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Esculapius and the bald man

by Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti

Incubatio. Hereos of Mytilene the “hairy bald man” so called because, if on his head he had not a single hair, the rest of his body was covered by a kind of fur and his beard was something incredible. For this everybody always took him for a ride and he was ashamed of it. Then he went to sleep in Esculapios’ temple, and during the night, while he was asleep, the god came and rubbed his head with an ointment. The poor Hereos got his hairs back. (PAUSANIA, IV. 12. 21).
The day after it was not an “hairy bald man” that left the temple, but an happy teddy bear.