Capaneus

Asclepius used his medical skill to bring the dead Capaneus back to life. He had become so skilled in healing that he could restore the dead, exceeding the limits set for mortals. Capaneus was one of several people whom Asclepius was said to have raised, together with Lycurgus and Tyndareus.

Hades complained to Zeus that Asclepius was taking subjects from the Underworld. The complaint was supported by an accusation that Asclepius had accepted gold in return for the resurrection. Zeus therefore took up his thunderbolt and struck Asclepius down. The account that names Capaneus among those restored also says that both Asclepius and the person he had revived were killed by the thunderbolt.

Apollo mourned his son. In one account, his grief drove him to attack the Cyclopes who forged Zeus’s thunderbolts. Apollo killed them with his arrows, then pleaded with Zeus for Asclepius. Zeus recalled Asclepius to life, and Asclepius repaired the damage done to the Cyclopes, who returned to their work. Another account says that Zeus restored Asclepius later, fulfilling a prophecy by Euippe, the daughter of Cheiron, who had foretold that Asclepius would become a god, die, and recover his divine status. Zeus then placed Asclepius’s image among the stars, holding a curative serpent.