Then he ran at full speed
to the future temple, went to the excavation and
the previously improvised fountain-head of the
oracle, entered the water, sang hymns in honour of
Asclepius and Apollo at the top of his voice, and
besought the god, under the blessing of Heaven, to
come to the city. Then he asked for a libationsaucer, and when somebody handed him one, deftly
slipped it underneath and brought up, along with
water and mud, that egg in which he had immured
the god; the joint about the plug had been closed
with wax and white lead. Taking it in his hands, he
asserted that at that moment he held Asclepius!
They gazed unwaveringly to see what in the world
was going to happen; indeed, they had already
marvelled at the discovery of the egg in the water.
But when he broke it and received the tiny snake
into his hollowed hand, and the crowd saw it
moving and twisting about his fingers, they at once
raised a shout, welcomed the god, congratulated
their city, and began each of them to sate himself greedily with prayers, craving treasures, riches,
health, and every other blessing from him. But
Alexander went home again at full speed, taking
with him the new-born Asclepius, “born twice,
when other men are born but once,” Cf. Odyssey, 12, 22: “Men of two deaths, when other men die but once.” whose mother
was not Coronis, "Some say that the mother of Asclepius was not Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus, but Coronis, daughter of Phlegyas” (Apollodorus, 3, 10, 3). by Zeus, nor yet a crow, but a
goose! And the whole population followed, all full
of religious fervour and crazed with expectations.