The age-old figures of Herakles, Odysseus, Achilles and Helen continue to fire the popular imagination today—and so does the concept of heroes, which began with the stories and images of these and other fabled Greek characters.
Yet the very word “hero” has a different meaning in our society than it did in an ancient Greek world that seemed, to its people, to be alive with Greek heroes and heroines. To provide a better understanding of the lives, fates and meanings of the first heroes and heroines, to explore the inherent human need for heroes and to give audiences an opportunity to measure their own ideas of heroes against the ideas represented by a wealth of extraordinary Classical Greek artworks, the Onassis Cultural Center in Midtown Manhattan hosts the exhibition Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece, on view from October 5, 2010 to January 3, 2011. Admission is free. The exhibition has been organized by the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, in cooperation with the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, the San Diego Museum of Art and the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA).
Heroes brings together more than ninety exceptional artworks focusing on the Archaic, Classical and the Hellenistic period (6th – 1st century BC), drawn from collections in the United States and Europe. Through these objects, which range from large-scale architectural sculptures to beautifully decorated pottery and miniature carved gemstones, the exhibition shows how the ancient Greek heroes were understood and how they served as role-models. It also explores this human need for heroes as role models through the arts of one of the oldest and most influential civilizations in history.
“People today think of the Greek heroes and heroines as great fictional characters invented by poets and storytellers,” stated Ambassador Loucas Tsilas, Executive Director of the Onassis Foundation (USA). “But to the ancient Greeks, these were real men and women who had lived, died and then somehow transcended death.”
The exhibition was officially inaugurated by Paul Geroulanos, Greek Deputy Minister of Culture, and Archbishop Demetrios of America. A lavish ceremony followed, in which mortal if not heroic dignitaries from the US and Greece attended and had the privilege of viewing the collection before anyone else.
The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) and the Onassis Cultural Center are located in Olympic Tower in the heart of midtown Manhattan, at 645 Fifth Avenue, entrances on 51st and 52nd Streets, between Madison and Fifth Avenues. Subway: #6 train to 51st Street and Lexington Avenue; the E or the V train to 5th Avenue / 53rd Street; or the B,D,F or V trains to 47-50 Street-Rockefeller Center (at 6th Avenue).
