Geneleos Group Originals

Geneleos Group Originals

View looking at three of the six statues in the "Geneleos Group" of statues that lined the pavement of the sacred way that led from ancient Samos to the Temple of Hera.  The figures on the right and the left are originals found near the Temple of Hera along the sacred way.  The central one is an exact copy—the original is in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.

 

The figure on the right portrays the donor reclining as a wine–drinker lying ona mattress and supporting himself with his left arm on a tasseled cushion.  He holds a drinking horn or goblet in his right hand.

Left of the donor are two korai (Archaic female figurines)—there were originally three.  The Greek inscriptions identify them as Ornithe and Philippe.

These statues are in the Archaeological Museum in Samos (Vathi).   They date to the Archaic Period around 560 B.C. and are made of local marble.  The pleats of their garments are fine as pinstripes.

2,000 statues, tombs, and monuments lined the 5 mi. [8 km.] long sacred way including the giant Kouros.