Asclepieia
ἀσκληπίεια
Asclepieia (ἀσκληπίεια), the name of festivals which were probably celebrated in all places where temples of Asklepios (Aesculapius) existed. The most celebrated, however, was that of Epidaurus, which took place in the grove of Asklepios every fifth year, and was solemnised with contests of rhapsodists and musicians, and with solemn processions and games. The solemnity took place nine days after the Isthmian games. (Schol. ad Pind. N. 3.145; Paus. 2.26.7.) Ἀσκληπίεια are also mentioned at Lampsacus (Böckh, Corp. Inscr. vol. ii. p. 1131), and at Athens (Aeschin. c. Ctesiph. § 67), which were probably, like those of Epidauros, solemnised with musical contests. They took place on the eighth day of the month of Elaphebolion.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.