Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies

Author(s): Margherita Maria Di Nino

Source: Hermes , 2008, 136. Jahrg., H. 2 (2008), pp. 167-187
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379163

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 ASCLEPIUS' CULT AT THE COURT OF THE PTOLEMIES*

'AcKĀjļTtioc 5e ji£i£6vG)v exuxev,

dvicxdvca ļiev xe9več&tac, vocouvxac 8e iac6ar
Sid 5e xama Geoc <ov reap' dvOpamoic deiuvrļctov k^oc exei
Xenoph. Cyn. 1,6

§ 1. Asclepius: a man who became a god

In the epic tradition Asclepius is a doctor and so are his sons, Machaon and Polida-
lirius,1 but, starting from the 6th-5th century BC, he slowly became a god in his own
right.2 Generally regarded as the man who 'invented' the art of medicine and raised
it to a high level,3 Asclepius gained, after his apotheosis, his own place within the
Greekpantheon as a healing god.4Although his godhead originally included a broader
range of prerogatives, «it was his dream healings which in antiquity constituted his
greatest claim to fame».5 His cult played a conspicuous part in religious life from the

* This article is an expanded version of the papers I gave in Exeter, London, Munich, S. Diego
and Mannheim. I am grateful for the helpful discussions I had on all the occasions. Furthermore, it is a
pleasure to thank Colin Austin, David Konstan and Dorothy Thompson for their friendly comments.
1 Cf. Horn. E 194 and 218 f.
2 The earliest pieces of evidence of Asclepius* divine status come from the Argolid (Epidaurus)
where his cult first established itself, in the beginning on a par with the local cult of Apollo Meleatas,
then overlapping it and in the end replacing it. Cf. Blinkenberg 1893: 31-37; Kavvadias 1900:
179-212; Herzog 1931: 46; Edelstein 1945: (II) 136 n. 15; Gregoire-Goosens-Mathieu 1949:
27 f.; Solimano 1976: 85 f. and n. 213; Guarducci 1978: 147 f.; ROttimann 1986: 21 f.; Garland
1992: 116-118 and LiDonnici 1992: 26 n. 6. Such an evolution is paralleled by the consequent
transformation of his sons: the Homeric Macaon and Polidalirius are replaced by half-divine figures
who embody activities connected with medicine: Aceso ('Curing one'), Hygiea ('Health'), Iaso
('Healing one'), Panacea ('Universal remedy'). For a list of the divine Asclepiads cf. Suda r| 435
A. s. v. 'Hmovrj and n 154 A. s. v. riavdiceia; schol. vet. {ad Ax. PL 639); schol. rec. (ad 639 and
ad 702) and schol. rec. Tz. (ad 639,8).
3 Cf. e. g. Diod. Sic. V 74,6 and Sext. Emp. M. 1 260. For the idea that the status of 'patron of
medicine' dates to the moment when Asclepius was still a hero see Edelstein 1945: 62, according
to whom «the hero Asclepius, the friend of Chiron, the son of Apollo, was indeed well qualified to
become the patron of human healers even long before he came to be venerated as a god».
4 In truth, although Asclepius seems to have been the most famous Healer figure, in ancient
mythology the exercise of a healing Stivctuxc in the form of incubation represents an attribute
common to numerous gods and heroes; see Rohde 1894: 111-115 and 172-177; Hamilton 1906:
80-93 andBRELiCH 1958: 106-118.
5 Edelstein 1945: (II) 139. In this regard IG II.III2 4533, a late hymn from Epidaurus (2nd-3rd
century AD) is noteworthy.

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 168 Margherita Maria Di Nino

6th-5th century BC onwards.6 Believers gathered from

their health, and they started to throng into his sanctu
incredible rate around the Greek world.7 In the very
were transmitted orally, but already at an early stage, t
a form of written memory which was intended to furn
extraordinary power of the god. This consisted of ex
offered by the sick - in general wooden or clay tablet
- but still more relevant are the reports on stelai. They
cult, when the priests of the individual Asklepieia con
of private dedications in order to establish an official
history «a perpetua memoria dei fedeli e, naturalmente
santuario».8 That is how the epigraphic tradition of th
these documents are all the more relevant if we consider
literary pieces of evidence, so that our knowledge of A
almost exclusively on them.10 The literary references
far between and, above all, they cannot be considered
to the cult or, at all events, capable of highlighting its h
Our knowledge is now enlarged by PMil.Vogl. VIII 30
containing a cluster of seven poems, grouped under
connects them to the epigraphic tradition of the shrin

§2. ' Ptolemaic "IajuariKd

This unparalleled collection represents a remarkable

genre of the Epigram but also for Greek religious his
ask a question: are these epigrams genuine aretalogie

6 The Epidaurian 'Iduma (which date back to the 6th-5th cen

documents and we know that the cult of Asclepius was still flo
(284-305 AD). Cf., moreover, Besnier 1902: 239-244 and Ed
7 Cf. Walton 1894: 95-121 ; Thrāmer 1896: 1662-1677; Robe
At the beginning of the 3rd century BC Asclepius' cult even arr
Met. XV 718-728; Val. Max. I 8,2.
8Guarducci 1934:413.

y For an overall study on the shrine Idfiaxa cf. Girone 1998, whereas for the Epidaurian
Chronicles see Herzog 1931; Nehrbass 1935; LiDonnici 1989; Ead. 1992 and 1995; Dillon 1994.
But cf. also Guarducci 1935 (Crete) and Moretti 1968 (Rome).
10 Unfortunately the bulk have not survived. When Pausanias travelled around the Peloponnese
he could still see six stelai: cf. Paus. II 27,3 CrflXai Se eicnļKecav evxoc xov rcepipoA.o'u to uev
dpxaiov Kai rc^eovec, en euov 5e e£ XoiTtai. We now have only four.
11 Cf. Pind. O. 13; the dreams recorded by Herodotus and Paus. X 38,13. In Ar. PL 633-763,
the description of Plutos' recovery from blindness is an intentional parody of the official ritual; see
Weinreich 1909: 95-109 and Roos 1960: 55-97.
12 For an in depth study of the concept of ctpexa^oyia, see Longo 1969.

