Natural gas network dig under the Acropolis stumbles on ancient marble statue

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Work to lay natural gas pipelines near the foot of the Acropolis has uncovered an ancient marble statue of a young man buried almost upright in a brick-lined pit. Greece’s Culture Ministry says in a statement that the nude statue resembles ancient representations of messenger of the Greek gods Hermes and may have decorated the townhouse of a wealthy Roman-era Athenian. The ministry suggested it could be a Roman-era copy of a fifth century B.C. original.