"The Story of Asclepius - (1)"
Asclepius (Asklepios).
He was the child born to Apollo, the god of the sun, and Princess Coronis of Thessaly.
However, while Coronis was pregnant with him, she became involved with a mortal man. Upon hearing of this from a crow, Apollo killed her. Naturally, the crow with white feathers that delivered the news was scorched black by Apollo’s gaze.
Apollo then removed the newborn Asclepius from Coronis's corpse and, noticing his talent, sent him to Thebes.
Thus, Asclepius began learning medicine from Chiron in the Underworld.
"Indeed. Just as Lord Apollo said, he has talent."
"...?"
"Though he couldn't grasp the use of weapons, he surpasses all others in his medical abilities."
Setting aside sword and spear, he devoted himself solely to the study of medicine and soon surpassed Chiron.
The heroes fighting endlessly in the Underworld became his unwilling practice subjects.
Crunch!
"Aaagh! Asclepius, you madman!"
"Oh, not this way? Let’s try turning it in the opposite direction then..."
Crack!
Although he made many mistakes along the way, he continued to grow steadily.
"Now, when going outside, please wear this face covering. Dust tends to settle in the chest area..."
"It’s a bit stuffy."
"And if a child suffers from stomachaches after eating, give them the herbal water I prepared..."
"Asclepius, the king urgently calls for you!"
"Does he complain of foot pain again?"
"...How did you know?"
"It’s an incurable, recurring ailment. Take this care plan to him..."
While other heroes roamed to slay monsters, he wandered Greece, treating the sick.
"The medicinal powers of mint given by Pluto are impressive... hmm."
"Teacher! As you instructed, we’ve obtained a body from someone who died of plague..."
"Did you get proper permission from his parents?"
As other heroes sought glory through battle training, he expanded his knowledge by researching medicine. As a result, Asclepius’s reputation among the people grew to this point:
"Asclepius, master of medicine."
"Isn't he the best doctor in Greece who can cure anything?"
"Can he revive the dead too? Didn’t he press on the chest of someone who wasn’t breathing and bring them back?"
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"Reviving the man who drowned? That was remarkable."
"Maybe he can do it because he's Apollo’s son."
In the Underworld’s hero training grounds, he was the only one qualified purely through his medical skills. Recognized throughout Greece as a medical prodigy, his skills were nearly on par with Orpheus's music.
So pervasive were the rumors that he could revive the dead that in some rural areas, people even began to worship him as the god of medicine.
"Are you truly Asclepius, the man who can revive the dead?"
"...Who are you?"
"I am Artemis. Your father, Apollo, is my brother."
Naturally, word of his abilities spread even to the gods of Olympus.
Boom!
Asclepius stared blankly at the giant corpse of a boar that had been thrown from somewhere. The massive creature lay there, bleeding profusely, clearly dead.
This was the boar that had rampaged in Calydon.
"This was my sacred beast. Human heroes hunted it, and after covering their eyes with mist, I brought back its body."
"But why bring this to me, my goddess?"
"I’ve heard you can even revive the dead. Restore my sacred beast."
"The boar from Calydon...! So, it was sent by you, goddess?!"
In truth, Artemis had no intention of resurrecting the boar she’d sent to Calydon. It’s natural for a god to give humans a task to appease their anger, isn’t it?
Following this principle, she thought she could overlook the incident and instruct them to observe the proper sacrifices after her beast had been vanquished through the heroes’ efforts.
However, something irked her deeply: ‘These mere mortals slaughtered my sacred beast immediately? I’ll have this man revive it and send it again.’
That’s right. The boar had been sent as divine retribution, only to be instantly killed by the heroes. This outcome posed a problem. The punishment of a god should never end so easily!
If the retribution imposed by one of the Twelve Gods of Olympus were seen as easily solved by a bit of “heroic effort,” Artemis’s pride and dignity—and even her status among the lesser deities—might suffer.
‘I’ll imbue it with much more madness and the power of the moon this time and send it back.’
Understandably, Asclepius was bewildered by the sudden command to revive the dead beast from the goddess. Sweat broke out on his forehead, and his hands trembled.
"Goddess Artemis! I do not possess the power to revive the dead."
