The bust of the Greek god Hermes was found in good condition in the sewage system in Athens, officials reported Sunday. The Greek Culture Ministry speculates that the head was carved in 300 B.C. by famed sculptor Alcamenes, and was used as a street marker. Alcamenes, famously sculpted Aphrodite of the Gardens and was a younger contemporary of…wait for it, Phidias, the artistic director for the Parthenon.
Many godly sculpted heads were used as street markers in those days but this depiction of a more mature Hermes was eventually transferred to the wall of a drainage duct under the streets.
Hermes is an Olympic deity who served as herald of the gods, and could swiftly move between the mortal world and the divine aided by his winged sandals. Apparently, not quickly enough to avoid getting his old-ass head stuck in a sewer in Athens.
