Field Museum Announces New Exhibition Highlighting Ancient Greece
The Field Museum announced today that it will open The Greeks: From Agamemnon to Alexander the Great in November of 2015. The exhibition will take visitors on an extraordinary journey through more than 5000 years of Greek culture—from their Neolithic origins to the expansion of Greek culture into Asia and Africa under Alexander the Great. Drawing from the collections of 21 Greek museums, it will be the largest exhibition on the ancient Greeks in North America in 25 years.
The exhibition’s only stop in the Midwest is in Chicago and its appearance is the result of a partnership between The Field Museum and the National Hellenic Museum. In addition to The Greeks at The Field Museum, the National Hellenic Museum also will host related programs in its Greektown home.
The Greeks (November 26, 2015-April 10, 2016) contains more than 500 magnificent ancient artifacts, many of which have never been seen outside of Greece. The artifacts in the show include iconic objects from the tombs of the Bronze Age rulers of Mycenae and the earliest aristocrats of Archaic and Classical city states. Also included are astonishing finds from the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Visitors to the exhibition will get a glimpse into the individual lives of the Ancient Greeks including Minoan and Mycenaean rulers and priestesses, aristocratic warriors and ladies of Archaic Greece, athletes of classical Athens, and Philip II.
“We are honored to be able to present such an important exhibition that shows the emergence of Greek culture from its roots in the 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 pretty vases and statues; it really gives the visitor an opportunity to see the evolution not only art, but also of Greek culture, politics, and economics over the long-term.”
Presented in chronological order, the exhibition begins with the Neolithic Period, around 6000 BC, and continues until the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, marking the end of the Classical period. Highlights of the exhibition include artifacts from the tombs of the first rulers of Mycenae, many of which never have traveled outside of Greece, a burial that depicts the ritual of burial and sacrifice in a funeral pyre described by Homer in the Iliad, a replicated Illyrian warrior helmet that visitors may try on, grave goods from the tomb of Philip II, and inscribed pieces of pottery (ostraka) that were used to ostracize even the most powerful leaders of Classical Greek society.
Tickets to The Greeks: From Agamememnon to Alexander the Great will be included in both Discovery and All Access passes to the Museum. Special discounts available for Chicago residents.
The Greeks is organized by the Canadian Museum of History and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports in partnership with National Geographic Society and The Field Museum. The exhibition is co-presented in Chicago by The Field Museum and the National Hellenic Museum. The exhibition is developed by the Hellenic Republic – Ministry of Culture and Sports – Directorate General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage (Athens, Greece), The Field Museum (Chicago, USA), the Canadian Museum of History (Gatineau, Canada), the National Geographic Museum (Washington, DC, USA) and Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archeology and History Complex (Montréal, Canada).
The Field Museum gratefully acknowledges the support of the Chicago Park District on behalf of the people of Chicago.