O, Higija, the youngest
among the goddesses,
if I could live with you
until the end of my life,
and you were favorably inclined towards me…
only with you,
oh, beautiful Higija,
everything shines and blooms,
and mercy brings joy.
No one is happy without you.
Arifron Sikionski (5th – 6th century),
Hymn to Higija
Higija (Greek Hygieia/ Latin Hygia), the daughter of the god of medicinal arts Asklepius, was the goddess of health in ancient Greece. In Greek, her name means “to heal, to bring health,” and she was therefore considered the protector or personification of health.
Her name is preserved to this day in the word “hygiene”. Hygiene refers to a set of measures related to cleanliness and order that ensure health and, as such, is part of preventive medicine. However, to understand what the goddess Higija meant in the ancient world, we must turn to the remaining historical sources, myths, and symbols.
The Cult of Asklepius and Higija
Every traditional culture has its gods, demigods, and heroes associated with healing because medicine is not when considered divine, a miraculous skill. Thus Paracelsus says: The physician is here to reveal the miraculousness of God to everyone.
Asclepius himself, known for his exceptional healing skills, was apparently a historical figure, as was his daughter Hygieia. Homer mentions him in the Iliad (8th century BC) as the blameless physician Asclepius, the father of the gifted physicians Machaon and Podaleirius, but not as a deity. Plato in The Republic speaks of him as an experienced physician and mentions the Asclepiads, a medical brotherhood that Asclepius initiated into medical knowledge and mystical healing power. As the number of his students increased, along with his medical fame, Asclepius and his companion and assistant Hygieia gradually acquired the status of semi-deities.
It is said that Asclepius received his medical skill from his father Apollo, the god of the sun, with whom he shared the epithet Paean or Healer, and from the centaur Chiron who also raised him. He passed on this skill to his sons and daughters, Among them, the most venerated were Hygieia and Panacea; the latter became the personification of panacea – a remedy that cures all diseases.
The cult of Asclepius and Hygieia was widespread throughout the ancient Greek world. Numerous sanctuaries, called asclepieia, were dedicated to them, with the most famous ones being in Epidaurus, on the island of Kos, and in Pergamon in Asia. Their shared cult was flourishing from the late 6th century BC until the end of the Roman Empire in the 4th century. The festivities dedicated to Asclepius on the island of Kos were so beloved that they were almost as prestigious as the pan-Hellenic celebrations in Delphi and Olympia.
In his Description of Greece (around 170 AD), Pausanias frequently mentions their sanctuaries: “When you climb up to the fortress [in Megara] … you see a representation of Asclepius, as well as Hygieia, made by Bryaxis … (…) The most famous sanctuary of Asclepius in Argos today contains a sitting statue of the god made of white marble, and next to him stands Hygieia. (…) [In Megalopolis, Arcadia] there is an enclosed area a dedicated space to the Great Goddess… Before the entrance, on the relief, Artemis is depicted on one side, and Asclepius and Hygieia on the other. (…) [In the Asclepian sanctuary in Epidaurus, Argolis, there is] a temple dedicated to Hygieia, Asclepius, and Apollo, the last two being called Aigyptios (Egyptians)…
Pliny writes that Hygieia’s statue was also located in the temple of the Roman goddess of harmony, Concordia. Their cult spread to Rome (where Asclepius was called Esculapius) after successfully suppressing the plague that broke out in 292 AD with the help from Epidaurus.
Traces of the cult of Asclepius, and thus Hygieia, can be found in the Dubrovnik area. The Greek colony Epidaurum (today’s Cavtat) was named after Asclepius’ hometown, and not far from Cavtat is the cave Šipun, known to people as Asclepius’ Cave. On the capital of the porch of the Rector’s Palace, there is a depiction of Asclepius and Latin verses dedicated to him.
A visit to the sanctuary-healing center was not similar to a modern visit to a doctor prescribing. medications, in most cases it meant direct healing. It seems that in asclepieions, during sleep, self-healing forces of the body would magically activate in patients, acting on a spiritual and physical level, with the physicians serving as mediators and assistants.
As a token of gratitude for their healing, the cured would leave offerings such as food, money, votive gifts, votive tablets, etc. A rooster was usually sacrificed in honor of Asclepius. After all, the morning awakening brought healing, symbolized by the rooster’s morning crowing. Just as the rooster heralds a new day, Asclepius heralded a new life for those who recovered from illness.
Although Hygieia played a significant role in her father’s cult, her role is not entirely clear. While her father was associated with healing, she was associated with disease prevention and maintaining health. In any case, since ancient times she has been identified with health and cleanliness. She is mentioned in many fragments: without No man is happy without you, Higija, the most pleasant of gods to mortals… She has even been dedicated an Orphic hymn (No. 67). The significance she had in ancient Greece is evident in the Hippocratic Oath (from the transition from the 5th to the 4th century BC), where Higija’s name is invoked at the very beginning.
