Roman-era Statues Of Aphrodite And Dionysus Unearthed In Turkey

Roman-era statues of Aphrodite and Dionysus unearthed in Turkey

According to Greek mythology, the deities Aphrodite and Dionysus had a grand love affair. So, perhaps it’s fitting that archaeologists found the ancient statuary heads of the goddess of love and the drunk reveler near each other during a dig in the ancient city of Aizanoi, in western Turkey.

The discovery of the deities’ heads helps top off a previous find; on an earlier dig, archaeologists found the statues’ headless bodies, Gokhan Coskun, an archaeologist at Kütahya Dumlupınar University in Turkey and the excavation coordinator, told Anadolu Agency, a Turkish state-run news organization.

“These are important findings for us, as they show that the polytheistic culture of ancient Greece existed for a long time without losing its importance in the Roman era,” Coskun said. “The findings suggest that there may have been a sculpture workshop in the region.” Read more.