Quiz

[Ildar]

Was the city Helis and the goddess Helia?

Did you mean the Thracian city of Helis? No, Bulgaria wasn't part of the USSR.

So instead I'll guess Chersonesos...

No, Nathan.

Nymphaion (Kerch peninsula)? (Just a guess, really. :-? )

Bingo! It is Nymphaion where the fresco with a famous graffito of an oared warship was found in 1982 (now in The State Hermitage Museum, SPb). The name of the goddess ΙΣΙΣ is inscribed on the ship's bow. Over to you, Duncan.

[attachment=4890]3_2012-08-12.jpg[/attachment]

[D B Campbell]

I was about to guess the same (the ships painting with the graffiti to Aphrodite?)

Ooh, just pipped you at the post, Nathan!

[Jona Lendering]

Bingo! It is Nymphaion where the fresco with a famous graffito of an oared warship was found in 1982 (now in The State Hermitage Museum, SPb). The name of the goddess ΙΣΙΣ is inscribed on the ship's bow. Over to you, Duncan.

[attachment=4890]3_2012-08-12.jpg[/attachment]

I had never seen this before. It is beautiful!

[D B Campbell]

Over to you, Duncan.

What about a well-known battlefield?
[attachment=4896]4.jpg[/attachment]

[Nathan Ross]

a well-known battlefield?

The conical hill to the left looks a bit like Mither Tap - this wouldn't be Bennachie (Mons Graupius) would it?

[Kegluneq]

Kalkreise?

[D B Campbell]

this wouldn't be Bennachie (Mons Graupius) would it?

It is, indeed. (I thought Byron might've got in on this one.)

[Nathan Ross]

(I thought Byron might've got in on this one.)

I did consider waiting for him... mile:

So how about this:

What, famously, stood here in antiquity?

[attachment=4897]View.jpg[/attachment]

[Flavivs Aetivs]

So how about this:

What, famously, stood here in antiquity?

[attachment=4897]View.jpg[/attachment]

Is it in greece?

[Nathan Ross]

It's not in Greece, no.

It was allegedly the scene of a very unusual religious activity...

[Nathan Ross]

More clues required, clearly! hock:

It's the site of a famous temple...

It's on an island that now forms part of Italy...

[D B Campbell]

More clues required, clearly! hock:

Don't panic! We're just mulling it over. And hoping that some more folks will join the quiz.

It's a nice picture. I almost expected to see Aeneas standing there on the battlements. :wink:

[Nathan Ross]

I almost expected to see Aeneas standing there on the battlements.

Maybe watching a bit of boxing? :-)

(I'll give it another few hours...)

[Jona Lendering]

I almost expected to see Aeneas standing there on the battlements.

Maybe watching a bit of boxing? :-)

(I'll give it another few hours...)

Is that really Eryx?

[Nathan Ross]

Is that really Eryx?

Hooray! Yes it is - the site of the Temple of Venus at Eryx (modern Erice) in western Sicily.

Here's a slightly expanded view:

[attachment=4947]EriceTempleSite.jpg[/attachment]

Aeneas stopped off here on the way to Carthage and held funeral games for his father (including boxing). More famously (or infamously), the temple was supposedly a centre for 'sacred prostitution' - Strabo says the prostitutes were called Hierodules - although many modern historians seem to doubt the substance of the claim!

Anyway - once more over to Jona... mile: