Hercules Statue Unearthed in Northern Greece

News September 20, 2022

(Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports)
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Greece Hercules Statue
(Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports)

ATHENS, GREECE—The Greek City Times reports that pieces of a larger-than-life-size statue of a youthful Hercules have been unearthed in northern Greece at the ancient city of Philippi by researchers from Aristotle University. The statue, dated to the second century A.D., was found in a city square where two main streets intersected. It appears to have been reused to decorate a building dated to the late Byzantine period in the eighth or ninth century A.D. The figure wore a wreath of vine leaves and held a lion skin in his outstretched left hand. His club was found nearby in pieces. To read about the head of what is believed to be a statue of Hercules that was recovered from the Antikythera shipwreck, go to "Around the World: Greece."

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