DELOS – the lions are roaring
After trekking through the puddles and trying to juggle everything, our journey continues – minus the rain.
This is the Agora of the Italians – not much left I am afraid – we will have to use our imagination.
The Agora was built by Roman and other Italian merchants who used it for conducting business or as a club house. The surrounding rooms were added over a period of time.
Originally it was a court with a two-storied colonnade on all 4 sides, the lower story of Doric columns and upper story of Ionic pillars. Rooms, shops and other buildings surrounded the court on ground level.
The Terrace of the Lions are, I would say, the most famous of all the structures on Delos. Made of Naxian marble, the number of lions on the original terrace is estimated to be between 9-16.
They stand with their mouths open to convey roaring which was set to inspire a divine fear to the worshippers. The lions were found between 1886 and 1906 but in 1999 they were moved in to the Delos Museum after the wind and sea water for almost 100 years damaged the surface of the sculptures. Fragments of another 3 exist and one of the lions has been at the Arsenal in Venice since the 17th century. I must admit – this has been the highlight for me so far – unfortunately this is as far as we go in this direction as Athena is waving her umbrella to get our attention – we have to make our way to the museum but we still have time to see a couple of features on our way.
Yes, I lag behind but that is OK because the Fakers take their time and I will most probably get to the museum before they do anyway.
Beyond the Terrace of Lions is the Institution (or Establishment) of the Poseidoniasts of Berytos. This was an association of merchants from Beirut who worshipped Baal, identifying him with the Greek god Poseidon. The complex includes several courtyards, chapels, meeting rooms and shops.
We head back past the lions – turn left and spy the Minoan Fountain –
The Minoan Fountain, referred to in the inscriptions and identified by a relief bearing a dedication to “Minoan Nymphs”, is a public well hewn in the rock. In the 6th century BC, the fountain was covered by a square building with a roof and walls on three sides and built with regular courses of granite and gneiss rock.
A monumental façade on the south side gave access to the fountain through a portico lined with small Doric columns with nine steps leading down to the level of the water. A thin Doric column stands on the third lowest step to further support the roof. The column remains standing and the spring still fills with water. Incredible.
When repairs were conducted in the mid-2nd century BC, the fountain house was decorated with a fresco of a river god with three nymphs. The inscription dedicated the spring to the Minion Nymphs. An inscribed stele dating to the 5th century regulated use of the public fountain with “no washing, swimming, or throwing of dung into the sacred spring”. Transgressors faced a monetary fine.
You can see in the above photo that it is raining again – just enough to be a small annoyance.
In antiquity, one of the great annual celebrations on the island was the Dionysia. It was celebrated in the month of Galaxion (March – April) each year, the time when the sailors began their trips on the Aegean Sea.
The most important element of the festival was the phallophoria, where the statue of a bird with a phallic head was carried on a chariot. During the Dionysia, dramatic and choral contests were also held under a sponsorship system.
In the southern part of the temple of Dionysus, there is a statue of Karystios (late 4th, early 3rd century BC). Erected in celebration of a victorious theatrical performance he sponsored, the area also contains the Stoibadeion, a rectangular platform containing a statue of Dionysus which was flanked by two actors impersonating Papposilenoi. These actors are now in the Delos Museum for protection.
Two pillars, one on each side of the platform, each support a huge phallus, the symbol of Dionysus. It’s amazing how many people are taking photos of these appendages. As I wait my turn, I think it will be just my luck to be pulled aside on the way home by some idiot government agency accusing me of having pornographic material. The southern pillar is decorated with relief scenes of a Dionysiac circle.
Three sides of the southern pillar have relief representations: the central scene shows a cockerel whose head and neck are elongated into a phallus, on either side are groups containing Dionysus and a Maenad, with a small Silenus (companion of Dionysus) on one side and a figure of Pan on the other. It also bears an inscription that it was erected ca. 300 B.C. by the Delian Karystios.
This is not my photo of the phallus – it is from the web. I do not have time to wait as Athena is now getting rather physical with her umbrella – apparently we have to go in to the museum together as a group.
It does not look to be a large museum – but I am sure it is full of really fascinating artefacts found on Delos. Let’s not keep Athena waiting any longer – –