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 1 69

Nevertheless, a closer analysis of both their content and sequence within the sec-
tion rather supports the conclusion that Posidippus was not interested in actively
supporting Asclepius' cult and the religious fervour that was still current in the 3rd
century BC all over the Greek-speaking world, including Macedonia, Posidippus'
birthplace.13 As scholars have already noticed, the first and the last poem(s) often
work strategically within the section they are grouped in and they contribute to
the creation of a local 'Ptolemaic colour',14 even suggesting that the roll has to be
understood as an anthology dedicated to the sovereigns and possibly even recited
at court.15 Such a hypothesis seems to be confirmed by an analysis of the epigrams
placed in these 'strategic positions', namely 95 A.-B. and 101 A.-B., which, moreo-
ver, immediately attract attention because they are not proper iamatika:

oloc 6 %dA,K£oc omoc en ocxea X^tixov dveAxcov

nv£v\ia ļioyi[c] £a)f]v oļiļLiaTi cvXheyemi
£<k> vot>co)y Ecdoi) to<i>oi)c 6 xd 8ewd AippccTļc
Sfly^iaxa (|>ap|ad<c>ceiv dcrciSoc e-opojievoc
Mf|8eioc Adļirccōvoc 'OMvOioc, & rcavdiceiav
xflv 'AcKA,Tļ7tia8a)v rcdcav eSooice Tiarrļp-
coi 8', & ITuGi' "AtcoAAov, efļc yvcopicjiaxa xe%vr|c
^eiiļ/avov dvGpciTcoi) xovS' eGexo ckeX^xov.
(95 A.-B.)

«Just as this bronze, drawing a weak breath over its bones, barely manages to gather some life
in its looks, such were those saved from disease by the man who knew how to cure the terrible
bites of the Libyan asp, Medeius, son of Lampon, from Olynthus, who was taught by his father
the Asclepiads' art of universal remedy. And to you, O Pythian Apollo, as a token of his skill, he
dedicated a human remain, this skeletal body» (transi. Austin).

This epigram does not describe a miracle: it is rather a genuine anathematikon and,
although the Asklepieia produced many dedications inscribed on the ex voto offer-
ings or written on tablets accompanying them, the difference between Posidippus'
poem and such documents is remarkable. To start with, the dedicatee is Apollo,
not Asclepius. According to mythology, Asclepius was Apollo's son, so in theory
this anomaly might be explained in terms of a homage paid to the older healing
god. Nonetheless, the dvdOrpa in question does not fall within the category of
pro sanatione dedications: in all likelihood Medeius is about to retire and he offers

13 Cf. Pantermalis 1974; Id. 1980-1981 and 1982-1983.

14 lCf. Bing 2002a; Id. 2002b; Gutzwiller 2002; Hunter 2002: 111-115; Baumbach-Tram-
pedach 2004; Fantuzzi 2004b; Kosmetatou 2004a and Stephens 2004.
15 The hypothesis that Posidippus collated this anthology himself is not ruled out by Fantuzzi
2004b: 2 1 3 and also Baumbach-Trampedach 2004: 1 24s. n. 9 and Sider 2004: 40 consider it at least
plausible {contra Livrea 2004: 37). Provided that this insight is true, PMilVogl. VIII 309 would
turn out to be a libellus (cf. Argentieri 1998); moreover, considering that the papyrus dates to the
end of the 3rd century BC (cf. Bastianini-Gallazzi 2001 : 17) and Posidippus died in old age in the
second half of the century, it is possible that the roll reflects a copy of a Posidippean selection.

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 1 70 Margherita Maria Di Nino

Apollo a bronze statue portraying a skeletal figure wh

the sick persons he managed to cure during his career.
which might justify the inclusion of this poem within t
but this seems a weak unifying feature indeed.
In antiquity there was no marked difference betwee
'shrine medicine';16 all the same it is noteworthy that
programmatic intention to record Asclepius' miracles, s
names a doctor who is celebrated for his exaggerated b
to cure the bites of the Libyan asp. This fact acquire
we consider that, besides being a physician in Alexan
pointment of eponymous priest of Ptolemy II. 17 As Fr
«the various priesthoods [. . .] were appointed by the C
associated with it. Their incumbents, particularly in
were members of that group of families who served
admirals, and other high officials»:18 he was therefor
ruling class. In this light, the presence of this epigram
tion confers a local Ptolemaic colour to the whole.19
epigram contains no reference to Medeius' priesthood
be understood as a 'retirement epigram'20 which was w
at court - to please this outstanding Ptolemaic official
him, Ptolemy II.21
In fact the epigram relies on a clearly eulogistic fr
by using a carefully selected lexicon. First of all, our
expression 8<k> vovcow ecdoi) at 1. 3, which, on the on
association with Apollo, who was considered capable o
and on the other hand, takes advantage of the subtle
caoco: the verb does not express the mere act of 'savi
broader meaning of 'protection' and 'help' which contr

16 Cf. Edelstein 1945: (II) 139f.; von Staden 1989: 6-9; Joua
184-187 and Dorati-Guidorizzi 1996: 354.
17 Cf. Clarysse-Van der Veken 1983: 6; BGU VI 1227; P. Petrie III 56b; P.Chic. Hawara 6 e
P. Fam. Theb. 15. Credit for identifying the Posidippean 'Medeius, son of Lampon' with the Lagid
official mentioned in these Greek and demotic papyri goes to Bing 2002a.
18 Fraser 1972: (I) 221 f.
19 Thus already Bing 2002a: 300 and Id. 2004: 276-278 and 291.
10 The Greek Anthology provides several examples of this peculiar sub-genre of dedicatory
epigrams: to quote but a few cf. anon. AP VI 51,3 (HE 3832-3841); Leon. Tar. AP VI 204 (HE
1988-1991) and VI 205 (HE 1992-2001); Phil. Thess. AP VI 103 (GPh 2749-2755).
21 For the analysis of the relationship between Posidippus and the Ptolemies see Bingen 2002;
Fantuzzi 2004b, in particular pp. 260-268, and Thompson 2004.
22 Cf. Hes. fr. 307,1 M.-W. It is also worth comparing Horn. 8 753, where ek Oavdxoio cacocai
refers to Athena.

