Greek Masterpieces from the Louvre

A few weeks ago I decided to visit the Greek masterpieces exhibit from the Louvre at a local museum with a few friends. Not that I have not seen enough Greek masterpieces at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, I just felt it would be fun anyway. Now one may wonder why does a French museum have greek masterpieces, did they cart them off to France from Greece (like ahem...)? Well it turns out that most of them were Roman copies of earlier Greek originals and pre-France was an important part of the Roman Empire. One thing I did like about the exhibit compared to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens was the lighting. For this Louvre exhibit, good lighting made for better pictures. Also, they did not really seem to stop anyone from taking pictures with the masterpieces unlike in Greece where this is forbidden (you can take picture of them not with them).

The local Museum.


Whenever I see a dome I snap...


Here we are.


The goddess Athena


Probably a grave relief of depicting some Greek Gods


Athena again. Unlike the other Greek goddesses Athena is always depicted fully clothed in garment.


I forgot who this lady is.



A vase with red paint style illustrating an epic battle between the Gods and the Titans.

This grave relief is about two lovers. The woman (middle) passed on and the man (right) pleaded with Hades to see her once more. Hades agreed but instructed that he must not look back until she has been escorted out of the underworld. Unable to resist (a common theme in Greek tragedy?), on the way out he turned back. In that moment he realised that she will never be able to return with him. The God on the left is Hermes, whose job is partly to escort the deceased to the underworld.

A lion


An artist's impression of Socrates. No one knows if he really looks like this.


A discus thrower captured in a moment of contemplation.


A clenched right foot indicates that the athlete may have decided upon his technique.


These somehow look like angels





Miscellaneous exhibits


Apollo with tree and lizard.


Ganymede, mistakenly labeled as Paris


One of the main highlights -- Aphrodite


That ball, is the apple, which she was present to by Paris since he regarded her as the fairest of them all.



Ares, the God of Battle Frenzy. Portrayed with a metallic ring round his leg. He was caught by Aphrodite's husband during an "exciting" tryst with her.


Eros, whom is more commonly known by his Roman name, Cupid



Aphrodite with an apple clearly depicted.


We left, some masterpiece we created outside



A display of traditional opera costumes


Lunchtime! Root beer float

By lunchtime we were done. It was a good exhibit definitely worth a visit -- just make sure that you arrive in time for one of the guided tours conducted by volunteers for a better experience.