Our fearless Program Director, Dr. Elizabeth Thill, was interviewed for a story in USA Today about a newly discovered Hercules statue at the site of Philippi in Greece: check it out here! The sculpture, which probably dates to the 2nd century CE, was found re-used in a Byzantine building from the 9th century CE, despite the statue representing a polytheistic god in a monotheistic Christian city. Fortuitously, Dr. Thill had just featured that same statue in a Scroll&Tablet blog post (“Holy Hercules, Philippi!”), so she was already prepped on the discovery. Thrilled to have a chance to talk about sculpture outside of her classroom, she happily explained the discovery’s significance, what type of hero Hercules represented in the past (a selfish psychotic one!), and why archaeological context for such statues is unusual and cool. And of course, to learn more about the appropriate of ancient Greek imagery in the Byzantine Empire, enroll in CLAS-C 351 Change and Innovation in Ancient Greece, coming up Spring 2023, no pre-reqs or previous experience required!