Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus
Limestone statuette of Pan or Opaon Melanthios, Hellenistic Cypriot
Limestone statuette of Pan or Opaon Melanthios, Hellenistic Cypriot, c. 299–200 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 74.51.2735.Open Access by the MET

Hellenistic

Limestone statuette of Pan or Opaon Melanthios

This figure with the horns and ears of a goat wears an animal skin and holds a syrinx (double pipes) and a pedum (shepherd's crook). Images of this type first appeared in Cypriot sanctuaries during the Hellenistic period. They may represent Pan, the Greek god who protected herdsmen and shepherds, or they may be associated with Opaon Melanthios, a Cypriot deity of rural life and fertility, who is known from inscriptions. WebPub GR 2012 Cesnola: 12 1/2 × 5 1/2 × 2 3/4 in., 3.5 lb. (31.8 × 14 × 7 cm, 1.6 kg)

Classification

Object type
Stone sculpture
Material
StoneLimestone
Period
Hellenistic and RomanHellenistic
Date
299 - 200 BC
Findspot
Golgoi

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Provenance

  • Sanctuary of Golgoi-Ayios Photios

References

Identifiers

Accession no.
74.51.2735, Metropolitan Museum of Art
In catalogues
  • Myres 1914, no. 1115
  • Karageorghis 2000, no. 423
  • Hermary 2013, no. 333

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