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New excavation

A gem with the image of Zeus enthroned with the eagle and the scepter: emerged during the excavation conducted by the School of Specialization in Archeology of the University of Salerno and the Orientale of Naples, directed by Fausto Longo, working in an almost unexplored area of the city.

The spa system that is taking shape on the construction site shows the collapse of the walls with all the blocks still lying on the ground, including the columns of the courtyard with the refined "opus spicatum" (herringbone) floor and colored marble inserts. Here and there red pigments can be glimpsed, announcing the presence of decorations testifying to the importance of the building. Very popular as attested by the other artefacts found, such as the splendid amethyst scarab, belonging to a ring, «among the objects, such as money, which were most easily lost in the baths», smiles Longo, while showing the bronze coin, well preserved , with the effigy of Marcus Aurelius Probus, one of eleven, from various eras, found within this 700 meter area, the largest ever excavated in Paestum,

And if the coin with the emperor confirms that the baths - public but probably managed by a private individual - were used until the 3rd century AD. C., the collapsed walls suggest an earthquake. The terrible one of 346 AD. C. that hit Campania? It could, but explains Luigi Petti of the civil engineering department of the University of Salerno, who is also monitoring the Paestan sanctuaries, «there may have been more than one earthquake, since Paestum is just twenty kilometers from the Conza Apennine fault; the temples, however, resisted well."

Not the baths, overlooking the Porta Marina-Porta Sirena road axis, the main one in the city: they were never rebuilt, like other neighboring buildings. Paestum is experiencing its agony, it has become impoverished, the water systems are deteriorating due to lack of maintenance , the land becomes marshy due to the flooding of the Salso river, the reuse of furnishings and materials begins, the marble reduced to lime, the molten bronze. 

temple of Peace

The last blow to Paestum agony , the proof is a Norman coin, will be inflicted by Robert Guiscard, taking away a large part of the building elements to build the cathedral of Salerno, as evidenced by the columns of the temple of Pomona taken from the temple of Peace where the university of Bochum is working. «Here too we had interesting surprises», warns D'Angelo, «including a floor plan that certifies the transformation of the city from Greek-Lucanian to Roman».

Reopening of the archaeological museum

 the reopening is imminent and that tours of the walls are being considered

Visitors

Italian and foreign visitors, French, Americans, Germans have increased, an increasingly attentive and aware tourism is choosing the park.

Has the Mystery of the Ancient Greek Paestum Swimmer been Solved?

A German archeologist has allegedly solved the mystery of the ancient Greek Paestum swimmer. The debate has endured for years about the possible interpretations of the fresco. Yet Tonio Höschler, a Professor Emeritus of Classical Archeology at the Ruprecht University Karl of Heidelberg, has perhaps found the simplest and most probable of all meanings.

The Swimmer of Paestum is Hölscher’s attempt to address questions surrounding the fresco portraying the naked diver by disassociating it from interpretations involving symbolism. What he did in his work instead was propose something equally breathtaking in its simplicity; namely, that the scene depicts one that was real once upon a time.

“Young people were seen as the hope of society…in the universe of Ancient Greece, beauty was not only a physical trait, but also a spiritual and ethical one” Höschler explained in relation to his work. “The healthy and strong body is beautiful and an instrument of human excellence.”

It is this context then that the specialist in the Greek and Roman monuments and scholar in Greek mythological imagery and city-planning interpreted the work.

Previous scholars, for example,  have focused on metaphorical interpretations that linked the ancient tuffatore – a person who dives – to Pythagorean tradition, Orphics about the Beyond, salvationist ideas and metempsychosis. Others look upon it as an existential symbol of the leap from life to death or the Ancient Greek ordeal self-punishment through suicide. There has even been arguments that the boy was Etruscan rather than Greek.

Still, the uncertainty did taken away from the tomb’s magic. The filmmaker Claude Lanzmann wrote an impassioned essay about it after visiting with Simone de Beauvoir and Satre. The ‘dive plunger’ he called him, declaring “I would never have imagined being touched in the middle of the heart, upset in the depths of myself, as I was the day it appeared to me, perfect arc, as if it were endlessly plunging into the space between life and death.”

Italian archeologist Marco Napoli discovered the tomb of the swimmer of Paestum  in 1968 in Salerno in Italy’s southern province.  There was no indication of whose tomb it was as there were no inscriptions. Furthermore, only inconsequential objects such as a remnant of a lyre and a small tortoise shell were found. The bones had evidently disintegrated long before, making it impossible to analyse any remains.

The handsomeness of the tomb was undisputed, nonetheless. Five large stone slabs housed the almost barren space. On them, however, were sensuous scenes of a banquet, male couples, and a symposium. Yet the one on the ceiling was the most astounding and astonishing of all. A large, stunning fresco of a naked young man soaring from a cliff into an empty space.

“The common opinion – until now – was that the young man didn’t simply jump into the sea, but made a transition from life to death. The sea was eternity” the German scholar states. “There was a general consensus surrounding the interpretation.”

Höschler however is confident about his own understanding of the figure. Namely, that “this image was simply depicting a jump has taken time to gain ground, but slowly has convinced more scholars.”

The reason, it seems, is because many academics seem to believe that Ancient Greeks feared the sea. However, that is an idea that the Professor of Classical Archeology also renounces. In his opinion, swimming was also part of Ancient Greek life.

“It was a very intense relationship, there was fear and fascination…but the Greeks swam and liked to do so. In fact, there is a Greek proverb that equates not knowing how to swim with not knowing how to read.”

Another assertion Tonio Höschler makes is that the scene depicts an ancient rite of passage. In his words: “The jump portrays a young man – in transition to adulthood – demonstrating his athletic ability and courage by lounging himself into the water”

“The dive,” he further asserts “is therefore part of a rite of passage…but it’s not a metaphor.”  The Professor Emeritus stresses the diver’s tan skin and his technique as proof. He also describes the sensuality and beauty of the scene and its projection of fundamental harmony.

Whether other academics will agree with the scholar is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, it does offer a new perspective on who the young man was and why we still find him so intriguing. It is for that reason as well that it is one of the most important Ancient Greek archeological sites.