"How can you lie when so many say they’ve seen you bring back someone who could no longer breathe?"
"If you’re referring to the drowning man I saved, it’s a misunderstanding. I don’t have that power."
"Don't lie. Humans aren’t gods. If they stop breathing, they die."
The gods may be unparalleled in their domains, but they lack intricate knowledge outside their own spheres of power. Or rather, they have no need for it since their divine power solves everything.
Goddess Artemis is not Apollo, god of medicine. If she’d directly witnessed a person Asclepius saved, she might’ve noticed that the person wasn’t truly dead, but she hadn’t.
Accustomed to the miraculous acts of demigods and gods and having just witnessed the mortal hero Heracles ascend to godhood, Artemis had reason to believe that Asclepius could revive the dead.
After all, Heracles became the god of strength; why shouldn’t the greatest healer be able to revive the dead?
"If you truly didn’t revive the dead, then swear on the River Styx. Only then will I believe you."
"That..."
Asclepius hesitated to answer.
In truth, he himself didn’t fully understand the principles behind his ability to save those who had stopped breathing.
He only knew that if he quickly gave breath and stimulated the heart of someone who had recently stopped breathing, there was a chance they would come back.
Was he truly saving souls from Thanatos’s grasp? Or merely rescuing those on the edge of death? Asclepius had no clear answer.
Watching him hesitate, Artemis gave a thin smile.
"Fine. I won’t accuse you of lying to a goddess—if you diligently treat my beast, that is."
"But, my goddess! The dead are under the authority of Lord Pluto. How could a mere mortal like me infringe upon his domain?"
"You don’t think I’d overlook that, do you?"
Despite Asclepius’s earnest objection, the goddess’s smile didn’t fade.
What a bothersome human. A god commands him, and he dares to refuse.
"Lord Hades has not punished you for reviving the dead."
"That’s because I didn’t actually revive the dead..."
"No. From what I see, your skills already surpass my brother’s. You’re worthy of a god of medicine."
"...?"
"In my view, it’s because of your potential to gain the divine rank of medicine that Hades has not punished you for reviving the dead."
In truth, the goddess Artemis didn’t care if this man faced punishment later on.
What mattered to her was that he could revive the dead.
The son of her brother Apollo? Bah. If he was punished by Hades, that was none of her concern.
Though Hades, her uncle, might scold her, she felt it was worth the risk.
Having never worked in the Underworld herself, Artemis genuinely believed this.
"..."
Asclepius’s eyes wavered under the goddess’s insistence.
However, unlike a person who had just stopped breathing, this was a creature with gaping wounds. How was he supposed to revive it?
"Do your utmost to treat it. With your skill, you’ll surely revive my beast."
"...Understood."
Unable to defy the goddess, Asclepius began tending to the boar.
With her watching closely, he could only put forth his best effort.
He pulled out the spears and cleaned away the blood...
Used herbs to aid recovery, bound the wounds with bandages...
"This goes here..."
Sss. Ssss.
Asclepius’s "treatment" continued for some time.
Even he did not expect that the dead boar would actually come back to life, but...
"Squeeeal..."
'...What’s going on? How is it alive?'
How could this be? The boar had been dead, yet it was alive.
A feat far beyond merely saving a drowning man.
This happened because...
A hero is one who not only reaches the limits of humanity but often surpasses them.
Orpheus’s music calmed storms.
Idas’s courage never faltered before the sun god.
Atalanta’s archery skill was admired even by the gods.
Then what about Asclepius?
All of Greece revered him as a master of medicine, unmatched by any other healer. In remote villages, people even worshipped him as the god of medicine.
Just as Orpheus’s music had surpassed even Apollo’s, Asclepius’s skill had already exceeded that of Apollo.
In the field of medicine, his name held absolute authority, and his fame for reviving the dead rivaled Orpheus’s reputation for calming storms during the Golden Fleece expedition.
Moreover, his father was Apollo, and Artemis herself, one of the Twelve Olympians, believed he could revive the dead.
In short, he was a demigod who possessed skill, accomplishment, fame, and divine favor.
This combination inevitably led to a rise in his rank...
"You’ve done well. I’ll see you again on Olympus."
"...?!"
He had accomplished the feat of truly reviving the dead.