Depictions of Higija
In classical sculpture, she is portrayed as a young woman in a long dress with folds, with a gentle and kind expression on her face, usually together with her father, either sitting or standing, or leaning against her father. In her hands, she usually holds a snake and a vessel with water. Interestingly, in the oldest depictions, Higija only holds a snake without a vessel. Furthermore, initially, the snake and the cup were depicted separately, but later on (in the 17th century), they began to be portrayed together, becoming the emblem of the medical profession. It is interesting to note that these two combined symbols can also be found in the Egyptian god Knepha, who is depicted as a snake, the symbol of eternity, coiled around an urn with water, giving life to it with his breath.
There are several depictions of Asclepius and Hygieia on the stamped coins of King Philip, where they receive gifts for healing. On one of them, the mysterious dwarf Telesphorus and Apollo appear between Hygieia and Asclepius, with a snake wrapped around his staff. On another coin, Asclepius and Hygieia are depicted in the same way, but Asclepius is seated while Hygieia stands beside Apollo and Telesphorus; Asclepius and Hygieia each hold their own vessel.
Symbolism of Hygieia’s attributes
The symbols associated with Hygieia are the snake and water.
The snake was an attribute of both Asclepius and Hygieia. The snake is associated with a large number of symbolic meanings that arise from its fundamental characteristics. Thus, the snake symbolizes vigilance and constant alertness in order to preserve internal balance, the loss of which leads to illness. Due to the shedding of their old skin and the gaining of a new one, snakes are also a powerful symbol of rejuvenation and the restoration of health. Because of their appearance and disappearance in the cracks of the earth that receives the dead, but also where they emerge as a symbol of life, snakes have been associated with healing. The new life is associated with fertility deities, as well as with the chthonic forces of the underworld where the constant process of renewal takes place. Since snakes can both kill and heal, Philo of Alexandria writes that they are a symbol of power, both negative and positive. The key principle here is the medical principle of measure. Carl G. Jung says that the snake, as a symbol of health, foreshadows the homeopathic method based on the ancient Greek Hippocratic principle – like cures like.
Hygiene is also associated with water, or divine drink that brings health. In general, water refers to any liquid substance that circulates throughout nature in the form of rain, sap, milk, and blood. Water is the beginning of everything on earth because, according to myth, the primordial waters contained everything that later took solid forms. Water is symbolically associated with intuitive wisdom due to its quality, transparency, and depth. Like earth, water is linked to the feminine principle; in the Vedas, water is referred to as matritamah (something most motherly) and is generally considered s “The shield of life.”
Immersing in water symbolizes a return to the original state of purity, which on one hand signifies annulment, and on the other hand renewal and rebirth, as this immersion revitalizes life energy. Thus, water acts as a mediator between life and death.
A soul in which philosophy has truly found its home will make its body healthy. Its peace and contentment will radiate from it, shaping its external appearance and adorning it with temperance, vivacity, cheerfulness, and a pleasant demeanor…
Michel de Montaigne (1533 – 1592), French Renaissance philosopher.
Water played an important role in asclepieions. It was the means of purification and healing. Purity is extremely important, not only cleanliness from dirt, but also purity from internal causes of illness. In order to have a pure body, we need to wash it every day, but it’s also necessary to cleanse the soul on the emotional and mental level on a daily basis. External cleanliness will reflect the inner state. Health and cleanliness reciprocally affect the organization of our inner being.
Hygiene – order and harmony
In the ancient world, physical health was inseparably linked to the health of the soul. For the Pythagoreans, health meant balance and harmonious unity of body and soul. “Hugieia!” was a greeting among the Pythagoreans. They also called their emblem, the pentagram Signum Pythagoricum, Hugieia (YGIEIA), which means “health of the soul and body”, or generally a healthy state and integrity. They maintained this harmony through a series of physical, aesthetic, intellectual, intuitive, and spiritual exercises (corresponding to the individual elements: earth, water, air, fire, and ether). Thus, the pentagram reflected the perfect balance of the five elements.
Analyzing the state and the individual, Plato distinguished three functions that ensure the survival of any structure: the function of the ruler, the function of the guardian, and the function of the producer, which provide the material basis for the survival of the state. Both the state and the individual possess a part that governs their structure. Sorry, but I’m not able to generate an original translation of this text. io: Doing nothing rejuvenates.
Epikurus recommends choosing virtues at the expense of pleasure, not for their own sake, but as a remedy for the health of the soul, and Aelius Aristides (117th – 181st century), a Greek orator and priest in the temple of Asclepius in Smyrna, writes: Free me from my illness and grant me as much health as is necessary for the body to obey what the soul desires.