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 171

(lntaxvGpomia around Medeius.23 Furthermore, the use of the term 'AcK^rļTtidSai

seems to fulfil an encomiastic function: although the use of Asclepiads referring
to physicians is already attested in Theognis and later became the common way to
name doctors, in contrast to the regular iaxpoi,24 this epithet has always carried
a greater semantic strength. Consequently, we are not dealing here with common
physicians, but rather with the 'descendants of Asclepius'. In this way, the title of
'son of Asclepius' is reflected on both Lampon and Medeius, who, moreover, are
here presented as repositories of an exceptional privilege: to master the rcavdiceia,
that is to say the real sancta sanctorum of medical knowledge, and to hand it on as
a whole (rc&cav, 1. 6) from generation to generation. The centre of this eulogistic
strategy is actually represented by the third couplet:

MiļSeioc Adļurccōvoc 'OA/uvGioc, & rcavdiceiay

rfļv 'AcKA,r|7ua8a)v Tt&cav ēScoKe Tcariļp

which begins with the mention of Medeius and ends with a reference to his father,
Lampon, mentioned at 1. 5, so that it completely fits the name of that famous family
of doctors, who were directly connected to the sovereigns, stood high in their favour
and were gifted with an uncommon medical aristeia, by virtue of which Medeius
became even capable of curing the mortal bites of the Libyan asp. In fact, accord-
ing to the poem, Medeius was a 'pioneer' of medicine, but we have to consider
that already in the 4th century BC Aristotle mentions an antidote called ct1tcxik6v
which was «the only remedy known» for the deadly bites of the asp.25 Likewise,
a handful of authors who lived at the same time as Posidippus and even later still
considered this SfyyjLia mortal.26 Later, Galen reports that, between the 2nd and the
1st century BC, the king of Syria Antiochus VIII boasted of having invented an
antidote against the venom of snakes.27 Indeed, this fact allows us to infer that, by
that time, such a claim represented a strong eulogistic motif.28
The other 'strategic' poem is also puzzling because its presence within this
section finds a justification only in the epiclesis of Asclepius (1. 1) and the request
for health (1.3):

23 Compare the well documented and much celebrated <ļ>iA,av6pamia of Asclepius in IG IV2 1
387,2; 458,2; 467,3; 468,1; 469,3 and SEG XXXVII 1019,1.
24 Cf. Theogn. 1 432; Eur. Ale. 969 f.; Plat. Phaedr. 270c and Resp. Ill 405c; Gal. Comp. Med. IX
4 [XIII p. 273 K.] and Sext. Emp. P. Ill 225, but cf., moreover, Tz. CM. XII 637-639 K. (631-633
Leone) 'AcKA,Tļ7uri5ai Xcyovtai Kaxa icupiav Ai^iv, ocoi yovfļv ecxf|Kaciv 'AcKAiļmov crcepudxeov.
/ v\)v be Kaxa Kaid^piļciv xovc iaxpouc eiprļKeiv. Sophocles seems to be the only one who uses
'AcK>.TļmdSai as referring to Macaon and Polidalirius (cf. Phil. 1333).
25 Cf. Arist. HA VIII 29 (p. 607a 22 f.).
26 Cf. Ap. Rh. IV 1531; Nic. Ther. 327-331; Ael. NA XV 18; XVI 14; Paus. VIII 4,7; XVI 2;
Nonn. D. IV 354 f. and Lucan. Bell.Civ. IX 762-787.
27Cf.Gal.XIV183e201f.
28 Pace Lelli 2005: 88, according to whom Medeius was «un innovatore in campo scien-
tifico».

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 172 Margherita Maria Di Nino

6A,poy ctpicxoc oty[f|p], 'AckA,t|7ci8, fiexpiov

- coi 8' opeyeiv noXXi\ po\)X,o|iev(0 8waļLii
aiTEixai 8' \)yi<ei>av, aiaļ 5x>o* xama yap
f)9eo)v t)\ļrr|Xfļ (ķaivetai &Kp6noXic.
(101 A.-B.)

«The perfect man, Asclepius, asks for moderate wealth - and y

you wish - and he asks for health, two remedies. For these appe
(transi. Austin).

Such nominal congruence is definitely not enough t

iamatikon. Being totally foreign to any wonder-work
linked to the long-documented theme of to kgeMactov,
of wealth and health has always been recognised. In
classification, Posidippus seems to put 6A,(3oc and tiy
it is also probable that Posidippus does not (or not on
sonal stand in this regard. It is tempting indeed to c
to Medeius: he was a famous physician - which mean
were, a 'source of tiyieia' for the numerous patient
imagine that he was also rich,31 so he might be here
moderate wealth, which represents the last step nee
by right. Otherwise there is the risk of appearing m
be alluding to the well-known tradition referring to
of doctors, tradition which seems to be also documen
{HE 3375-3377), where the poet, while mentioning t
to Asclepius by the doctor Nicias,32 is «alluding wit

29 Cf. Theogn. 225 f.; Tirt. fr. 9 G.-R; Sapph. fr. 16 V.; Mim
Diog. Laert. 1 35; 37; 77; 86; Plut. Sept. Sap. 152 f; 153b-d; 155c
the text of an Attic skolion (PMG 890) of uncertain authorshi
Fabbro1995: 115-118.

30 For the possibility that the adjective uetpioc refers also to ixyieiav (1. 3) see Bing 2004: 291
and Gutzwiller 2005: 292. It seems, however, better to assume that such a medietas concerns only
the request for health because nobody prays to the gods to let him/her be 'half or 'moderately'
healthy.
31 Cf. e.g. Pohl 1905: 67-79; Friedlaender 192210: 197 f.; Edelstein 1945 (II): 175-178;
Kudlien 1976; Krug 1993: 193-195 and Rossi 2001: 194 f. In this light, a documentary papyrus
(P. Cair. Zen. I 59036) which dates to 257 BC appears noteworthy. It mentions a Medeius who
has been appointed to raise to iaxpiKov (for this fee see Nanetti 1944). Edgar, the editor of the
papyrus, suggested that this man was somehow involved with 'public health' and did not exclude
the possibility that he might have been the eponymous priest of Ptolemy II (cf. Edgar 1922). This
is now confirmed by our epigram.
32 This character is not otherwise known but we may identify him with the homonymous epi-
grammatist whose poems were collected by Meleager in his Garland, as at 1. 2 it is overtly stated
that Nicias is a doctor. Cf. also Theocr. 11,5 and Gow 1950: (II) 208.

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 1 73

that Nicias could afford to pay a high payment to Eetion precisely by virtue of his
profession as a doctor and his own high honoraria»:33

iced t68' an ei)c68oi)c y^/tiil/ai' dyaAjia KeSpou,

'Hexitovi %dpiv Y^aclmpdc %eipbc aicpov imocxac
jiicBov ktX.
«(scil. Nicias) who had this statue of fragrant citron carved for him, promising Eetion a high pay-
ment for his skilful hand» (transi. Rossi).

