pothos.org

I wouldn't think that there is ever could be any similarity between the images of Alexander and Asklepios especially since the god of medicine was usually depicted as a middle-aged man. However, writing a post about my visit to Epidavros, I was struck by the similarity, though I don't remember noticing it while in the museum.

Here is a rare image of Asklepios as a young man and the image of Alexander that I had in mind (from Istanbul museum) -

What do you think?

Umm, both are holding something in the left hand... Could that be Alexander *as* Asklepios? You know, Alex was a botanist and there are stories about his dealing with medicinal/curing herbs, I hear (saffron and the like). Hee, what a guess!

I have a better image of the Asklepios statue on my computer but unfortunately it is too big in size and I wasn't able to upload as is. I didn't know how to properly to decrease the size of the photo so that the sharpness of the image and the likeness is preserved.

The statue of Asklepios was discovered in the sanctuary of Apollo Meleatis (the healer) in Epidavros and it is dated to the end of 4th century BC but it is difficult to say if Alexander image influenced that of Asklepios....