Before leaving for the US today, yesterday I found a few minutes to see the artifacts from Selinunte, Europe’s largest archeological park in southwestern Sicily, at the ever-under-renovation Salinas Archeological Museum in Palermo. I was thrilled to see the metopes from the temples, like this one pictured from Temple C.

Dated to be from c. 540-510 B.C.E., this scene, carved into limestone, shows Perseus beheading Medusa with Athena watching. Meanwhile, the gorgon Medusa holds Pegasus in her arms. After having seen the temples in person at the site, finally seeing the artifacts in person made Selinunte come to life in a new way.