The final version of this book project has been thirteen years in the making. It has spanned births, deaths, theater productions, an extended department chairmanship, and sundry other obstacles. Indeed, so long has the completion of this book been delayed that some of the people whom I will subsequently thank here might not remember ever having discussed its ideas with me!

I am first and foremost indebted to the two institutions where this project began and ended: the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC and the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge University. My work on the meaning of the Athenian Asklepieion commenced during a term in 1993–94 as a Junior Fellow at the Center when I thought I was writing a book on Euripides. I am extremely grateful to the Center's directors at that time, Deborah Boedeker and Kurt Raaflaub, not just for extending a fellowship to me at a critical moment, but also for fostering such a truly collegial and friendly environment, and to the other Junior Fellows for their incredible range of knowledge and their lively conversation, especially Eric Csapo, Ahuvia Kahane and Dirk Obbink. At another critical moment in 2005, Pat Easterling and Robin Osborne helped me secure a Visiting Fellowship at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and made me feel welcome as a Visiting Scholar in the Faculty of Classics at the University.