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The Argos Museum exhibits findings from excavations in the ancient Agora and the Theater, the Mycenaean necropolis of Deirada (hill of the Prophet Elias), Lerna and rescue excavations.
In the vestibule of the ground floor of the new building are exhibited a mosaic of the personification of Afthonia or Autumn (4th century AD), jars from the Middle Helladic and Mycenaean periods and two large burial vessels from the Geometric period.
In the main hall, finds from the Middle Helladic to the classical years are irrefutable witnesses of the continuous habitation of the city in the respective periods. From the Middle Helladic period (1900-1600 BC) the "Argean" ash and brown Minya vessels stand out. Following are the grave offerings from the cemeteries of Argos and mainly from the Mycenaean cemetery of Deirada.
The "dark ages" (Sub-Mycenaean and Proto-Geometric years 1100-900 BC) with the linear decoration and the small shapes of the vessels are the transition stage to the Geometric period (900-700 BC), where Argos is distinguished again. From the vases stand out the kraters of all phases decorated with birds, horses and stepped meanders, favorite subjects of the silver workshop. Bronze armor, iron darts, ship-shaped holders and various rings were found in graves of the Geometric period. The bronze forks of Argos prove that during the 9th and 8th c. BC there is significant production of copper objects. From the exhibits of the Late Geometric period, the clay effigies of rivers, symbols of fertility and fruitfulness, are worth noting.
The built-in showcases on the ground floor display: the shell krater with the scene of the blinding of Polyphemus by Odysseus and his companions (7th century BC), kraters with banded decoration and hand-made corroplastry works, which are typical creations of domestic workshops during the archaic period. Finds from classical times, such as the krater of the painter Hermonactus, vases (compasses, goblets) from Corinth and Attica and two sherds of local black-figure vases complete the exhibits of the ground floor hall.
In the area of the staircase, which leads to the first floor, there are a marble capital of archaic times, a Byzantine breastplate with a peacock and a table.
In the corridor and the ground floor of the Gallery, the Lerna collection is presented with finds from the excavations in the prehistoric settlement, which was inhabited continuously from the Neolithic years until the end of the Bronze Age. The Neolithic female figurine, the proto-Hellenic circular hearth, the clay sealings from the Pottery House, etc. stand out.
On the first floor of the building, Roman copies of works from the classical and Hellenistic periods are exhibited. In the vestibule, the Farnese-style Hercules statue from an original work of Lysippus of the 4th century BC dominates, seated Muses, statue of Health, funerary reliefs, two Attic marble table-bearers of late antiquity (Dionysus with a goat and Ganymede with an eagle), a statue of Ganymede from the work of the 5th c. BC etc.
In the main hall, there are funerary reliefs, the head of Sophocles of the Farnese type (a copy of a work of the 3rd century BC), the reliefs of the Eumenides (4th and 3rd centuries BC), a statue of Aphrodite of the Frejus type, a portrait of Geta (3rd century AD), statue of Athena, cloaked, Dionysus in the saurokton type, Muse with lyre, Hermes, Dionysus or Satyr in the winemaker type, etc. In addition to the sculptures, a mosaic from the end of the 4th c. A.D.
Mosaics have been incorporated into the floor of the portico of the Museum's garden, where they are divided into: a vase with vine shoots and birds (6th century AD), the twelve months of the year with their symbols, hunting scenes and a Dionysian scene (b quarter of the 6th century AD) as well as a mosaic section with the 4 seasons in busts and the personification of Pleasure (end of the 5th century AD). In the same gallery there are still a statue of Asclepius with the navel, an archaic capital, a colossal mask of a god, Medusa's head, etc.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou
