Delos continued page 4

You must visit the National Archaeological Museum in Athens to see the important finds from Delos, but the site museum has a good collection as well, including the lions from the Terrace of Lions. The ones on the terrace itself are copies of the originals by Naxian sculptors of the seventh century BC finely-wrought of Naxian marble.

They faced eastward towards the Sacred Lake. Three of the original nine (some say sixteen) disappeared at some point, and one is at the Arsenale in Venice. These lions were the guardians of the Sanctuary.

Archaeological Museum of Delos

This museum was built in 1904 by the Archaeology Society of Athens, was enlarged in 1931 (from five original rooms) and enlarged again in 1972. It now has nine rooms, six of them containing the statues and reliefs found at Delos, and two with prehistoric to late Hellenistic pottery. The last room contains objects depicting everyday life, taken from the private houses on the site.

the museum Notable items include a Kouros torso found in a sanctuary of Apollo. Most likely made in Paros (noted for its marble as was, and is, Naxos) in mid-sixth century BC. A kouros (plural kouroi/kouri) is a large male statue of the Archaic period, usually a broad-shouldered naked youth with a mysterious smile. There is also a Kore statue (female version of kouros). (Sixth century BC.) Young woman kore found in the Sanctuary of Apollo and one of the oldest surviving examples of large-scale sculpture. She is standing, dressed in a tight ‘peplos’ decorated with an incised vertical maeander in the front.

The museum has a Voreas/Boreas statue Marble statue of the god of the north wind abducting the Athenian princess Oreithya and adorned the east pediment of a temple dedicated by the Athenians during the fifth century BC. Look for the Ivory Plaque with figure of Mycenaean warrior in relief, wearing a helmet made of wild boar teeth and carrying a shield an spear.

The Statues of Dioscouridhes and Kleopatra were found in Theater Quarter. The are Second century BC marble statues of this Athenian couple who lived on island of Delos. The statues were found in their house. The inscriptions at the base tell us that Kleopatra erected these statues to honor Diocouridhes who had in turn given two silver tripods to the temple of Apollo.

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