Bronze eye
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
5528-1
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Bronze eye
4th century BCE
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
early sanctuary of Asclepius, ancient Messene
Length: 8 cm Height: 6 cm
Part of a bronze, cast, left-side elliptical eye-ball. Preserved is the entire eye, with the thin brow arch, a small part of the nose and the cheek of a possibly female figure. A through hole on the upper part. The eye lids must have been inlaid, perhaps made of a separate lead piece. It was probably an offering to the early sanctuary of Asclepius, excavated beneath the deposits of the south atrium of the Hellenistic Asclepieion in ancient Messene and implies the healing powers of the god. These powers are less obvious in the later Asclepieion (late 3rd cent. BCE), when the political side of Asclepius is more prominent, being the son of Arsinoe and as the mythical king Messenia.