Humanities
Nikos Panou, “Slaying the Dragon: Byzantine Survivals in the Greek War of Independence”
by ZoomThe lecture will focus on an aspect of the Greek War of Independence that calls for answers to questions as basic as they are elusive. What role did the Byzantine heritage play in conceptualizing, representing, or animating the struggle against the Ottoman Empire? What strands of Byzantium were foregrounded and through which mechanisms did they...
Anastassios Antonaras, Head of Exhibitions, Communication and Education Department, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki | “Documenting Diversity in Thessaloniki and Its Hinterlands: Three Archaeological Stories”
by ZoomThis lecture examines the diverse population that lived in Byzantine Thessaloniki and the surrounding area through three case studies: a young girl with African religious beliefs who lived in the late 3rd century, a Slavic lady of the late 8th century, and a group of archers from the 14th - 15th century who were trained...
Vassilis Lambrinoudakis, Professor Emeritus of Classical Archaeology at the University of Athens | “The Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidauros: New Finds Rewrite the Function and History of the Most Important Sanatorium in Antiquity”
by ZoomThe unexpected finds during recent excavations in the sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidauros shed new light on the origins, cult, and function of Asclepius, the main Divine Healer of the Graeco-Roman world. An amazing ground-floor building that features α peristyle and basement hewn into the rock was excavated at the Tholos, the famous classical circular...
Greek Book Club | Η νόσος του μικρού θεού, της Ευτυχίας Γιαννάκη
For more information on the book and the author, and to purchase the digital edition of the book, visit the publisher's webpage. For more information regarding our Center's Book Club, and to participate in the event, contact Dr. Simos Zenios (szenios@humnet.ucla.edu)
Stavros Vlizos, Associate Professor, Ionian University, and Vicky Vlachou, École française d’Athènes | “New Evidence on a Spartan Religious Center: The Sanctuary of Apollo Amyklaios at Sparta and the Current Research Project”
by ZoomThe Sanctuary of Apollon at Amyklai (Sparta) was inextricably associated in antiquity with the celebrated festival of the Hyakinthia. Ancient literary sources describe salient aspects of the festival and the cult that was centered around the tomb of the hero Hyakinthos and the altar of Apollo in two succeeding stages that never overlapped each other....
Maureen Connors Santelli, Associate Professor of History, Northern Virginia Community College | “The Grassroots Mobilization of American Philhellenism”
by ZoomPopular support for the Greek Revolution in the United States garnered national attention at a level unparalleled to any other international event in the early 19th century. Early Americans supported the Greek cause because they felt a strong, sympathetic tie with the ancient Greeks and because they had a long-standing distrust for the Muslim World....
Mara Verykokou, “1821: The Collectors’ Choice.’ An Exhibition Commemorating the Greek War of Independence from an Original Viewpoint.”
by ZoomBenaki Museum curator Mara Verykokou guides us through an exhibition that includes more than 300 objects related to the Revolution of 1821 and the movement of Philhellenism in Europe and America from four important private collections: Nikitas Stavrinakis and Evangelias Stavrinaki, Petros Vergos, Apostolos Argyriadis and Stéphan Adler. We shall be asked to decide whether...
Spyros Kizis, “PAPADOPOULOS 100: Exhibiting a Century of Greek Entrepreneurship and Taste.”
by Zoom2022 marks one hundred full years in operation for the biscuit and food manufacturing company E.J. PAPADOPOULOS S.A. Through the items of the Historical Archive of the PAPADOPOULOU Company—one of the most complete and best-organized archives of a Greek company—the Benaki Museum presents for the first time all the important aspects of the hundred-year history...
Takis Mavrotas, “Theofilos: ‘The Evzone of Painting'”
by ZoomThis lecture, co-sponsored by the Embassy of Greece, will be introduced by Her Excellency Alexandra Papadopoulou, Ambassador of Greece to the United States The acclaimed folk artist Theophilos represents the tradition of Greece and its people. Born in ca. 1870 in a village close to Mytilene, his father was a cobbler while his mother, Penelope...
Evangelia Balta, “Karamanlides: Rum Orthodox Turkish-Speaking Anatolians before and after the Population Exchange (1923)”
Opening remarks by Her Excellency Alexandra Papadopoulou, Ambassador of Greece to the United States. This lecture focuses on the language, social history, and culture of the Rum Orthodox population that lived in Asia Minor and the urban centers of the Ottoman Empire. Among these were Orthodox Christians who spoke Turkish as their native language. Like...
Maria Pantelia, “Preserving Greek Literature from Homer to Solomos”
Opening remarks by Her Excellency Alexandra Papadopoulou, Ambassador of Greece to the United States. For almost three millennia Greek literature has been preserved in a variety of different media, encompassing inscriptions on stone, papyrus rolls, medieval manuscripts, and, most recently, digital formats. It is a checkered history. Natural disasters, accidents, wars, political and religious upheavals...
Makriyannis Unplugged – Adapted, Directed and Performed by Yorgos Karamihos
Freud Playhouse 245 Charles E Young Dr E., Los Angeles, CA, United StatesCelebrated director and actor Yorgos Karamihos pays tribute to General Yannis Makriyannis, the hero of the 1821 Greek Revolution, in a show that tells the story of a nation in revolt and an individual in the process of self-formation. Adapting selected passages of Makriyannis’ Memoirs, a seminal work of Modern Greek letters, Makriyannis Unplugged renders...