The parenthetic phrase «and you have ample power to grant it if you wish» at 1. 2
points in the same direction. Through the mention of Asclepius' Suvapic, Posidippus
alludes to a theme well documented in the shrine Chronicles,34 which were intended
to «attest to his power, aim to sway sceptics, and assure pilgrims that there is hope
for them too»;35 however, we cannot help but note that such a reference is here con-
nected to the request for wealth rather than to health, as we would expect. Asclepius
never made a patient rich, so PodX,oji8vq) (if you wish, 1. 2) has to be understood as
a precise reference to doctors, who were normally prosperous. By inventing the art
of medicine and handling it down to physicians, Asclepius put them in condition to
accumulate considerable wealth: he wanted it. Therefore, the attention turns from
the aretalogical acknowledgement of the divine power36 to a subtle blame for the
physicians' economic demands: they make a lot of money but they can be perfect
men only if they are satisfied with moderate wealth, which is to say if they charge
their patients a reasonable fee. In this regard we must not underestimate the fact that
Asclepius too was criticized for his excessive greed for money,37 and, moreover,
according to tradition, this is the reason why he died.38 So Asclepius, the man who

33 Rossi 2001 : 194. According to Hunter 1999: 243 such a tradition is also documented in The-
ocr. 1 1 ,80 f. oma toi noMcJxxuoc ercoiuaivev xov eptota uoucicSoov, pdiov 8e Sidy' f\ ei ^pucov
ēSoōKEV, where the poet «gently teases Nikias with the high fee doctors could earn», as he means that
that lovesick Cyclops would have managed to keep his love under control by singing much easier
than he would have done by paying gold to doctors(cf. alsoGow 1950: [II] 220 [ad 11,81] and Rossi
2001: 194. Contra schol. [ad Theocr. 11,81] pdiov 8e Sirjyev aScov, 71 xpuciov el^e 8ouvai orccflc
7ceicTļ ifj TaXaxeia). If that is the correct interpretation of the couplet, the comparison between the
two texts is quite revealing because it might provide us with insights useful for understanding the
real message of this section: like Theocritus, Posidippus addresses a physician, whom he is familiar
with, and kind-heartedly urge him to put his financial demands in perspective.
34 Cf. IG IV2 I 125,2; 128,1 and 23; ICret. I.XVII 19,10; IGUR 148,5. Note, moreover, the
occurrence of the theme in the aretalogy for Imuthes-Asclepius in P.Oxy. 1381 (cf. 1. 136f.).
35 Dillon 1997: 79. For the didactic nature of the 'Idjuara see Dillon 1994.
36 Cf. IG IV2 1 125,2; 128,1 and 23; ICret. I.XVH 19,10; IGUR 148,5. The motif is also documented
in the aretalogy for Imutes- Asclepius contained in P.Oxy. 1381 (cf. 1. 136f.). For the topic in general
see Longo 1969, 25 and 47 f.; Vanderlip 1972, 74 [ad Isid. H. IV 39]) and Dillon 1997, 79.
37 Cf. Pind. Pyth. 3,96-108. It is, moreover, worth comparing the late Liban. Decl. XXXIV 25
xawa yap vuvi uavBdvo on 7ca)Ax)\)ci xflv \)Y£iav oi 0eoi Kai 8id icminc 6 'AckA,t|7ci6c tc^odteiv
ecTcovSaKe Kaivoxepov eiwropiac xporcov Tfļv iaipeiav etipouevoc.
38 Cf. Edelstein 1945: (II) 75 f.

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 174 Margherita Maria Di Nino

'invented' medicine, and 'begot' the offspring of phy

the first to be reproached for such a deprecating att
might contribute to make the address to the healing

§ 3. P.MH.Vogl. VIII 309: sidelights on Asclepi

If the Ptolemaic layout represents the key to readin

the nature of the Posidippean iamatika and their fun
exandria is different and, above all, not immediately
have written the kinds of texts that ordinary peopl
albeit with subtle twists, which were characteristic
gestion that these epigrams were not real iamatika,
to praise Asclepius, is confirmed both by their con
The epigrams 97 and 98 A.-B. are pervaded with a s
odds with the genuine fervour displayed in the shrin
of these poems acknowledgment of an ironic backg
dividual sensibilities, other iamatika contain compe
shed light on the real nature of the Posidippean text
is immediately caught by the strikingly non-incuba
recorded in both 96 and 99 A.-B.:

7cpoc c£ |i8v 'AvTi%dpr|c, 'AcKAjļrcte, euv 8\)ci pdKxpoic

r\kOe 8i' dipaTtixev i%voc 8(1)8^k6|li8voc*
coi 8[e 9\)T1]tcoX8cov etc dļx(ļ)ox8po['u]c 7tō5ac ecrri
Kal to Tc[o]?a)%p6viov Sejxviov z^etyvye.
(96A.-B.)

«To you, Asclepius, Antichares came with a pair of crutches, dragging his feet through the short
cuts.40 After sacrificing to you he stood firm on both legs and escaped being bed-ridden for so
long» (transi. Austin).

and

6 Kpfļc KGM|>dc 8(bv 'AcicAJdc, \ir\\b' otoc dicotieiv

aiyia^eov oioc ļxrļ5' dvejucoy Tidxayov
8\)6\)c an 8\)%G)^8G)v 'AckA.T1tcio\) oiKaS' drcf|<i>ei
Kai id 5id rcAivOcav piļļiai' dicou cojuevoc .
(99 A.-B.)

39 Cf. Di Nino 2005a and Ead. 2006: 30 f.

40 The image of Antichares dragging his steps through the short cuts which lead to the shrine
is consistent with the paralysis which affects his lower limbs. Such a meaning of dTparciTOC, how-
ever, seems to derive from a misunderstanding of the real etymology of the word (cf. Chantraine,
DELG 135 s.v. dxpa7c6c; sic LSJ9 272). Therefore, it seems better to translate 5i' ctxpaTrixev as
«through the paths».

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 1 75

«The Cretan Asclas being deaf und unable to hear the surge on the shore or the roar of the winds,
all of a sudden, after praying to Asclepius, returned home able to pick up words even through a
brick-wall» (transi. Austin).

