Hygieia

Statue of Hygieia, Roman copy circa 130–160 after a Greek original from 360 BC. Chr .; Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Hygieia or Hygeia ( ancient Greek Ὑγίεια Hygíeia or Ὑγεία Hygeía - "health") is one of the daughters of Asclepius in Greek mythology . She is a goddess of health and is considered the patron saint of pharmacists.

Her sister Panakeia is the goddess of medicine and sorcery . Mostly Hygieia is represented with a snake drinking from a bowl or a cornucopia full of fruits. Hygieia's brothers are Machaon and Podaleirios . Hygeia was hoped for healing during sleep in the temple (enkoimesis, incubatio) or also to give medical advice in the form of trauma oracles.

Her name is invoked right at the beginning of the Hippocratic oath :

Ὄμνυμι Ἀπόλλωνα ἰητρὸν καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν καὶ Ὑγείαν καὶ Πανάκειαν, καὶ θεοὺς πάντας τεε καὶ πάσις ἵσταύς ποσις ἵσορες ...

"I swear by Apollon, the doctor, and Asklepios, Hygeia, Panakeia and all the gods and goddesses calling as witnesses ..."

The word hygiene is derived from the associated adjective hygieinós ( ὑγιεινός "serving health").

Hygieia and Asklepios, 5th century BC BC, relief in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (Inv.No. 109 T)
Hygieia sculpture from 1857 flanked by "personified healing springs" in Bad Kissingen
Hygeia sculpture from 1887 in Bad Elster in Albertpark
Hygieia fountain from 1896 in the courtyard of the Hamburg City Hall
Hygieia fountain from 1905 in Karlsruhe

literature

Hermann Steuding : Hygieia . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1, 2, Leipzig 1890, Col. 2772-2792 ( digitized version ).
Francis Croissant: Hygieia . In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). Volume 000005V, Zurich / Munich 1990, pp. 554-572.
Hildegard Sobel: Hygieia. The goddess of health. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1990, ISBN 3-534-10919-8 .
Fritz Graf : Hygieia. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 5, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , Col. 777 f.
Iphigeneia Leventi: Hygieia in Classical Greek Art. Athens 2003.
Peter Kranz : Hygieia - The woman at Asklepios' side. Investigations into representation and function in classical and Hellenistic times, including the figure of Asclepius. Bibliopolis, Möhnesee 2010.

Individual evidence

↑ Wolfgang U. Eckart : History of Medicine , 1st ed. 1990, p. 36; 2nd edition 1994, p. 36; 3rd edition 1998, p. 45; 4th edition 2001, p. 45; 5th edition 2005, p. 6; 6th edition 2009, p. 22; each Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Berlin, New York 1998.
↑ Wolfgang U. Eckart : History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine , 8th edition. Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Berlin, New York 2017, p. 5. doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-54660-4

Web links

Commons : Hygieia - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Wolfgang U. Eckart : History of Medicine , 1st ed. 1990, p. 36; 2nd edition 1994, p. 36; 3rd edition 1998, p. 45; 4th edition 2001, p. 45; 5th edition 2005, p. 6; 6th edition 2009, p. 22; each Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Berlin, New York 1998.

[2] Wolfgang U. Eckart : History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine , 8th edition. Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Berlin, New York 2017, p. 5. doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-54660-4