Between private and public. Observations on the Asklepieion on the south slope of the Athens Acropolis and on the so-called Doctors’ Relief

Abstract

Original title: Zwischen privat und öffentlich Bemerkungen zum Asklepieion am Südabhang der Athener Akropolis und zum sogenannten Ärzterelief

Based on an understanding of the concepts of ›private‹ and ›public‹ as poles of a continuum which – in the context of Greek cult practice of the Classical period – extends from the activity of the individual to the actions of polis institutions, this paper considers two related examples to examine how the private and public spheres in many cases interpenetrate. Firstly the interaction of private and public-state interests in the introduction of the cult of Asklepios to Athens and the founding of the city Asklepieion is analysed. Following that, the different lines of research (archaeological, cult-historical, medico-historical and epigraphic-prosopographical) on the so-called Doctors’ Relief, which comes from the sanctuary mentioned, are brought together for the first time. A contextualization of the depiction of several honorary wreaths on the socle zone of the relief as well as an overview of epigraphic evidence for the granting of sums of money eis thysian kai anathema in cases where the polis honoured cult officials lead to the supposition that the dedication was state-financed.