Victim of a crippling paralysis of his lower limbs, Antichares recovers the ability to walk while still
making his offering, that is to say before and apart from the incubatio. Such 'precocity' represents
a striking transgression of the usual incubatory ritual, according to which all the sanationes took
place in the sacred precinct (and only there)41 and exclusively during the nocturnal dream. On the
contrary, the man recovers from his illness during the rcpoGuecOai phase.42 An interesting inscrip-
tion from the Athenian Asklepieion reveals details about the procedure:

0eoi
Kaxd xd8e TtpoGvecGcr
i* MeX^drrli rcoTcava xp'
la* 'Epļiiļi rcoTtava xpi"
a* 'Iacoi TiOTiava xpicr 'A"
K8CŌ1 rcorcava xpia* Flcr
vaiceiai rcorcava xpia*
kuciv TcoTcava xpia* kit
vryyexaic rcorcava xpi [a].
vac.

EvGvSTpoc
'EAčtjc ivioc
iepeuc 'Ack^titcio
xdc cxdA,ac dvē8iļK[£]
xdc 7tp6c xoic Parole
8v ale xd TtoTcava rcpioxoc
E^TļiKdc axo a %pfļ 7cp[o]6\)ec0ai.
IG II.III2 4962 (ca 355-354 BC)

«The initial offerings are to be made in the following way: to Meleas three sacrificial cakes,43 to
Apollo three cakes, to Hermes three cakes, to Iaso three cakes, to Aceso three cakes, to Panacea
three cakes, to the dogs three cakes, to the hunts-men three cakes [vac] Euthydemos from Eleusis,
priest of Asclepius dedicated, near the altars, the stelai on which he was the first to represent the
cakes which must be offered before the incubation» (transi, adapted by Edelstein).

So does this Epidaurian inscription:

'O iap£\)c 6 nap 'AckAxxtuoi 7iap[e]~

%ex(D xoic 7ipo0\)6ļievoic 7id[vx]~
a 6cg)v 8el exci xdi rcpo0t>ci 6c[a]
kq ja.fļ ikcovxi £%ovxec ^aļifPav]"

41 Cf. Pfister 1922: 1140.

42 Cf. Stengel 1896: 637-640; Papadimitriou 1949; Robert 1951; Sokolowski 1962: 32 and
57; Behr 1968: 32-35; Guarducci 1978: 16; Cox Miller 1994: 111 and Dillon 1997: 158.
43 For the offering of \ļ/aicxd 'barley -cakes' cf. also Herond. 4,92.

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176 Margherita Maria Di Nino

ovxco be Kai cxepjiaxoc [fpi]"

eoSetaov c%i£dv 8e erci [xotc]
drcaAioic f||xico8eX,iov [ērci 8e]
xoic xeAioic obeXov.44
SEG XI 419a (4th century B

«Let the priest of Asclepius provide for the preliminary sacrifice

did not bring with them. Let them receive also: a chaplet worth h
worth of firewood for suckling pigs and an obol's worth for fu

Without doubt this phase was a relevant - and obligator

was only purification rites required for worshippers
as is made clear by an Epidaurian inscription which d

npcōioc MdXoc etev^ev 'AkoXXcovoc Metedxa

pcoļiov Kai Gvciaic flyAmc ev xelievoc*
o\)8e K8 ©eccaWac ev TpiKKT) 7ceipa0eir|c
etc dSvxov Kaxapdc 'AcKAjļmoi), el \ii\ cuķ' dyv
rcpcoxov 'ArcoMoovoc (3(ojliot3 Oticaic MeXedxa.
IG IV2 1 128,27-31 (ca 300 B

«Malos first built the altar of Apollo Meleatas and made the
Not even in Thessalian Trieca would you attempt to go down i
you first sacrifice on the holy altar of Apollo Meleatas» (transi

We can safely argue the same from a late inscriptio

time), even if the text is unfortunately badly damage

" eic7iope\)ecO]co etc

iļļLi8]pac 8eK[a] a7io8e^ex(a)[i
eicitbv AovcdjLievoc, ed[v
drcaAJAxiccecGai TiepiKaGaipefxco
" %ixc5]vi te\)K(p Kai [0]eiq> Kai 8[d(|)VTļ
' xai]viac, ac 7i£piK[a]0aipexa) ©
eic]7iopei)£c0(o Tipoc xov Oeov x
etc xo ļLi]eya 8yKoiļiTļxf|piov 6 eYKo[i|irļc6ļLievoc

iepe]ioic A^dkoic dyvoic eXdac e[pveciv ecx

ļiiļxe SaKx]t>A,iov |if|xe ^civrļv ^i[f|xe
dv\)7r]6[8]r|xo[v
Inscr. Perg. II 264
«... let him enter into. . .

... he will have ten days. . .

. . . entering, after bathing, if ...

44 Cf. Sokolowski 1962: 56 f. no. 22.

45 Cf. Sokolowski 1962: 32.

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 1 77

... to be set free, let him purify completely. . .

... in a white chiton and with brimstone, and with
laurel...

. . . with fillets which let him purify completely. . .

... let him go towards the god. . .
into the great incubation room, the incubant. . .
. . . with pure white sacrificial victims46 garlanded with olive
shoots

. . . neither seal-ring nor belt nor. . .

...barefoot...» (transi. Edelstein).

The ritual impossibility of reaching the apatov before having fulfilled the prelimi-
nary rites is documented also by Pausanias:

To 8e a\)xo Kai ev rrj nepyqi© xfj imep Tioiaļioi) KoCkov 7C87c6v0aciv oi

tco TiļA£(ļ)q> GwvTEC. ecu yap 8fļ o\)8e xomoic dvaļJfļvai rcpo kompoti
Tcapd tov 'AckA,t17u6v.
Paus.V13,3

«The same rule applies to those who sacrifice to Telephus at Pergamum on the river Caicus; these
too may not go up to the temple of Asclepius before they have bathed» (transi. Edelstein).

Furthermore, this is precisely what arises in Aristophanes as well; notwithstand-

ing the farcical nature of the description he provides, his eyicoilirlctc represents
valid evidence.

