“The Greeks—Agamemnon to Alexander the Great” draws from the collections of 21 museums throughout Greece, making it the largest exhibition of its kind to tour North America in 25 years. Spanning 5,000 years of Greek history and culture, the exhibition presents stories of individuals from its origins in Neolithic villages through its expansion during the conquests of Alexander the Great.
“The Greeks” is making the first of two U.S. stops at The Field, and its appearance is the result of a first-of-its-kind partnership between The Field Museum and co-presenter, the National Hellenic Museum. In addition to The Greeks at The Field Museum, the National Hellenic Museum will host related programming and exhibitions in its Greektown home.
An exhibition developed by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs (Athens, Greece), The Field Museum (Chicago, USA), the National Geographic Museum (Washington, DC, USA), Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex (Montréal, Canada), and the Canadian Museum of History (Gatineau, Canada). The Greeks is co-presented in Chicago by The Field Museum and National Hellenic Museum, and made possible by the generous contribution of The John P. Calamos Foundation and John P. Calamos, Sr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Hellenic Museum. Transportation provided by PACART.
“We are honored to be able to present such an important exhibition that shows the emergence of Greek culture from its roots in early agricultural villages of the Neolithic to the imperial expansion of Alexander,” says Field Museum Curator William Parkinson. “This exhibition is not your typical art historical display of vases and statues; it really gives the visitor an opportunity to see the evolution not only of art, but also of Greek culture, politics, and economics over the long-term.”
The exhibition contains more than 500 magnificent artifacts, many of which have never been displayed outside of Greece. Show-stopping examples include enigmatic stone figurines from the Cycladic Islands, gold funerary masks from Bronze Age tombs, classical marble statues of Greek poets, athletes, and heroes, and brightly painted ceramic vases featuring scenes from Greek mythology and daily life.
But the objects tell only part of the story. The exhibition is presented largely through the lens of the ancient Greeks themselves. Some are recognizable today—Homer, Agamemnon, Pericles, Philip II and Alexander—their achievements recorded in epic poems, historical writings, and mythological stories. But many of the people featured in the exhibition remain unnamed and known to us only through the archaeological record: a priestess of Mycenae, a warrior of the Iron Age, two noble women of the Archaic period, and an athlete of the Classical era. The objects buried with these individuals provide insights into their lives and the roles they played within their respective families and societies.
Woven throughout The Greeks are the inventions, innovations, and institutions that provide the foundation for much of Western culture. Scholars today trace the origins of modern democracy, the Olympic movement, and Western philosophy, poetry, and theater back to Greece. Even The Field Museum’s architectural style owes a debt to the mathematicians, builders, and sculptors of ancient Greece who first devised the system of Classical architecture that was handed down to us from antiquity via successive generations of architects, from Phidias to Daniel Burnham.
Another legacy of the ancient Greeks is their language, which lives on in the 13 million people who speak Modern Greek as their primary tongue. Ancient Greek provided the roots of many English words, including the word “museum,” which is derived from the Greek mouseion or “seat of the Muses.”
So find your muse at The Field Museum and visit The Greeks during its Chicago run from November 25, 2015 through April 10, 2016. Be inspired by the cultural achievements of ancient Greece, a legacy that influences our lives every day.
Tickets to The Greeks—Agamemnon to Alexander the Great are included in All-Access and Discovery Passes. Special discounts are available for Chicago residents.
