LINCOLN, NEBRASKA—Figurative mosaics dating to the second century A.D. have been uncovered in a public toilet at the site of Antiochia ad Cragum, according to a report in Live Science. Located on Turkey's southern coast, Antiochia ad Cragum was an important Roman commercial center. Birol Can of Uşak University in Turkey said the public toilet was next to the city’s council house, and probably accommodated large crowds of men. The two images in the latrine’s flooring riff on well-known myths, explained Michael Hoff of the University of Nebraska. In one image, Narcissus is shown staring at his own phallus, rather than at the usual reflection of his face. The other image features Ganymede, who, according to tradition, was kidnapped by Zeus, who had taken the form of an eagle, and made to serve as a cupbearer to the gods. Ganymede is usually depicted in Roman art as a youth holding a stick and rolling a hoop as a toy. In the picture in the latrine, however, he is shown holding a sponge with tongs, perhaps for wiping down the facility. And Zeus, in the form of a heron, is shown sponging Ganymede. “You have to understand the myths to make it really come alive, but bathroom humor is kind of universal as it turns out,” Hoff concluded. To read in-depth about Roman mosaics discovered at another site in southern Turkey, go to “Zeugma After the Flood.”
