National Archaeological Museum: Unseen Museum - Part II

What would you give for a peek at the storerooms of the world’s museums? To glimpse the unseen and the untold? Now answer this again - only this time, imagine it's the museum that holds the world’s biggest collection of Greek antiquities, the National Archaeological Museum!

For some context, the Unseen Museum initiative is that lovely time of the year where this cultural landmark pulls remarkable finds from its vast repository and presents them to the public over two months each time. Gods and Heroes from Asia Minor is the title of the second exhibition that displays 3 artefacts from Asia minor (key factor here, since this year’s event is dedicated to the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922 marking 100 years since). The main exhibit is the bronze statuette of a resting Hercules (Weary Herakles) of the Roman period from Bursa. A reproduction of the Farnese Herakles (the only one where the strongest man of all mortals seems to be reclining), a masterpiece attributed to the Greek sculptor Lysippos. Two terracotta couple figures of the Hellenistic period from - most likely - the ancient city of Myrina accompany the statuette: Eros & Psyche, the ultimate manifestation of love and union and Aphrodite & Adonis, whose myth is marked by lust and rejection.

There you have it: ancient tales of courage, love and lust. Definitely worth a visit.