Asclepius was the god of healing though he, like Heracles, was born as a mortal. His parents were Apollo and either Arsinoe or, more usually, Coronis. When Coronis was pregnant with Asclepius she had an affair with Ischys, who she preferred - he was a mortal like her and would grow old with her. A crow took the news of their infidelity to Apollo who in a rage turned the bird black (it was white before). Apollo sent Artemis to kill Coronis but the child was saved and given to the care of the centaur Cheiron who taught him medicine.
When he had grown up, Asclepius married Epione and had two sons, Machaon and Podaleirus, both of them accompanying the Greek army to Troy. He also had many daughters (including Hygieia) all of whom had healing arts.
Athena gave Asclepius two types of blood to help with his healing work, both from the gorgon, Medusa. One took life quickly but the other restored life. When Asclepius used this life restoring blood he encroached on the preserve of the gods and Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt. Apollo was fond of Asclepius and he then killed the cyclopes who had made the thunderbolt and was in turn forced to live as a mortal for a year in atonement.
One of the most famous centres for Asclepius worship was at Epidaurus on the Peloponnese. Snakes were sacred to the god and when the Romans embraced him as one of theirs his cult was supposedly taken to Rome in the body of a snake. He was preserved in the heavens as the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent holder. The Romanised version of his name is Aesculapius.
On coins he his usually shown holding a staff around which a snake is coiled.