Unique Athena statue found in Laodicea’s ancient theater

A monumental statue of Athena has been unearthed at the ancient West Theater of Laodicea in modern-day Denizli, western Turkey. The white marble statue is two meters (6.6 feet) high without its head, which is broken off at the neck. Its style dates it to the Augustan period (early 1st century A.D.) and has unique features.

Standing on a round base, Athena wears a floor-length Doric peplos (sleeveless and fastened at the shoulders) belted at the hips with a girdle that the extra length of the garment has been drawn up and over giving it a bloused effect. She was a chlamys (cloak) fastened with a brooch at her neck. The rendering of the draping, the variety of widths and depths in the folds of the fabric, attest to the high level of craftsmanship of the carver, and the chlamys is a unique element for Athena iconography.

On her chest is the aegis, covered in snake scales, edges with snakelets and the Gorgoneion, the severed head of Medusa, in the center. Another unusual element is the strap or fold on the top left of the aegis that crosses between Athena’s breasts. Crossed aegis depictions are rare, but they are x-shaped with the Gorgoneion placed where the two straps meet (see this one from Pergamon, for example). This is a breastplate/hide style aegis that either has a diagonal strap or is perhaps the hide folded over which I’ve never seen before. There were a myriad descriptions and interpretations of the aegis in ancient art and literature. This one is in close to Virgil’s description in Book VIII of the Aeneid:

a chilling aegis, the breastplate of Pallas,
competing to burnish its serpent scales of gold,
its interwoven snakes, and the Gorgon herself
on the goddess’s breast, with severed neck and rolling eyes:

In addition to the missing head, the statue’s left arm and right hand are broken off and so far none of the lost body parts have been found. Based on the iconography of other Athena statues, she probably held a spear in her left hand. Her right hand may have held a little winged Victory or been posed on a shield.

The Hellenistic city of Laodicea was founded by Seleucid emperor Antiochus II Theos in the mid-3rd century B.C. who named it after his wife Laodice. It became part of the Rome’s territories when King Attalus III of Pergamon bequeathed his realm to the Republic in 133 B.C. By the early imperial period, it had become an important city in Rome’s Asia province, located on one of the busiest trade routes in Asia Minor and prospering from trade and commerce, including weaving and textile manufacture.

The West Theater was first built in the late Hellenistic period (2nd century B.C.). The stage had a three-story structure with 16 columns on each story. Statues of deities and scenes from Homer’s epics were placed between the columns. Many of the remains of these statues were recovered during recent excavations of the theater, which was extensively reconstructed from its scattered stones and reopened in 2023 with the first performance since the 7th century.

The excavation of the Western Theater’s stage area is ongoing, and the Athena statue was found lying face down next to the postskene, the exterior rear wall of the stage building. Athena as the goddess of weaving was celebrated at the theater during festivals dedicated to one of the city’s main industries.

* This article was originally published here