A while back I wrote about the increasingly famous dig at Amphipolis, and explained why Alexander the Great is not in there.
The plot thickened slightly a few hours ago, when the Greek Ministry of culture released pictures of a terrific mosaic.
Here's the mosaic (I've taken all these from the press release):
Yes, the centre is damaged. But the rest of the image is remarkably clear.
The guy on the left is Hermes. He's got the staff in his left hand (it's called a caduceus). He's got the wacky hat. The hat is because Hermes travels a lot. He wears the wide-brimmed affair to keep the sun off.
He won't need it where he's going on this trip though, because Hermes is leading someone to the afterworld.
In addition to being Messenger of the Gods, Hermes also leads dead people to Hades. In that guise he's known as Hermes Chthonios. If you're an H.P. Lovecraft fan then you'll be familiar with that last word. It simply means "underground".
Weirdly, the guy on the chariot is probably Lord Hades himself. It might seem odd that Hades needs a guide to get home, but this is a standard motif. He's sometimes depicted on a chariot racing home with a very reluctant Persephone in tow.
The extremely erudite and in this case well-informed PhDiva has suggested the guy on the chariot might be Philip II, who was the father of Alexander.
Don't get excited. This isn't the tomb of Alexander's father, unless there's something hideously wrong with the identification of another tomb at a place called Vergina.
Personally I think the jury will be out for some time on the identification of the driver. If it's Hades, then it really doesn't say much about who's inside.
What is very interesting is that the picture looks much like another one at Pella, which was the capital of Macedonia in the time of Philip and Alexander. The Pella mosaic shows an Abduction of Helen by Theseus.
If you told me the same artist did both, I wouldn't argue. More likely it was a standard style of the times. But it makes identical dating and the link to Pella very strong.
It also raises the probability that the tomb holds someone closely associated with Alexander. But that's just a guess. Who it is remains a mystery.
The plot thickened slightly a few hours ago, when the Greek Ministry of culture released pictures of a terrific mosaic.
Here's the mosaic (I've taken all these from the press release):
Yes, the centre is damaged. But the rest of the image is remarkably clear.The guy on the left is Hermes. He's got the staff in his left hand (it's called a caduceus). He's got the wacky hat. The hat is because Hermes travels a lot. He wears the wide-brimmed affair to keep the sun off.
He won't need it where he's going on this trip though, because Hermes is leading someone to the afterworld.
In addition to being Messenger of the Gods, Hermes also leads dead people to Hades. In that guise he's known as Hermes Chthonios. If you're an H.P. Lovecraft fan then you'll be familiar with that last word. It simply means "underground".
Weirdly, the guy on the chariot is probably Lord Hades himself. It might seem odd that Hades needs a guide to get home, but this is a standard motif. He's sometimes depicted on a chariot racing home with a very reluctant Persephone in tow.
The extremely erudite and in this case well-informed PhDiva has suggested the guy on the chariot might be Philip II, who was the father of Alexander.
Don't get excited. This isn't the tomb of Alexander's father, unless there's something hideously wrong with the identification of another tomb at a place called Vergina.
Personally I think the jury will be out for some time on the identification of the driver. If it's Hades, then it really doesn't say much about who's inside.
What is very interesting is that the picture looks much like another one at Pella, which was the capital of Macedonia in the time of Philip and Alexander. The Pella mosaic shows an Abduction of Helen by Theseus.
If you told me the same artist did both, I wouldn't argue. More likely it was a standard style of the times. But it makes identical dating and the link to Pella very strong.
It also raises the probability that the tomb holds someone closely associated with Alexander. But that's just a guess. Who it is remains a mystery.