Asclepius is asteroid #4581 and also known as 1989 FC. Asclepius was discovered at the Palomar Observatory by the American astronomers Henry E. Holt and Norman Gene Thomas. Asclepius belongs to the group Apollo and is by materialists classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid.

Asclepius is named, in Latinized form, after the Greek god Asklēpiós (Ἀσκληπιός). The origin of his name is unknown. Asklepios is the god of healing. He is the son of Koronis and Apollon. Asklepios learned the art of healing from Chiron. Asklepios became the greatest of all healers. Once when he began to heal already deceased people and brought at least one of them back to life, Hades complained to his brother and Zeus killed Asklepios. People of Ancient Greece came to the temple of Asklepios to be healed from their diseases and the treatment often included sleeping in the temple. This was already practiced by Ancient Egyptians in the temple of Imhotep, so maybe there is a connection between the two cults or even an unbroken tradition. Of course it is also possible that both cultures discovered independently from each other the value of undisturbed sleep.

Asclepius is only one of several asteroids, that represent healing, so Asclepius can’t be alone the representation of medicine and related topics. When examining Asclepius in an astrological chart, then his relation to the asteroids, which represent other characters of his tale, should be considered first. Koronis, Apollo, Zeus, Chiron, Hygiea and Panacea are the most obvious for this. As Asclepius is slain by lightning, so he is somehow also the opposite of Anchises. In medicine should Asclepius primarily represent what the Ancient Greeks knew about medicine. This doesn’t need to be inferior to modern medicine, but can also refer to ignored or lost knowledge.