Orpheus's Lyre and Aphrodite's Rock

Most readers likely know about the colossal statue of Apollon discovered in Turkey. According to Discovery News, the statue stood four meters tall—that's double the height of Darth Vader—and is currently divided into two fragments. No word yet on where the head and limbs have gone, or why (as some have stated on the Yahoo! lists) the photograph on Discovery News shows a figure that seems to have breasts.

You may recall this post, which highlighted an artist's attempt to modernize the Greek Gods by incorporating Apple technology into his sculptures. What next? Glad you asked. According to Archaeology Daily News, the Bulgarians have recreated Orpheus's lyre.

The instrument, which is 40 centimetres long, was made from cycamore [sic] tree and a turtle' s hollow. According to national media, although the original idea was to make the instrument from materials that were as close as possible to the authentic ones, it turned out that no animal species existed from which to get 45-centimetre-long horns.

Forty-five-centimeter-long horns. This makes me wonder ... did Orpheus have access to dinosaur horns? Some of those armored herbivores had horns that are within the length requirements. However, the Bulgarians may have had issues getting the materials from those hoarding paleontologists.

I think that a reconstruction of Orpheus's lyre is beyond cool. However, I would like to hear some audio tracks to assess their instrument's quality. Ahem.

Aphrodite is possibly the most popular goddess among people who disbelieve in or reject the Gods in favor of a secondary religious philosophy. It comes as no surprise, then, that Aphrodite's Rock—the birthplace of the Cyprian Goddess—is being damaged by graffiti. The lovestruck individuals who make pilgrimages to the rock, without a sense of the place's sacredness, find it incredibly romantic to deface anything large enough to fit “Jack ♥ Sherry.”

Bejay Browne from the Internet edition of Cyprus Mail reports that “[p]eoples’ names, telephone numbers and capital cities, have been written in mainly, English, Greek, Russian and Sri Lankan and some are carved into the rock.”

Local residents dislike the irreverence tourists have for the site, and many want perpetrators to face large fines. Marios Georghiou, a Kouklia resident, suggests that a structure be put up to accommodate love messages.

This idea, if carried out properly, would probably function as a sneaky shrine, allowing hundreds—if not thousands—of monotheists to worship our Gods without knowing it. It would also provide an appropriate outlet for polytheists to revere Aphrodite.