Marble head, or a later marble. Plinth, head of Greek god of medicine Asklepios (Asclepius; Latin: Aesculapius), Roman copy, late 2nd to early 3rd centuries AD

Several sources claim that Asclepius was first a physician hero, who was later recognised as the Greek god of healing and medicine with a cult that spread in the 5th century BCE. Various sanctuaries in his name were built throughout Greece as areas of worship and refuges for the ill. These were hospital-like places where priests guided patients through rituals of purification and medical curative practices, regularly involving snakes as part of the healing process.