This small museum has a handful of superlative pieces that you'll want to take in, including the fragment of a 7th-century-B.C. clay krater (vessel) showing a determined Ulysses blinding the one-eyed Cyclops Polyphemus. Nearby are a handsome lyre made from a tortoise shell, and a stunning late geometric bronze helmet and suit of body armor. Downstairs, in the Lerna Room, the tiny, stout Neolithic clay figure of a woman or goddess found at Lerna is one of the oldest known sculptural representations of the human body yet found in Europe. Nearby is a handsome pitcher in the shape of a bird with its head thrown back in song -- and ornamental breasts on its breast.
Outside, in the museum's shady courtyard, are some terrific Roman mosaics showing the god Dionysos and the seasons. The figures in the mosaics are bundled up in cloaks and heavy leggings in the cold months, and casually dressed in light tunics and filmy cloaks in the summer months.
If you visit the museum (which has a welcome icy-cold water fountain and clean toilets) on Wednesday or Saturday morning, don't miss the street market that runs for several blocks to your left as you leave. This is the place to get anything from water glasses, baseball caps, and farm implements to live chickens and every possible seasonal fruit and flower. If you're here on a nonmarket day and need supplies, there's a large supermarket just off the main square.
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