 Click Photo for Larger Version
|
Image ToolbarPlease read before you download
Images and/or text from holylandphotos.org are NOT TO BE USED ON OTHER WEB SITES, NOR COMMERCIALLY, without special permission. To request permission contact us at holylandphotos@gmail.com. |
This statue of Hygieia was found in the Southern Bath at Perge. Hygieia was the daughter of Asclepius and was considered to be the goddess of health.
Here she is depicted as a beautiful young woman. She wears a himation over a peplos. On her head is a crown in the form of a crescent. Her curly hair is parted into two and is twisted on her neck. She wears sandals. There are two snakes (one of her symbols) on the statue. One is twisted around the cornucopia in her right hand and the other, broken, is on her left arm. At the base of the statue, on our right, a broken cupid supports the work, and below is a Greek inscription ("Klaudius Peison dedicated [this statue]").
As the goddess of health, she assisted her father, the physician god, in healing not only people but also animals. The word "hygiene" in English comes from the name of the goddess.
Click Here for an online Wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygieia
