Head of Hygeia Greek Goddess of Health. Hygeia was the daughter of Asclepius and Epione the Greek Goddess of healing. She was the personification of psychic and bodily health. The battered but beautiful head belonged to a statue which stood in the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea in the Peloponnesos. Two springs near the temple were known as an asylum where the sick sought temporary refuge. The head of hygeia, generally considered to be one of the finest in the whole of Greek sculpture. The Romans knew her as the goddess Valetudo, the goddess of personal health, and she later became identified with Salus, the goddess of wellbeing. Hygieia’s head is slightly tilted as if looking down towards the viewer and, as expected of a healing deity, she wears an expression of kindness. She is attributed to Scopas of Paros. 350—325 BCE Found at Tegea, Arkadia. Athens, National Archaeological Museum.
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