Ancient Greek statue discovery reunites Zeus with Hera

SALONIKA: Archaeologists in northern Greece have unearthed a rare statue of Hera, ancient Greek goddess of marriage, which together with an earlier discovery of a matching Zeus statue constitutes the first paired display of Greek gods ever found in the country. Headless and nearly human-sized, the statue of Hera dates from the 2nd century BCE and was found in Dion, a key religious sanctuary of the Macedonian civilization in the north of the country. It is possible that the (display) also included a statue of Athena, said archaeologist Dimitris Pantermalis, who will officially present the find on Friday in the northern city of Salonika. Archaeologists attributed the enthroned statue to Hera as it is identical in size and style to a statue of Zeus found on the same site in 2003. Greek mythology is filled with rows between Hera and Zeus, siblings joined in wedlock, over the latter s extra-marital escapades. Hera s statue was found built into a defensive wall An ancient fortified city and key religious sanctuary of the Macedonian civilization, which ruled much of Greece until Roman times, Dion lies at the foothills of Mount Olympus, the home of the ancient Greek gods. Prior excavations there have already revealed two theatres, a stadium, and shrines to a variety of gods, including Egyptian deities Sarapis, Isis and Anubis, whose influence in the Greek world grew in the wake of Alexander the Great s conquest of Egypt.