithyia

According to the myth, Eileithyia would stand under the doorway of the labor chamber and guide the woman through the process of delivering the child. During that process, the pains of labor were invisible delicate arrows that the goddess would shoot at the woman's body to cleanse and purify her. Before and after giving birth, the women presented the goddess with offerings and burned sage and aromatic resins. However, since many women died during childbirth, the goddess was also thought of as the goddess of death.

Eileithyia was so devoted to her role as a midwife that she often disobeyed her mother, Hera, who prohibited her from aiding Zeus' numerous lovers during childbirth. Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, was in labor for nine days before Eileithyia escaped from her mother's prison and was able to help her deliver her children.

Answer: Phrygian Cap

Telesphoros or Telesphorus was the god of convalescence, the successful outcome of the healing. He was one of the many children of Asclepius and Epione, and his name means "the bearer of completion," from the Greek "telos" for end and the verb "phero" for bring.

The youngest child of Asclepius, he was usually depicted as a child-god or a dwarf, wearing a Phrygian cap. Because of his stature, he was considered a healer-god for children and ensured the birth of healthy children. His most well-known temple, the Telesphorion, was in Pergamon, located in present-day Turkey. It was a sanctuary with sleeping quarters and water fountains where priests would perform ritual ceremonies, summoning the god and his healing and rejuvenating powers in the peoples' dreams.

Answer: Panacea/Panakeia

Panacea or Panakeia was the goddess of universal remedy, especially the one based on plants and herbs. The human search for a cure-all medicine led to the use of the name "panacea" as a solution to all problems. Panacea is a combination of the Greek words "pan" for all and "akos" for cure/remedy.

In Byzantine times, panacea was also a combination of four plants used to cure snake bites; milkweed, heracleum, opopanax chromium, and helianthemum.