Aphrodite Hypolympidia

History

The statue was made around 150-100 BC, modeled after an over lifesize statue identified as Aphrodite Hegemone; this statuary type, known in the past as Tiepolo Aphrodite, was particularly popular during the Hellenistic era. According to an inscription, the statue was commissioned by a freedwoman named Anthestia Iucunda in honor of Aphrodite and the Romans who settled in Dion. That took place around the early phases of Isis's temple's construction, however it is not clear whether a cult of Aphrodite Hypolympidia existed before the Imperial period, and the goddess is not known elsewhere in Dion or Macedonia. It is possible that the statue originally stood in another sanctuary in the city, and was transferred during the renovations of Anthestia.

The base of the statue was created much later, dating to the second century AD, so that the statue could be placed at the goddess's shrine during reconstruction works on the temple in the 100s AD. The statue was possibly located in the central spot of her temple.

The first excavations at Dion took place in 1931, and again a second one in 1973 under the supervision of professor Demetrios Pandermanlis, when the statue was discovered; the head and base were found at the temple of Aphrodite Hypolympidia, while the rest of the body was at a canal not far from the temple of Isis.