If you have traced your ancestry back thousands of years to Alexander the Great and Ancient Greece — or not — the new exhibition at the Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal’s Museum of Archaeology and History, is bound to interest genealogists and many others.
More than 500 priceless artifacts from 21 Greek museums, including many pieces never before displayed outside Greece, will be brought together at the world première of the exhibition, The Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Great, that will open at the Pointe-à-Callière December 12 and run until April 26, 2015.
This exhibit is the most vast and comprehensive on Ancient Greece ever presented in North America.
To facilitate the production of an exhibition of this breadth, a consortium of North American museums was created. In addition to Pointe-à-Callière, the consortium includes Canadian Museum of History, The Field Museum in Chicago and the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC. The Canadian Museum of History will oversee direction of the consortium, as well as work on production of the exhibition in association with the Directorate General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The museum’s website tells us what to expect: “The journey begins around 6000 BCE, revealing the deep roots of Greek culture. It ends in the days of Alexander the Great (356 to 323 BCE), whose military conquests created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Along the way, visitors will meet the legendary King Agamemnon, leader of the united Greek forces in the Trojan War (12th century BCE) and one of the great heroes of Greek mythology. They will also learn about numerous milestones in Greek and human history: the birth of democracy, philosophy, theatre and the arts, science and medicine. They will see how the first democracy functioned and discover the tools that made it possible.”
In addition to guided tours, lectures and concerts are among the related activities scheduled to take place.
Want to make a day of it? Then, consider dining at the museum’s restaurant where the chef will be serving Greek dishes.
To read more about this exhibition, visit the Pointe-à-Callière museum website.
