DELOS – artefacts and mosaics and more lions 

Athena is happy that we have all finally congregated at the entrance – we can now move as one into the museum.  As I supposed, it is only a small museum but it seems to have a lot of bits and pieces and statues that have been saved from the ravages of time.  It does not contain all the pieces found on Delos – some are at the Artcheological Museum in Athens. Let’s go discover – –

As we enter there are pieces of frescoes adorning the walls – unfortunately there are no plaques with information – maybe they are just all grouped together –

Below left is a statuette of a woman discovered at the House of Masks. There is no information on who she might be but I am sure she was a worthy woman of note.

Below centre is a statuette of Cybele from the House of Dionysus. Cybele was the mistress of wild nature, a healer, the goddess of fertility & protectress in time of war.

Above right is a statue of Sarapis whose name is derived from Apis, a god who took the form of a bull and worshipped in Memphis from early in Egyptian history. This statue was discovered at Sarapieion B (2nd century BC). This is a small building; a court with a stoa lay on the eastern side together with a cistern; in the centre is a large room and on the west three smaller rooms and a shrine dedicated to Serapis.

What would a museum be without a mosaic or two? Delos has a few and even though these are only small they are intricate in their detail and would have been magnificent in their entirety.  The large mosaic top left is King Lycurgus of Thrace killing Ambrosia.

Bottom right is a Delian mosaic with pigeons flocking around a bowl.

Above bottom left is a tiny mosaic of a panther from the House of the Masks – dated circa 100 BC.

There is always restoration work being done – no different here – obviously there is nothing much for him to stand on so that is why the pipes are there.  I wonder if they have the missing pieces or are they still lying outside in the thousands of pieces waiting to find a home.

The Italians commissioned this statue of Gaius Ofellius Ferus, son of Marcus because of his righteousness and generosity towards them.

It stood in the Agora of The Italians and was dedicated to Apollo.   It is the work of the Athenian sculptors Dionyssios (son of Timarchides)  and Timarchides (son of Polykles)  and dates from about 100 BC.

Below left is a head of a colossal statue of Demetrios Polioretes, 3rd century BC – discovered at the Dodecatheon.  I think it looks a lot like Alexander the Great.  Centre is a statue of an actor dressed as Papposilenus in sheepskin and himation. A typical statue associated with Dionysus. From the Stoibadeion –  it comes from the 2nd half of the 2nd century BC.

Above right is Artemis killing a deer.  Found in the Theatre Quarter – it dates from the second half of the second century BC.

For such a small museum, it sure has a lot of items of interest.  Try to imagine Delos in its prime with all these statues, mosaics and frescoes.  It would have been something wonderful. Maybe one day there will be a time machine – my imagination is off and running – it’s time for the lions –

I have told you all about them previously – or maybe you clicked the link – that is the better way to go – so just photos – keeping in mind that these are the originals – the real deal –

They are housed in a rather drab room, I think more thought should have been given to the set up – but I am not in charge of the museum.  I am lucky not to be surrounded by tourists but there are a few, especially one couple who asks a man to take their photo beside one of the lions.  He doesn’t seem too impressed, snorting and carrying on and just clicks the photo.  When he goes I ask them would they mind if I took their photo for them and then position them so that they can get the best background of the lions.  I hope Mr Grumpy gets rained on HARD.

Time to leave My Lions – I could stay here forever but Athena is on the move again – although she is not allowed to wave her umbrella around.

Last bit of interest before we leave is the part of the mosaic from the House of Dionysus. The god appears with outstretched wings, riding a tiger that wears a necklace of vines and grapes around its neck.

I tried to find the mosaic of the dolphins but was out of luck.  It is most probably in the back rooms for restoration.  Oh well,  we have more things to discover and it has stopped raining for the time being.

Athena gives us a 5 minute pit stop before we head off for The Theatre.  We are going the easy way because of the rain making the pathway slippery on some of the climbs.  There is still lots to see so I think I might leave this here and we will pick up again when we start heading off.  This is a real bummer that we are only on Delos for about three and a half hours. Oh well, maybe next time eh?