In
Greek mythology, Panacea (Greek ''Πανάκεια'', Panakeia), a
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
of universal remedy, was the daughter of
Asclepius and
Epione. Panacea and her four sisters each performed a facet of
Apollo's art:
* Panacea (the goddess of universal health)
*
Hygieia ("Hygiene", the goddess/personification of health, cleanliness, and sanitation)
*
Iaso (the goddess of recuperation from illness)
*
Aceso (the goddess of the healing process)
*
Aglæa/Ægle (the goddess of beauty, splendor, glory, magnificence, and adornment)
Panacea also had four brothers:
*
Podaleirus, one of the two kings of
Tricca, who was skilled in
diagnostics
*
Machaon, the other king of Tricca, who was a master
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
(these two took part in the
Trojan War until Machaon was killed by
Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons)
*
Telesphoros, who devoted his life to serving
Asclepius
*
Aratus, Panacea's half-brother, a Greek
hero and the patron/liberator of
Sicyon
Sicyon (; el, Σικυών; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyon was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. An ancient mona ...
However, portrayals of the family were not always consistent; Panacea and her sisters each at times appear as Asclepius' wife instead.
Panacea may have been an independent goddess before being absorbed into the Asclepius myth.
Panacea traditionally had a
poultice or
potion with which she healed the sick. This brought about the concept of the
panacea in medicine, a substance with the alleged property of curing all diseases. The term "panacea" has also come into figurative use as meaning "something used to solve all problems".
The opening of the
Hippocratic Oath
The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing gods, to uphold specific e ...
mentions Panacea :
Ὄμνυμι Ἀπόλλωνα ἰητρὸν καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν καὶ Ὑγείαν καὶ Πανάκειαν καὶ θεοὺς πάντας τε καὶ πάσας ἵστορας ποιεύμενος ἐπιτελέα ποιήσειν κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κρίσιν ἐμὴν ὅρκον τόνδε καὶ ξυγγραφὴν τήνδε.
I swear, calling upon Apollo the physician and Asclepius, Hygeia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses as witnesses, that I will fulfill this oath and this contract according to my ability and judgment.
A river in
Thrace/
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
took its name from the goddess, and is still known in modern Bulgaria as the river
Zlatna Panega ("Golden Panega", from Greek ''panakeia'').
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Greek goddesses
Health goddesses
Children of Asclepius