Paean (god)

In Greek mythology, Paean (Paeëon or Paeon) was the Greek doctor of the gods.Liddell and Scott, "Paean"; Connor, p. 1069; PA-JA-WO in Linear B at Mycenaean Knossos attests the name as an individual Mycenaean deity (Chadwick, John. The Mycenaean World. Cambridge University Press, 1976, p. 88).

Homer and Hesiod
In the Iliad, book 5, the Olympian god of war Ares is wounded by mortal hero Diomedes. Ares is to Olympus in a hurry, where Paeon applies medicine that gave an instant relief.Homer. The Iliad, 5.899. Hades too was helped by Paeon when he was shot with an arrow by Heracles.Homer. The Iliad, 5.401. Hesiod says Paeon is an individual god and not a group of people.; .

In time, Paeon (more usually spelled Paean) became a name used for Apollo.  This is because Apollo was able to bring disease. Later, Paeon became a name used for Asclepius, the healer-god.Eustathius on Homer §1494; Virgil. Aeneid, vii. 769.

References

 Connor, Peter, "Paeon" in Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology, Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Corporation (January 2005). .


 Homer. The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.
 Homer. The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.


Category:Greek gods and goddesses