5 Greek Masterpieces Found In Museums Abroad

When the word “Greece” comes to mind, one image can describe it and it involves marble statues. For centuries, Greece has been globally famous for its mythology, architecture, and marvelous statues. However, throughout the course of time, many of these artifacts have either been destroyed, lost or taken from their homelands and given new homes in different museums, scattered all over the world. Here is a small list of artifacts that can be found abroad.

 

Venus, originally named Aphrodite by the Greeks was the goddess of beauty and love. This statue was sculpted by Praxiteles around 130-100BC and represents the perfection of Greek female beauty. It was found later in 1820 during the Ottoman Empire, amongst the ancient ruins on the island of Milos. Her arms for unknown reasons were lost and this is the form of the statue we know today.

 

 

Date of creation 420-400BC by potter Meidias and assembled by Sir William Hamilton who sold it to the British museum in 1772. The vase is divided in two zones. The upper zone illustrates the story of the abduction of the daughters of Leukippos by the Dioskouri and the Goddess Aphrodite conspiring in the abduction. The lower zone portrays Hercules’ final labor, Cerberus the guardian of the gates to the Underworld.

 

 

This 29-inch statue, who’s sculptor’s identity is unknown, was influenced by the 40-foot tall statue by the sculptor Phidias made by ivory and gold in around 430BC. The statue was displayed in the temple of Zeus in Olympia and was deemed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

 

 

This is another statue by Praxiteles, made in the 4^th century BC. This statue is made in bronze and portrays the god Apollo, god of the sun, poetry, and music. According to mythology, Apollo slayed Python, a dragon-like serpent, sent by Hera to harass his mother Leto, while she was pregnant with him and his sister the Goddess Artemis. Python had them on the hunt for a long time, until many years passed and when Apollo was old enough, he went after him and slayed him with the bow and arrow given to him by the God Hephaestus.

 

This statue is one of the 6 pillars of a temple named Erectheion (or Erechteum), located on the north side of the Acropolis in Athens, that was built around 421-406BC. In the early 1800s, Lord Elgin had one of the statues removed from the temple and sold to the British museum. Today, the remaining 5 statues can be found in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

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