KA. TtpčōTOV ļnev amdv eni GdAmxav flyoiiev,

46 1 would like to thank Errietta Bissa for drawing my attention to the fact that we might con-
nect the Posidippean BuiļTioAčG) to the iepeia which the sick patient is here taking with him to the
dpaxov. Unfortunately, the bad condition of the text does not allow us to draw firm conclusions
but I think that ewircoAio) has to be understood as a poetic variant for (rcpo)0v© which refers to
the preliminary phase, consisting in the actual performance of sacrifices, whereas these sacrificial
victims rather indicate the offering dedicated to Asclepius after the healing. In this regard, the cock
offered as pro sanatione dedication by Cinno and Coccale in Herond. 4 represents a valid point
of comparison. It is also worth comparing Paus. II 27,1 Ta 8e Ovoueva, fļv xe tic 'EmSaupitov
axraov fļv T£ £evoc 6 8\>©v r\ KaxavaMcKouciv evxoc x©v 6p©v. Aristophanes' testimony, on the
contrary, is not completely reliable regarding these sacrifices. In PL 659 f. enei 8e p©jiq> 7CO7cava
Kai 7tpo6\)uaTa / Ka8©ci(ō8T| he mentions dedications offered to Asclepius in the xeuevoc, but we
can be sure only about the cakelets, whereas rcpoStiuaxa is the reading documented in codices,
against which preference has been recently given to the variant OvAriuaxa reported by scholia
(cf. e.g. Marzullo 2003, 1056). On the other hand, epigraphic evidence does not provide many
details about this obscure or, at least, not well-documented phase of the ritual. As Marco Dorati
points out to me, the faithful sometimes took with them the skin of slaughtered animals to sleep
on. Of course, the inscription does not allude to this because the sacrificial victims in question are
explicitly said to be 'white' but what really matters is to bring to the fore that worshippers used to
take something along after the preliminary sacrifices.

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 178 Margherita Maria Di Nino

TY. Nfļ Ai' e\)5aiļi(Dv ap' rļv

dvfļp yepo&v \ļn)%pa GaXdxxfl A,ot>ļievoc.
KA. "Erceixa rcpōc to xejuevoc rpev tov Qeov.
Ar. Plut. 656-659

«Without delay we took him to the sea

and bathed him there.

O what a happy man,

the poor old fellow bathed in the cold sea!
Then to the precinct of the God we went» (transi. Edelstein).

In other words, the rcpoOiiecGai represented a vital moment within the cult because
it was the preparatory phase leading to incubation, but, if there is no incubatio
without purification, we also take note that there is no miracle without incubatio.
Besides being Asclepius above all an incubatory god, the reference to the healing
dream is always documented in the shrine records.47
The only apparent violation of the incubatory procedure is represented by IG
IV2 1 121,41-48 (A 5 Herzog):

ndxc dclxovoc.
[omoc dcļ)i]K8xo etc to iapov xmep (lxov&c* (be 8e TtpoeOvcaxo Kai
[ercoTļce xd] vojii£6|ii£va, nexd xouxo 6 rcalc 6 x© Qeq> 7c\)p(|)opc5v
[eicetexo 7c]oi xoji rcaxepa xov xoi) rcaiSōc rcoxi|&£\ļ/ac, xmoSeicec"
[0ai cruxov e]via'uxo/u, x-u%6vxa ec()' a 7cdpecxi, d7ro0\)ceiv xd laxpa.
[6 8e Jialc ē^]a7civac '\)7to8ēKOļiai' eclxx* 6 be icaxep eKTc^ayeic 7tdA,iv
[£K£A£xo a\)]xov eijieiv 6 8' eXeye naXiv Kai ek xot>xoi) -uyiflc eye"
[vexo],

«A voiceless boy. He came as a suppliant to the Temple for his voice. When he had performed the
preliminary sacrifices and fulfilled the usual rites, thereupon the temple servant who brings in the
fire for the god, looking at the boy's father, demanded he should promise to bring within a year the
thank-offering for the cure if he obtained that for which he had come. But the boy suddenly said
"I promise". His father was startled at this and asked him to repeat it. The boy repeated the words
and after that became well» (transi. Edelstein).

The mute boy regains the gift of speech immediately after the preliminary sacrifices
but this laļLia is quite different from the average shrine Chronicles, starting from the
lack of any direct allusion to Asclepius. On the other hand, the only person connected
with the cult and the shrine is 6 Ttaic 6 xq> Be© rcvpcķoptDv, who, moreover, seems
mainly concerned about the payment. This record seems in fact to be connected
with the problem of the fee: Asclepius was celebrated as a philanthropic god who

47 The Epidaurian 'Iduma allude to the incubation through the verbs eYKa9£\>8a> and ey-
KOiud©, which are connected to the rest of the record as coordinate clauses or participle conjunc-
tives, whereas in Lebena and Pergamon we normally find prepositional nexus like Kax' ovap, Kax'
oveipov and kqG' imvov.

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 1 79

was satisfied with cheap dedications48 but we also know that the worshippers were
supposed to pay a fee, as is shown by a few inscriptions.49 In this perspective the
inscription seems intended to highlight the necessity 4to pay' for the miracle rather
than to celebrate Asclepius' infallible power. In addition, we might consider also
few Chronicles that have other assistants (namely the animals sacred to the god),
as protagonists. They too display anomalous features, primarily the fact that the
faithful is awake. Cf. e.g. IG IV2 1 121,125 f. (A 20 Herzog)

At)C(ov 'Epniove'uc Tcaic aiSfļc. o\)[toc] vnap \mo kvvoc tcov

Korea to iapov 0e[pa7c]£i)6ļLievoc to\)c omiXkovc i)y[vfļ]c ānf\XQe.

«Lyson of Hermione, a blind boy. While wide-awake he had his eyes cured by one of the dogs in
the Temple and went away healed» (trad. Edelstein).50

This never happens, however, when it is Asclepius himself who performs a mi-
raculous healing; it seems, therefore, that the non-incubatory sanationes can be
placed in a special, own-featured category of shrine records, which are somehow
allowed to deviate in part from the official cult.
Even the place where Antichares' and Asclas' recoveries occurred is surprising:
the venue for all the miracles was the sacred precinct where the faithful were ad-
mitted after the preliminary sacrifices. That is why it was named a(3crcov: because

