Athens: Greek archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old statue of the giant hero Hercules during excavations.
According to media reports, a team of researchers from Aristotle University discovered the statue in the ancient city of Philippi, which was once a part of the Roman and Byzantine empires. Though the said statue is broken in some parts, experts are declaring it to be in a good condition.
The role of Hercules in the Roman epic stories is equivalent to the Greek Herakles. Hercules is known for his unparalleled strength in Dev Malayan stories.
Hercules is usually depicted with a lion’s skin cloak draped over his shoulders and a club in his hand.
The professor and a group of students discovered all these things by chance, which helped them identify the statue as Hercules.
Researchers believe that the statue, discovered on the eastern side of one of the main streets of the city, was installed in a building during the late Byzantine period in the eighth or ninth century AD.
It should be noted that Philippi was an important city of Greece, whose ancient name was Crinides. The city was settled in 360-359 BC by the Thessian colonists, who hailed from the nearby island of Theses. The city was renamed by Philip II of Macedon in 356 BC and conquered by the Ottomans in the 14th century AD.
