Greek Archaeologists Find Goddess Hera Statue
Pastor Dale Morgan
Mar 1, 5:58 PM EST
*Greek Archaeologists Find Goddess Hera Statue*
By COSTAS KANTOURIS
Associated Press Writer
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) -- A 2,200-year-old statue of the goddess Hera
has been found built into the walls of a city under Mount Olympus, home
of Greece's ancient gods, archaeologists said on Thursday. The headless
marble statue was discovered last year during excavations in the ruins
of ancient Dion, some 53 miles southwest of Thessaloniki.
Archaeologist Dimitris Pantermalis said the life-sized - by human
dimensions - statue had been used by the early Christian inhabitants of
Dion as filling for a defensive wall.
He said the 2nd century B.C. find appeared to have originally stood in a
temple of Zeus, head of the ancient Greek gods - whose statue was found
in the building's ruins in 2003 and after whom Dion was named.
"We have reached the conclusion that the statue of Hera stood next to
that of Zeus in the temple," said Pantermalis, a Thessaloniki University
professor who has headed excavations at Dion for more than three decades.
Hera was the long-suffering wife of Zeus, a notorious philanderer,
according to ancient mythology.
"The statue represents a female form seated on a throne, and is made of
thick-grained marble like the one of Zeus," Pantermalis said. "It shows
exactly the same technique and size, which led us to link the two
statues beyond doubt."
Pantermalis said that, if confirmed, it would be the first time two
statues of different gods have been located from a single temple in
Greece. He said it was also possible that a statue of Athena, goddess of
wisdom, could have stood in the temple of Zeus, and expressed hopes it
might be discovered during future excavations.
Dion was a major religious center of the ancient Macedonians. Alexander
the Great offered sacrifices there before launching his victorious
campaign against the Persian Empire in the 4th century B.C.
Excavations so far have revealed temples, theaters and a stadium, city
walls, a hotel, baths and streets with an elaborate drainage system, as
well as many statues.
The area was first inhabited during the Iron Age, and survived into
early Christian times when it was the seat of a bishop.
Pantermalis will present the find on Friday, during a three-day
archaeological conference that opened in Thessaloniki Thursday.