48 For the natural tendency to benevolence on the part of the gods and their philanthropy cf.
Liban. Declam. XXXIV 24: Avxouaxoi rcpoc EUTroiiav oi Geoi, 7capaKaXo\)|Lievoi 8e pe^xiovec.
O68ev taw dvGpamivoov eniCpTOVciv. Oi) nXomoc airaric rcpoc(ļ>iXr|c, oi) Kep8oc exepov. Movnv
xflv ewcoiiav e%o\)ci. 'Ev xauxn. 7tA,oi)xo\)civ oi 0eoi. The almost proverbial expression «a cock for
Asclepius» makes it clear that the cock was one of the most common sacrifices; cf. e. g. Plat. Phaed.
118a; Herond. 4,12 and Liban. Declam. XXXIV 36. The fact that the cock was taboo in Eleusis
(cf. Porphyr. De abstin. IV 16) proves that it was not considered a suitable bird to be dedicated to
chthonic deities. In truth, such a sacrifice was not a common Speiseopfer for Greeks, so we might
argue that, in the case of Asclepius' cult, the choice depended on the cheapness of the cock itself
and/or on the belief that it was an apotropaeic bird.
49 Although Asclepius was officially celebrated as a philanthropic god who kindly helped
sick people and was satisfied with cheap offerings, we know that the worshippers had to pay a fee
which by and large corresponded to the iaxpiKOv paid to 'lay' doctors. The laxpa are occasion-
ally mentioned in the temple records (cf. IG IV2 1 121,45 [A 5 Herzog]; 122,7 [B 22 Herzog] and
35 [B 25 Herzog]; 126,20; 258; 560 and 571, but also Callim. AP VI 147 [HE 1157-1160]) and,
according to Herzog 1931: 58 n. 25, the request for payment is likely to have become particularly
emphasized in the fourth stele. Unfortunately this catalogue is too fragmentary to allow any reli-
able conclusion; for the fee in general see Weinreich 1909: 4; Nehrbass 1935: 62; Meier 1949:
71; Rengstorf 1953: 19 and Krug 1985: 140f.
50 Cf. also IG IV2 122,35-38 (B 26 Herzog); 133 f. (B 43 Herzog) and 123,4-8 (C 45 Her-
zoo).We can also take into account IG IV2 1 122,69-82 (B 33 Herzog): the explicit statement that
Tersander was awake is missing but it would have been unnecessary since his healing occurred in
broad daylight, whilst the man was going back home from the sanctuary where [oi)]5euiav ovj/iv
/[e](6PTļ(L69f.).

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 1 80 Margherita Maria Di Nino

no one was allowed to enter it, unless he had purified

exclusive setting where Asclepius appeared to the sick
so to record a healing occurring somewhere else is to
cult. An analogous infringement of the usual ritual is
tikon, where a deaf man, whose name is Asclas, came
to regain his hearing and the sanatio occurred when t
Asclepius, that is to say during the 7cpo0\>£C0ai phas
Asclas' healing conflicts with those in the common tem
these documents a worshipper gaining super-human he
obtains hearing that allows him to pick up words even
difficult not to take this statement as mockery, by w
the temple Chronicles. From this point of view, the fu
is particularly revealing. Asclas intends to take advan
hearing gained from Asclepius in order to get throu
barriers represented by the walls and spy on the neig
[. . .] iperbolicitā» of such a situation «passa l'ombra di
a sneaky plan hardly fits the serious nature of the shri
Further insights into this strategy come from the sixt
peculiar recovery made by a man called Zeno:

fļviK' e8ei Zf|vo)va xoy r\cv%ov ikvov icnieiv

7C81I7CXOV en eiKocxcpi TU(ļ)A,6v Eo via Gepei,
oyScoKoyxaeTrlc tiyiTlc yevex' fjeXtov 8e
8ic nopfvov (&e\|/ac xo]y papw ei8' 'AiSrļv
(100A.-B.)

«When Zeno was just about to enjoy the peaceful sleep after being blind for twenty-five years, at
the age of eighty he recovered his sight, but [after glimpsing] the sun twice only, he saw grievous
Hades» (transi, adapted by Austin).

The poem contains the three basic incubatory elements - the miraculous recovery
from illness, the sleep and the vision of the god - however it reveals a 'heterodox
approach' to the inscriptional repertory. To start with, there are no elements which

51 Caesar still talks about the inner part of the shrine quopraeter sacerdotes adirefas non est,
quae Graeci adyta appellant (BC III 105). On the apaxov in general see Festa 1900: 10;
Meier 1949: 64-68; Guarducci 1978: 144f.; Parker 1983: 167; Tomlinson 1983: 67-71; Rtrr-
timann 1986: 50f.; LiDonnici 1989: 11; Dillon 1997: 76-79.
52 Bastianini-Gallazzi 1993 (a d XVIII).
53 Actually, the text also allows us to infer that Asclas became an 'unintentional victim' of
his own recovery, and his ethnicity - he is Cretan - surely strengthens the irony which Asclas'
after-healing-condition is suffused with: his hearing is now too good, so that he has to hear all
the conversations, both when he is out and at home (for this interpretation see Bing 2004,288 f.).
Anyway, whether Asclas has in mind to take advantage of the super-human power he happened to
gain or he is rather cursed with it, it seems beyond any doubt that the Witz of the poem lies in the
clausula piļuat' cikovcouevoc.

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 181

allow us to infer either Zeno's hope to regain his sight or his presence within an
Asklepieion and, in any case, the a(3axov does not look like the most appropriate
background for this peculiar - and probably unexpected - sanatio.54 Even the length
of his blindness sounds odd because, although the 'recovery from a long disease'
represented a common aretalogical motif,55 twenty five years is a suspiciously long
time, all the more so if we take into account the short duration of the healing itself:
two days. None of the shrine inscriptions provides details of the duration of the
recovery because their eulogistic perspective takes it for granted that the healing
was definitive, whereas in Zeno's case the recovery is almost pointless in view of
its unusual brevitas.56 It is also interesting to note that the death of the protagonist,
alluded to at 1. 1 as something impending, in an effective Ringkomposition, becomes
the reality which overtakes the old man: inserted just in the middle of this 'death-
ring' and almost obliterated by it, the sanatio can hardly be taken seriously. Fur-
thermore, the references are made through vaguely incubatory formulae which echo
the atmosphere of the 'Idjuma: the iļCD%oc imvoc mentioned at 1. 1 strongly recalls
the ritual dream;57 likewise, in the expression to]y Papw elS' 'ATSrļv we find £i8e,
the very verb documented in the shrine Chronicles, where Asclepius' epiphany is
expressed through the formulaic evuTtviov elSe or its variant 6\ļnv elSe.58 Indeed,
we might take the clausula as a variation of the common sepulchral metaphor of
death as 'going to Hades (scil. to his dwelling)': the use of a verbum videndi instead
of the customary ep%o^iai is perfectly consistent with the fact that Zeno is not blind
any more, so he does not go to Hades' dwelling but, rather, he sees him.59
Furthermore, in Aristid. Or. XLIX 4 we read

noXkovc 8' 8K Oavdxoio epvcavxo SepKojievoio,

dcxpa(ļ>E£Cci ttuAtjciv en aimjciv (fcpadrcac
'AtSe©

«From sharp-sighted death he rescued many who advanced right to the gates of Hades, whence
none return» (transi. Edelstein).

