Editing Telesphorus (mythology) (section)

== Temple of Telesphorus ==
[[File:Temple of Telesphorus, Pergamon.jpg|thumb|384x384px|Temple of Telesphorus in the Sanctuary of Asclepius, Pergamon, Turkey]]
The temple of Telesphorus was a two-story dormitory in the Sanctuary of Asclepius, located in Pergamon, Turkey.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Albright|first=John Brannon|date=1970-12-13|title=Where the Greeks and Romans Sought Healing |language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/13/archives/where-the-greeks-and-romans-sought-healing.html|access-date=2020-12-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to [[Aristides]], there were three temples: the north temple dedicated to Apollo, the middle temple dedicated to Hygieia and Telesphorus, and the south temple dedicated to Asclepius.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Melfi|first=Milena|title=In Praise of Asclepius: Aelius Aristides, Selected Prose Hymns|publisher=Mohr Siebeck GmbH and Co. KG|year=2016|pages=91}}</ref> These temples were used as sanctuaries for healing rituals conducted by priests, and they were built high up on a rocky outcrop of land known as the ''Felsbarre''.<ref name=":2" /> A nearby spring fed water to multiple fountains and was sometimes used in the healing processes.<ref name=":3" /> Access to the temple was granted through a dark underground passageway which still exists today.<ref name=":3" /> A patient would be led through this passageway, into the temple, and be instructed to lie down at the base of a statue of Asclepius. The patient would be told that Asclepius or one of his children would appear to them in a dream and grant them health-giving powers. Once the patient was asleep though, priests had the opportunity to mend to their wounds.<ref name=":3" /> The temple was purposefully kept in the dark so that when a patient awoke, they would be granted by daylight; the contrast between dark and light created a psychological juxtaposition between sick and healthy in the patient's mind.<ref name=":3" />