The National Archaeological Museum

The National Archaeological Museum is one of the largest and most important museums of ancient Greek art. You will certainly find its riches fascinating and indeed, to do the museum justice, you should visit it several times. but if you intend to visit only once, make sure you have ample time at your disposal. Just a few of the Museum's most important exhibits are mentioned bellow.

The Poseidon of Artemision is a statue of Poseidon or Zeus'? The archaeologists still argue about it. The bronze statue, one of the masterpieces of Classical sculpture, was found in 1928, in the wreckage of a ship off cape Artemision. Its height is 2.09m and it is one of the few original bronze statues that survive. The Statuette of Zeus is a statuette of Keravnovolos Zeus from Dodoni. Notice the god's posture as he prepares to launch his thunderbolts. It is the same as that of the Poseidon of Artemision.The Jockey-Boy of Artemision is a bronze statue of the 2nd century B.C.. It was found with the statue of Poseidon, off cape Artemision. It is possible that the Jockey-boy and his horse were cast separately. The Ephebe of Antikythera (Ephebe: adolescent) is one more statue that has been an item of controversy among archaeologists. Since it is evident that he was holding some spherical object in his right hand, some say that it depicts Paris holding the apple and others that it is a statue of Perseus holding Andromeda's head (340 B.C.). It was found in a ship wreckage near Antikythera in 1900. The Golden Mask of Agamemnon, although it has been proved not to be the mask of Agamemnon, it remains an exhibit worth seeing. Schlieman's theory was wrong and it is now thought to be the death mask of a King who died three centuries before Agamemnon (Wth century B.C.). You can see the mask in the Hall of Mycenaean Antiquities, together with jewellery, gold artifacts, swords and so on, found in the royal tombs of Mycenae.The Thera Exhibition includes many exhibits,  the most important of them are the frescos. Unearthed at Akrotiri on Thera, they are the earliest example of large-scale painting in Europe. These wall paintings are a valuable source of information on prehistoric life in the Aegean during the Bronze Age.