Immortal hero with rich tomb discovered in western Greece –

Excavations in the ancient Achaian city of Rhypes near Aigio in western Greece revealed a Heroön (a temple dedicated to heroes from Greek and Roman mythology) containing the Pantelic marble Lions and tombs containing gold jewels.

The history of the ancient Greek city-state of Repos dates back to at least the Archaic period, but its roots may lie earlier. Excavations this season have unearthed architectural remains and pottery from the 8th century BC. According to ancient sources (relying on legendary traditional accounts), Myslus of Leps left this well-established and powerful city-state in 2007, The colony of Croton was established in southern Italy. 710 BC

In the 5th century BC, Lys was one of the original twelve cities of the Achaean League. The alliance disbanded after the earthquake that destroyed Heric in 373 BC, and when it was reformed in 280 BC, Lipps was no longer a member. In 30 BC, during the War of Actium, the city was razed to the ground by Octavian against Mark Antony’s supporters. The surviving residents were forcibly relocated to nearby Patras.

This season’s excavations focus on a monumental building to the southeast of the temple terrace. Known as the “Gamma” building, its base is hidden beneath the limestone blocks of the collapsed superstructure. The stones were recorded, numbered and removed, revealing the steps (the stepped foundation of the temple) and the pedestal (the continuous base of a row of columns) on its long south side. The serrated knob is 55 feet long, and the H- and Z-shaped joints connecting its blocks date to before 300 B.C.

Extant construction shows that the building’s facade consisted of Corinthian half-columns (flat backs) surmounted by an entablature with a cornice and architrave. Doric beak molding (a convex top and concave base meeting at a point, like the beak of a bird of prey) projects from the end of the cornice. The diameter-to-height ratio of the column is the smallest ever recorded for a Corinthian column.

Under the ruins of the facade, archaeologists discovered a crouching marble lion on its base, a larger lion crouching on part of the base, the head of a smaller marble lion and a funerary top Marble head monument of a young man. They are all carved in Pentelic marble, the precious white marble used in the construction of the Acropolis. There is also a water spout carefully crafted from clay in the shape of a lion’s head.

The monument contains complete tombs and sarcophagi, but is older than the building itself. These tombs contain rich grave goods and are of exceptional artistic and monetary value. These include a pair of gold earrings with a lion’s head, a solid earring of a naked-winged cupid holding a scepter in her right hand and a wreath in her left hand, a gold necklace ending in a solid gold bust of a lion, and a gold ring. The people buried in these tombs were of high status and wealth.

Heroön is so special that archaeologists have designed a new five-year excavation plan to fully excavate it. The plan is currently undergoing approval procedures at the Greek Ministry of Culture.