god
Aesculapius
also: Эскулап, eskulap, Asclepius
The Greco-Roman god of medicine; used self-deprecatingly by Chekhov, himself a practicing physician, as a wry synonym for "doctor" when explaining why he cannot leave his patients to travel to Petersburg.
Reading notes
- To P. N. Isakov, 9 April 1889. Moscow. §5 an Aesculapius
A self-mocking classical allusion: Aesculapius, the Greco-Roman god of medicine, used here as a wry synonym for "doctor" -- Chekhov's shorthand explanation of why his patients keep him bound to Moscow.