Roman Theatre Goddesses Unearthed In Crete (Athena & Hera)

Evening Echo ^ | 9-30-2005

[blam]

Roman theatre goddesses unearthed in Crete

30/09/2005 - 3:10:36 PM

The life-sized marble statues of two ancient Greek goddesses have emerged during excavations of a 5,000-year-old town on the island of Crete, archaeologists said today.

The works, representing the goddesses Athena and Hera, date to between the 2nd and 4th centuries – a period of Roman rule in Greece – and originally decorated the Roman theatre in the town of Gortyn, archaeologist Anna Micheli from the Italian School of Archaeology told The Associated Press.

“They are in very good condition,” she said, adding that the statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom, was complete, while Hera – long-suffering wife of Zeus, the philandering king of gods – was headless.

“But we hope to find the head in the surrounding area,” Micheli said.

A team of Italian and Greek archaeologists discovered the statues on Tuesday while excavating the ruined theatre of Gortyn, some 27 miles south of Iraklion in central Crete.

The goddesses, each standing 6.6ft-high with their bases, were toppled from their plinths by a powerful earthquake around the year 367, which destroyed the theatre and much of the town, Micheli said.

“The statues fell off the stage, and were found just in front of their original position, yards from ground level,” she said. “This is one of the rare cases when such works are discovered in the building where they initially stood.”

Hopes were running high that other parts of the theatre’s sculptural decoration would emerge during future excavations.

“Digging has stopped due to the finds, but we suspect there may be more statues in the area,” she said.

Gortyn, the Roman capital of Crete, was first inhabited around 3000 B.C., and was a flourishing Minoan town between 1600-1100 B.C. It prospered during classical and Roman times, and was destroyed by an Arab invasion in A.D. 824.

Greek mythology has it that the town witnessed one of Zeus’ many affairs - with the princess Europa, whom the god, disguised as a bull, abducted from Lebanon. Europe was named after Europa, who conceived her first son with Zeus under a plane tree in Gortyn.

The Italian School of Archaeology has been digging at the site since the early 20th century, in co-operation with Greek state archaeologists. So far, excavations have revealed fortifications, temples, baths, a stadium and an early church of St. Titus, who preached Christianity in Gortyn.

[blam]

My lady friend belongs to a Mardi Gras krewe known as the Athenas.

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[2banana]

was destroyed by an Arab invasion in A.D. 824.

Has there ever been an exception to this rule?

[sr4402]

Any pictures?

[orionblamblam]

Yet more evidence that the Iliad was the Literal Word of the Gods. Repent, unbelievers!

[blam]

"Any pictures?"

Nah.

I have some pictures of my doggies on my home page if you wanna look at those.<>

[Uncle Vlad]

How do you say, "Publish or perish!" in classical Greek? ;)

[BenLurkin]

THE "Theater goddess"

[decimon]

The Italian School of Archaeology has been digging at the site since the early 20th century, in co-operation with Greek state archaeologists.

With perhaps an interlude in the 1940s.

[I_Publius]

http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/getimage?action=getthumb&docid=3418832

1 picture of the head of Athena that they found.



http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=3422461&maindocimg=3418832&service=10

http://www.ekathimerini.com/kathnews/photos/30-09-05/30-09-05_61348_1.gif

[Constitution Day]

Any pictures?

This was very easy to find through Google News Search:

The head from a statue of the ancient Greek goddess Athena lies in the dirt of an archaeological excavation site near Iraklion on the island of Crete yesterday.
The statue of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is one of two found at the site by a team of archaeologists from Italy who are currently digging there.
The other statue is of the goddess Hera, queen of the Greek gods and wife of Zeus.
The Italians also uncovered a Roman theater during their excavations at the site, which is located in the area of Aghioi Deka.

[Mr. Jeeves]

And today's top theater goddess. ;)

[blam]

Thanks.

[Constitution Day]

Any time!

I always enjoy your threads.

[Red Badger]

Is she 2000 years old?.......

[SunkenCiv]

Little Bill's later, similar topic:

Statues of Ancient Goddesses Found.
Yahoo | 9/30/2005 | A Greek Fellow, Nickolas whom AP will not let me C&P
Posted on 09/30/2005 2:03:49 PM PDT by Little Bill
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1494450/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Dustbunny]

Like your tag line ------ "(My common ground with terrorists - They want to die for Islam, and we want to kill them.)

I was going to use something similar (Muslims, they want to die for Islam, we need to help them achieve that goal.)

Still might if you don't mind.

[eleni121]

was destroyed by an Arab invasion in A.D. 824

---

Arab invasion of course most invaders at the time were although there were others (Persians, non arabized North Africans, etc mixed in.

But Muslims they all were for sure. Why omit the critical word here: Muslim...?

[eleni121]

You must have read Dan Simmon's "Ilium"