The next stop we had in the Peloponnese was something I really did not think about, although it was always on my bucket list to see it in person.

I remember the book First Eden by British documentarist and author David Attenborough which meant the fundamentals of my knowledge of the Mediterranean region.

There were many photos in the book related to ancient Greek culture as well, and if I am not mistaken, the archetypical example for ancient Greek theaters was the one from Epidaurus, which is still among the most preserved theaters from those times.

That is why it was unbelievable for me to walk in the stairs of the Epidaurus Theater, sit where ancient Greek audience used to sit and observe other visitors down in the stage clapping to check how the perfect acoustics of the building worked.

Although the whole area is an archeological site nowadays and there is no contemporary town or settlement directly planted by the theater, it is in such a great condition that there are still drama plays performed there – just like in Arena Verona or in the amphitheater of Pompeii. 

The slopes, hills and woods all around suggest a lot of harmony and eternal calmness, so no wonder that Epidaurus once upon a time was such a spiritual centre for all Hellenes like ancient Olympia was.

While Olympia was a sacred place for Zeus, Epidaurus was mainly connected to Asclepius, god of medicine and son of Apollo. The international symbol of pharmacies and ambulance cars, the snake on the stick was actually an ancient totem animal of Asclepius, that is why it is still so popular in many countries when it comes to medicine.

Asclepius had not only a temple, but also a sort of shelter which we can consider as a type of ‘ancient hospital’, where sick people were separated in different floors and wings based on their sickness.

The pilgrims who went to the temple for Asclepius mostly wanted to get better, that is why they brought many votive gifts – the most general one was to have a statue of Asclepius or another deity made by a craftsman and to donate it to the temple. 

The priests of Asclepius were not only of a sacral function but also the first physicians - in the same way as science, medicine and spirituality was not separated completely in many ancient (and tribal) societies.

The priests used anesthetics and sedative drugs in order to make the sick person not to feel anything and, of course, not to remember the ceremony and what happened exactly. No one really knows what happened during these surgeries and healing ceremonies and the priests kept their secrets passing it from one generation to another one. 

So the pilgrims coming and begging for Asclepius, god of medicine were obviously the diseased, but there were other temples in the area as well. For example, Hecate, goddess of night, underworld, moon and witchcraft, who was considered as a counterpart of Artemis also had a worship here.

My host added that many of the ancient Egyptian gods were also known and followed by Greeks, but they were considered in the divine hierarchy as impure deities of the underworld, not the same as gods from Olympus (maybe a bit like the difference between Æsir and Vanir in Scandinavian mythology). 

By the way, one version of the myth says that princess Coronis, lover of Apollo and mother of Asclepius gave birth to her son near Epidaurus and the newborn baby was fed by goat milk.

The other version says though that Coronis, after getting pregnant from Apollo, cheated on the god with someone else, and the furious and jealous Apollo made her to die by burning alive on a pile. (Or other variants say that either him or his twin sister Artemis shot Coronis by an arrow.)

In the last moment, Apollo felt pity for his son and cut the princess’s belly to save at least the unborn child, who later became the god Asclepius. Coronis later became the constellation called Corvus (Raven) and ravens which used to be white birds before, turned to black since then to mourn her.

Since the name of Coronis means both ‘crow’ and 'raven' in ancient Greek, sometimes it is the same story, but explains the color of crows instead of the one of ravens – the two birds are related, so it is no wonder that the border between them is blurred.

These are the ancient myths and stories I discovered among the wonderful hills and valley of Epidaurus, which was also the last stop of my trip to the Peloponnese. It was not only an inforgettable journey of my life, but also a real evidence that Greece is much more beyond Athens and the islands. This was still only a little piece of it, but what a beautiful piece!