Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki:

Votive and funerary reliefs

A funerary relief. The deceased is depicted in the type of the heroized hunter riding his horse, a very common representation in Macedonian funerary monuments. The tree and the snake coiled around its trunk denote the identity of the hunter as a hero (3rd century A.D)

A votive relief. Hades holding a cornucopia is seen standing on a charriot, drawn by chickens. The relief was dedicated by the priest Hadaios. Hades was also called Pluto and was sometimes conflated with Ploutos (Wealth). Found in Derveni. (2nd century A.D)

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki:

Two busts believed to represent Philip II and Alexander the Great respectively. In Thessaloniki there was a cult dedicated to the worship of the family of Alexander the Great and these artifacts might have belonged to a marble group of statues that depicted each family member. (175-200 A.D)

However, an actual association between these two statues has not been proven so far.

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki:

Votive relief dedicated to Hephestion by Diogenes (probably a veteran of Alexander the Great’s army), found in Pella.

The Macedonians also worshiped local gods and heroes such as Eukleia (goddess of good repute) in Vergina and Parthenos (Virgin), in Kavala, Hippalkmos and Kaveiros in Thessaloniki, Auloneitis in Pangaion, and the deified Hephestion- bosom friend of Alexander the Great, in Pella.

(Late 4th century AD)

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki:

Group with Demeter and Kore from a sanctuary at Derveni (Ancient Lete)

(Late 4th- early 3rd century B.C )

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki:

Head of a girl with an elaborate hairstyle. (Roman period)

Archaeological Museum of Eleusis:

An elaborate capital with griffins, lilies, vines and grapes from the Lesser Propylaia. (Roman period)

Archaeological Museum of Eleusis:

Bust of a horse emerging from a plinth. Fragments of a pair of feet can be seen next to it. The slab probably supported a group with a figure. (Roman period)

Archaeological Museum of Eleusis:

A marble votive in the shape of a piglet. (Roman period)

Pigs were closely associated with the worship feasts of Demeter and Kore. According to one version of the myth when the ground split underneath Persephone, along with her a herd of pigs also fell into the underworld. The swineherd Eubouleus who kept the herd sometimes is also conflated with a disguised Dionysus, or Hermes, which also involves them in the abduction of Persephone. Eubouleus also appears as a seperate mythological figure and is also thought to be the first one to inform Demeter of Persephone’s abduction.

Pigs were also sacrificed and cooked in the celebrations of Thesmophoria in Autumn. Thesmophoria were a three day celebration attended by married women in honour of Demeter and Kore. “Pig” or rather “piggy” appears as a euphemism for female genitalia and there are certain rites in Thesmophoria that connect pork to the female reproductive system.

For instance certain pieces of pork would be buried and left to rot, and then they would be uncovered and placed on altars for the rites in which women emulated Demeter’s mourning. Then at the conclusion of the festival these pieces of meat would be mixed with the grain that would be sowed to the fields as a form of blessing.

There is a certain symbolism in this act of mixing something dead and infertile with something alive and fertile, where life and death draw their powers from each other.

Of course the sacrifice of pigs and the consumption of pork in Autumn, also had a practical side to it, since it was the animals that couldn’t survive the winter that were chosen to be sacrificed.

Archaeological Museum of Eleusis:

Votive relief with Pluto, Persephone and suppliants. (4th century B.C)

The photo below is unretouched. Eleusis, because of its natural port, and proximity to the city center of Athens was downgraded through the 20th century and heavily industrialized. The farmers of the region were expulsed to make way for industries, the city population was converted to cheap labour, the natural landscape and archaeological wealth were for the most part destroyed.

Despite being one of the most important archaeological sites of Attica, the Museum and the sites of Eleusis have been struggling with maintenance. Other sites and museums of Attica have enjoyed extensive renovations, quite often courtesy of foundations backed by private interests which own extensive industrial complexes in the region of Eleusis.

However, Eleusis’ museum which is housed in a historic building of the 19th century has been dealing with leaks and humidity on a yearly basis. Minor repairs and maintenance are performed yearly for this reason, but it is evident that the museum needs a serious renovation.

The municipality has been trying to keep the interest for Eleusis alive through planned cultural activities, since the suspicious neglect for such a site even led to instances of robbery from the museum’s storage.

Archaeological Museum of Eleusis:

Marble head of a horse. (Archaic period)

The lower part of the jaw is missing. The statue was probably votive but it is unclear if it formed a group with a rider, or if it stood alone. The inside of the mouth was painted red.