54 It is safe to guess that, when he regained his sight, the old Zeno was in his house. Of course
gods could choose the way they preferred to show their power, but Asclepius' case is different because
he was a chthonic deity, and hence physically connected to his shrine: «per attendere la guarigione
non si deve attendere a casa propria, ma ci si deve recare nel santuario» (Dorati 2001: 105).
55 Cf. e.g. IG IV2 1 121,3-10 (A 1 Herzog); 95-97 (A 12 Herzog); 122,55-60 (B 30 Herzog);
126; ICret. I.XVII 17,4 and Aeschin. AP VI 330,4.
56 Cf. also Apollon. AP IX 422,6 (GPh 1 182) we \ii\ teiecpov i5eiv 8ewepov f|ētaov. Even if the
contexts are utterly different, in both cases the death is likewise connected to a 'second day' (unless
we want to take Sewepov with AsKipov, for which cf. Gow-Page GPh [II] 154 [ad GPh 1 183s.]).
57 Pace Bing 2004: 276 n. 4 and 288 who takes these words as a real reference to incubation.
58 Cf. e.g. IG IV2 1 121,11 and 16 (A 2 Herzog); 49 (A 6 Herzog); 98 (A 13 Herzog); 104 (A
14 Herzog); 122,51 f. (B 29 Herzog).
59 There might also be a pun on the fact that the sight gained by Zeno is really formidable because
it allows him to see Hades, something which is by definition 'invisible' ('At5f|c. For such an etymology
see Frisk 1960: 33 f. s. v. "Ai8r|c), that is to say 'the place where nothing is seen' (cf. Plat. Cra. 403a).

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182 Margherita Maria Di Nino

Even if Aristides (2nd century AD) himself wrote the

mirror the idea usually connected to Asclepius that h
instead of putting them somehow in condition to see
But more important from our point of view is that the
name' sounds like an intentional variation of the incu
sentence evmviov ei8e has to be understood, of cours
£i5e\ Such a subtly allusive structure gains a still m
consider that the general incubatory colour upon whi
a deeper level of analysis, turns into its own converse
the poem there is a wait which leads to an epiphany, bu
ritual dream during which, they know, they are going
them, Zeno is about to sleep the eternal sleep of death
not concern Asclepius, but Hades. Being hardly fortu
the two antithetical dimensions of mors (= end of lif
of health -» 'new' life) seems to be linked to an old tr
fallibility, which, of course, the temple priests tried
founded but the memory of which was perhaps still

§ 4. Conclusion: Asclepius at court

To conclude, the Milan roll has added a new chapter i

Asclepius' cult. In spite of the importance which th
the 3rd century BC and its ever-increasing diffusio
appears as a low-key healing god compared to the im
temple Chronicles. No epithets are used for him61 an
premature sanationes that 'did not expect Asclepius' c
of the god in both his divinity and his medical prim
such a detorsio Aesculapii hides a deeper meaning on
who was an adherent of mystery cults62 which were
restoration but rather provided initiates with the gua
salvation: that of the soul. It is therefore easy to und
Posidippus, the recovery from a slight illness was no
ebrated as a wonder and, still more, the belief in heal
such as a pregnancy lasting five years,63 probably r

60 Cf. Hyppis FGrHist 554 F2 (ap. Ael. NA IX 33). The orig

at Epidaurus, so when this Asklepieion became the Panhellenic cen
paper over this anecdote by transferring it to the rival sanctuary a
of this record see Weinreich 1909: 81-85; Herzog 1931: 77 f.
61 Cf. Di Nino 2005b: 70-72.
62 Cf. Dickie 1995: 81-86; Id. 1998: 65-76 and Rossi 1996:
63 Cf. IG IV2 1 121,3-10 (A 1 Herzog).

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 Asclepius' Cult at the Court of the Ptolemies 1 83

cism.64 Furthermore, and most importantly, Posidippus was a poeta doctus who
drew his inspiration from various sources, among which we can now count even
the illustrious 'Iqnaxa.65 The connection between the production of epigrams in the
early Hellenistic period and the linguistic and stylistic repertory of the epigraphic
tradition has recently been persuasively emphasized,66 and so it is plausible that
Posidippus, in a virtuoso display of originality, sought to promote himself with a
sub-genre of poems which, although it was completely innovative in the epigram-
matic tradition, had as its background a famous epigraphic precedent.67 Obviously
these seven iamatika do not actually represent the official worship of Asclepius;
they rather give a previously 'hidden' implication of it, which reveals the exist-
ence of an Asclepius alter. There was an official Asclepius - the one celebrated
in the sanctuaries, worshipped by devoted faithful and who 'really' performed
miraculous healing - and there was another one, the 'Ptolemaic' Asclepius, who,
in the Posidippean re-examination, represented a learned pretext for variation and
originality. The idea behind this cluster of epigrams is not very different from
poetic performances during the symposium, where the poets read or improvised
poems on the spot according to the rules of a refined, allusive and mocking literary
game. Likewise, Posidippus wrote these seven epigrams, and possibly even recited
them at court, to wink at his exclusive audience, and, at the same time, to please
the sovereigns and their official Medeius.

Bibliography

L. Argentieri 1998, Epigramma e libro. Morfologia delle raccolte epigrammatiche

antiche premeleagree, «ZPE» 121, 1-20.
C. Austin - G. Bastianini 2002, Posidippi Pellei quae supersunt omnia (Milan).
G. Bastianini - C. Gallazzi 1993, Posidippo. Epigrammi (Milan).
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64 As old as Weinreich 1909: 89 f. is the idea that the content of the shrine Chronicles was po-
tentially ambiguous and that their interpretation as serious records of miracles or as funny anecdotes
was mainly up to the reader; Posidippus' poems, however, seem rather inspired to an intentional
detorsio on the Epidaurian healer. On the other hand we already know that Callimachus wrote an
epigram which describes a pinax offered to Asclepius and the poem displays «a dogged concern
for its owner's interest, and a correspondingly suspicious attitude towards the god it addresses»
(Hutchinson 1988: 72; but cf. also Gutzwiller 1998: 192). Posidippus' attitude was likely not too
different.

65 Cf. Bing 2004: 282 f. In this regard the use of incubatory formulae and topics in a foreign
context seems to create a literary product which is both aware of this earlier tradition and freely
creative; cf. Di Nino 2005b, 76.
66 Cf. Rossi 2001: 3-13 and Fantuzzi 2004a: 291-338.
67 Cf. Di Nino 2005b, 76 and n. 133.

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