Aesculapius, es'ku la'pi us, in classical mythology, the god of medicine, usually said to have been the son of Apollo. He was entrusted in his youth to the centaur Chiron, who taught him the art of healing. So skillful did he become that he was able to bring the dead to life, and for this, Jupiter, at the request of Pluto, who disliked to be robbed of his victims, killed Aesculapius with a thunderbolt. In art the god of medicine was usually represented as carrying a knotted staff round which was entwined a serpent, the symbol of health.