Ophiucus 7

Aesculapius, we are told, was the first doctor of medicine, and his expertise led to his downfall in a very strange way. His career seems to have begun when one day while visiting a friend and saw a snake in the room and killed it. Then, to the great surprise of both, a second snake carrying an herb in its mouth crawled into the room. It gave the herb to the first snake, which immediately recovered. It was this herb, which Aesculapius took from the revived snake, that taught him the great powers certain herbs have over life and death. He traveled far and wide over the land, always learning more about the medicinal use of herbs, and before long his reputation as a saver of lives had become widely known. So expert had he become that Hades, God of the Underworld, complained to his brother Zeus that fewer and fewer souls were being sent down to the Underworld. Hades, of course, was worried about losing his important position.

Aesculapius once is said to have brought Hippolytus back to life by "gluing" him back together. Hippolytus had been dragged to death and dismembered when his horses were frightened by a bull. Just as Aesculapius was about to bring the famous hunter, Orion, back to life after he had been accidentally shot with an arrow by his lover, Hades' patience ran out. He demanded that Zeus stop this wholesale restoring of life. After all, only the gods were immortal. If Aesculapius were permitted to increase his skill in bringing the dead back to life, mankind, too, would have attained immortality. Thus went Hades' argument to Zeus.

Zeus agreed with his brother and hurled a thunderbolt at Aesculapius, killing him on the spot. But Zeus could not help but admire the skills of Aesculapius and so raised him among the stars as Ophiuchus, along with the serpent from which he had learned his skills.

Aesculapius, as the God of Medicine, is always shown with a staff with a serpent wound around it. You have seen the symbol in hospitals and doctors' offices. Our words hygiene (meaning "the science of health") and panacea (meaning "a cure-all medicine") come from the names of two of Aesculapius' daughters, Hygeia and Panacea.

This region of the sky has been the scene of a number of nova stars, or stars that suddenly flare up into brightness for several days or weeks and then return to their former dimness. The first such nova was reported by the Greek astronomer Hipparchos in 134 B.C.; the second in A.D. 123; third in the year 1230; the one called Kepler's Star in 1604; and the fifth in 1848.

Ophiuchus is a word coming from two Greek words meaning "serpent," and "holding."

The name of the constellation seems to have been identified with the god Aesculapius, expert in the arts of medicine, plants, and the healing powers of different herbs. Aesculapius was the son of Apollo and Coronis and was educated by the centaur Chiron (now the constellation Sagittarius). It is said that Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician and father of modern medicine, was his 15th grandson.
The Romans called Ophiuchus the Serpent-Charmer and the Arabs called him the Serpent-Collector.