Editing Telesphorus (mythology)

{{Short description|Greek and Celtic deity}}
[[File:Telesphoros Nimes.jpg|thumb|[[Gallo-Roman]] limestone statue of Telesphorus discovered in 1884 in [[Moulézan]] (southern France), now exhibited in the Archeological Museum of [[Nîmes]]. The god is dressed in the hooded cape typical of the depiction of Celts in [[Roman Gaul]].]]

In [[ancient Greek religion]], '''Telesphorus''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Τελεσφόρος ''Telesphoros'') was a minor child-god of healing. He was a possible son of [[Asclepius]] and frequently accompanied his sister [[Hygieia]]. He was depicted as a [[Cabeiri|dwarf]] whose head was always covered with a [[cowl]] hood or [[Phrygian cap|cap]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Antal|first=Adriana|title=A god of convalescence. Telesphorus/Genius Cucullatus in Roman Dacia|url=https://www.academia.edu/30401309|language=en |publisher= National History Museum of Transylvania |journal=Acta Musei Napocensis |number= 51 |volume=1 |pages=195–206 |date=2014}}</ref>

He symbolized recovery from illness, as his name means "the accomplisher" or "bringer of completion" in Greek. Representations of him are found mainly in [[Anatolia]] and along the [[Danube]].<ref name=":6" />

== Origin and duties ==
Telesphorus is assumed to have been a [[Celtic god]] in origin, who was taken to Anatolia by the [[Galatia]]ns in the 3rd century BC, where he would have become associated with the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius, perhaps in [[Pergamon]] (an Asclepian cult center) and spread again to the West due to the rise of the [[Roman Empire]], in particular during the 2nd century AD, from the reign of [[Hadrian]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heichelheim|first=Fritz M|date=1935|title=Genii Cucullati|url=https://doi.org/10.5284/1059949|journal=Archaeologia Aeliana|language=en|volume=12|pages=187–194|doi=10.5284/1059949|via=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Henri |last= Lavagne |title= Les Dieux de la Gaule romaine |location= Luxembourg |date= 1989}}</ref> Telesphorus has been identified with the [[Genii Cucullati|Genius Cucullatus]] invoked on two inscriptions in Noricum.<ref name=":6" />

It is suggested by many scholars that Telesphorus was a protector of children for the healing gods.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Timea|first=Varga|title=Telesphorus. A healing child god in Roman Dacia |journal=Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai. Historia |volume= 60 |number= 1 |date= 2016 |url=https://www.academia.edu/31787004|language=en}}</ref> Ancient hymns honor and thank Telesphorus for guarding and favoring the birth of their healthy children.<ref name=":5" /> He is also depicted as the protective divinity of an Attican fraternity in lists from the third century BC.<ref name=":5" /> Statuettes recovered from two children's graves in [[Stobi]], dated to the second century BC, depict Telesphorus together with a child and lead many scholars to believe that Telesphorus was thought to protect children even in death.<ref name=":5" /> Other representations of the deity have him depicted as a child as well.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Epstein|first=Angelique Gulermovich|date=1994|title=Gods in the Hood|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20557277|journal=Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium|volume=14|pages=90–105|jstor=20557277|issn=1545-0155}}</ref>

== Family ==
Telesphorus was the youngest son of Asclepius, the god of medicine. He had five older sisters, Iaso, Hygieia, Panacea, Aceso, and Aglaia.<ref name=":6"/> He is frequently depicted accompanying his sister Hygieia in statues; Telesphorus, Hygieia, and Asclepius are often shown as a trio in inscriptions and coins.<ref name=":5"/>

Telesphorus was referred to as different names in different regions. In the [[Sanctuary of Asclepius, Dion|Sanctuary of Asclepius]] at Titane, the statue erected is called Euamerion; in [[Epidaurus]], the statue is called Acesis, which means cure; and in Pergamon, it is called Telesphorus.<ref name=":4">Pausanias, ''Descriptio Graeciae,'' II.11.7</ref> Telesphorus is the only one of the three names to be cited as a child of Asclepius in an Attican inscription from the second century AD.<ref name=":5" />

== 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" />

== Cult of Telesphorus ==
The cult of Telesphorus grew around [[Athens]], [[Attica]], and [[Thessaly]]; a third century AD eulogy from the area thanks Asclepius, Hygieia, and Telesphorus for their help in intervening an [[epidemic]].<ref name=":5"/> The cult also bled into the [[Thracians|Thracian]] area, where the cult becomes assimilated under the epithet Παυταλιωται.<ref name=":5" />
[[File:Medaglione di filippo I, zecca di bizia-tracia, con asclepio, igea e telsforo.JPG|thumb|Medallion of Phillip I with Asclepius, Hygieia, and Telesphorus]]

== Coinage ==
Telesphorus first began to appear on coins in the third century during the reign of [[Caracalla]],<ref name=":1">{{cite book |first= Dr. Ivan |last= Iniesta Lopez |title= Medicine in Greek and Roman coinage with particular reference to the history of the neurosciences |location= New Zealand |date= 2014}}</ref> specifically appearing on provincial bronze coins. One coin, struck in [[Lydia]] circa 210 AD, depicts Caracalla on the obverse and Caracalla consulting Asclepius, Telesphorus, and [[Salus]] (the Roman equivalent of Hygieia) on the reverse.<ref name=":1" /> Another coin shows Asclepius and Telesphorus being recognized in conjunction as medical [[Deity|deities]] whose duties were to bring care and power to the atonement of health.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last1= Stevenson |first1= SW |last2= Roach Smith |first2= C |last3= Madden |first3= FW |title= A dictionary of Roman coins, republican and imperial. |location= London and Norwich |publisher= G. Bell & Sons |date= 1889}}</ref> Telesphorus also appears on a bronze medallion with Asclepius and Caracalla, which is believed to have been struck on the same day Caracalla left for [[Pergamon|Pergamus]].<ref name=":0" /> This was to ensure that Caracalla were to be cured of his corporeal ailments and mind's diseases.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[Hooded Spirits]]
* [[Priapus]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Telesphorus (mythology)}}

{{Greek religion}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}
{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Health deities]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Mythological Greek physicians]]
[[Category:Children of Asclepius]]
[[Category:Pergamon]]
[[Category:Gaulish gods]]