▲ The images found in the House of Phaedra refer to the stepmother of Hippolytus, son of Theseus, murderer of the Minotaur, and the Amazonian queen Antiope. According to the story, Phaedra falls in love with her stepson, who rejects her; In revenge, she accuses the young man of trying to rape her, so Theseus condemns him to death and she commits suicide shortly after.Photo taken from the site of the Pompeii archaeological park
Rome. Archaeologists in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii discovered a house of unusual size, richly decorated with finely preserved frescoes of mythological scenes, the archaeological park of that town reported in a statement.
The house, called the House of Phaedra in honor of the mythological queen of Athens who appears in one of her wall paintings, sheds light on the changes in architectural styles of the 1st century AD, the site reported.
Unlike many of the houses excavated at the site, it was not built around the traditional Roman atrium, an open space with a pond to collect rainwater.
Despite its small size, the house attracts attention due to the high level of its wall decorations
noted the statement from the archaeological site, and noted that they were of similar quality to much larger and more opulent houses found in the center of the site, near the new discovery.
City submerged in the ashes of Vesuvius
The once prosperous city of Pompeii and its surroundings in southern Italy were submerged by volcanic ash after the explosion of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The eruption killed thousands of Romans who did not know they lived in the shadow of one of the largest volcanoes in Europe. He buried the city in a thick layer of ash, so many of its inhabitants and buildings were preserved.
In addition to the fresco of Phaedra and Hippolytus (he spurned her love), other mythological scenes that adorn the brightly colored walls of the house include a sexual encounter between a satyr and a nymph, as well as gods who, according to the ancient site , could correspond to Venus and Adonis.
The property is also adorned with numerous smaller, but detailed and beautifully preserved motifs and scenes of nature.