Ήλιος και Σελήνη

Περίληψη

A stone sphere 0.46 m in height and with a circumference of 1.80 m was discovered in a rescue excavation in 1963 in Livadeia, Boeotia. On the opposite sides are figures in relief, one depicting a male bust with rays of light encircling his head, the other a female with a crescent moon above her head. Clearly they represent Helios and Selene. The sphere was found with other stones that probably came from a building of Roman times founded on an earlier construction. Subsequently it too was covered by stones of a later period. It is most probable that the remains of the Roman building are connected with stones revealed in excavations in 1953 and 1937 on the neighbouring building lot. The figures of Helios and Selene have features that are datable between the second and third centuries AD. The original setting and use of the sphere, now in the Chaironeia Museum, remain hypothetical.