Demeter (Ceres)

A statue of Demeter from Eleusis, ca 420 BC.

Demeter is, by some reason, very rarely preserved in the form of a statue and you should thus consider yourself lucky if you run into her - not to mention how few complete statues of her there is.

Dionysos/Bachus

Statues of Dionysos are both numerous, entertaining to identify and quite tricky, as the god can appear in three different forms (in statues, a fourth exist in coins). Quite a number of attributes should also be listed; the panther (sometimes dragging a wagon, as here), ivy, grapes, vine and so on.

As a herm, where you only see the head and an erected penis (herms are quite common; Hercules herm, a headless herm and a herm from the Athenian Agora.


As an old, manly god, resembling an eastern ruler with long curly hair, a beard and sometimes a diadem. Notice the wines in his hair.
This piece is from the 2nd century AD, Rome.


The infant Dionysos, such as seen in the very famous group Hermes and the Dionysos Child by Praxiteles. More information on this piece can be found here.


As a young god, with slightly female forms. From the 2nd century AD, Rome.

He can also be found with rams or bulls horns on coins.

Persephone (aka Kore; lat. Proserpina)

Persephone/Kore from Eleusis, dated to 440-430 BC.

I've not seen very many sculptures of this goddess, but this relief is certainly famous. You'll see Persephone/Kore on the right in her normal, very serious mood and holding a torch in her hand. Other common attributes are a sceptre or box (cista mystica).

Charadros - a river god

probably a personification of the river Charadros, 2nd century AD from Pythion at Oinoe

I thought that it could be useful to add a river god to the collection, as they are quite common (or at least not uncommon). You'll quite soon notice that they normally lie down as in the example above, also commonly carrying a cornucopia, i.e. Horn of lanty (not seen here). You can compare it to this one from Rome.

Tyche (Fortuna)

Tyche, or Fortuna as the Romans identified her, is a very tricky one, as her attributes seems to change depending on where you find here.

Serapis

Serapis from Gortyn, 180-190 AD.

The nature of Serpais is a very complicated question, I'll have to leave it for now with the note that he was a Hellenistic creation which spread over the Mediterranean from Egypt. His at least very easy to recognize in sculpture, he's looking very much like Zeus/Jupiter, but with a grain basket on his head and Cerberus at his feet.

Pan (Inuus and sometimes Faunus)

A very calm version of Pan (2nd century AD, perhaps from Rome), here rendered without his most typical attributes - the give away comes in the Syrinx and the skin. The head and arms were restored (I do not know how heavily) when it was places in the Villa Giulia in Rome c. 1550.


This is a more relaxed view of Pan (100 BC), where he tried to make an advance upon Afrodite, one of his favourite activities. More on this group in this post.


Pan is always a fun character, and not only in myths and legends but also in sculpture. You’ll see him around now and then, he’s both quite common adn easy to recognize with his horns, goat-feet and puck nose. You can also see that he’s either dancing or playing his pipe, the Syrinx.

The muses

Erato, the Muse of Poetry


Clio, the Muse of History


Polyhymnia, muse of Dance

The muses tend to show up in museums now and then, just when you least expect them. They are unfortunately very difficult to recognize as there's a number of them (not even the ancient Greeks and Romans them self could decide upon how many) and their attributes can be very discrete.

Nike (Victoria)

Nike, as she was portrayed for a victory monument in Olympia.


Nike from the Stoa of Zeus, Agora of Athens. Dated to ca 400 BC.

Nike (Victoria) is one of my personal favorites among the gods in classical sculpture, no doubt partly due to the absolutely amazing Nike Samothrace that can be found in the Louvre.

This is however far from the only Nike statue that can be found in a modern museum, she’s, although not as common as Athena or Apollo, still a quite normal sight.

The goddess normally portrayed as a young winged female, often just about to touch the ground as she’s landing (presumably on a battle field). You might also recognize a hands gesture that looks like if she was once holding a wreath.

Kybele (Magna Mater, connected with Rhea)

Well, I'm back from a very successful archaeological expedition in southern Italy and ready to start posting again.



Cybele is a terribly difficult goddess to work with, she is strongly associated with Rhea and worshipped under a large number of names. Statues of her are however, fortunately, both numerous and easily recognizable. You'll normally find the goddess seated, wearing the very typical cylindrical hat, commonly in the shape of a city wall, and with a feline next to her.