GODS, MYTHS & MORTALS: GREEK TREASURES ACROSS THE MILLENNIA
Past exhibition, 2014—November 2024
Now closed after a remarkable ten years, Gods, Myths & Mortals brought 8,000 years of Greek civilisation to Melbourne, with each time period celebrating the continuity and transformation which have shaped the Greek world. Carefully curated objects trace the development of tools and technologies to the expansion of trade; the role of myth as a means to understand the known world, to the shift towards monotheism; and the maintenance of identity during foreign rule and the emergence of the Greek state.
All treasures were on loan from the renowned Benaki Museum in Athens as part of an ongoing collaboration, and was a long-term exhibition at the Hellenic Museum until late 2024.
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ABOUT THE COLLECTION
The Gods, Myths & Mortals collection included Neolithic pottery, Cycladic statues, Minoan figurines, Mycenaean jewellery, Hellenistic sculptures, Byzantine icons and manuscripts, Post Byzantine secular art and costumes, and Neo-Hellenic art and weaponry, including ornate swords and pistols belonging to Greek revolutionary heroes Kolokotronis and Mavromichalis.
These objects showcased developments through history when dynasties reigned, kings conquered, and cities fell. By exploring the cultures and technologies of the past, visitors could discover the changing face of the Greek world while making unexpected connections between times and cultures.
ABOUT THE COLLABORATION
In 2013 the Hellenic Museum announced its partnership with the world-renowned Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece, to further establish dialogue between contemporary Melbourne and ancient cultures, and explore Australia's diverse cultural identity and makeup.
Gods, Myths & Mortals was the first long-term collection from the Benaki Museum to call the Hellenic Museum home.
This collection and others that followed – including The Art of Adornment: Greek Jewellery of the 17th to 19th Centuries and Against the Ruins: Photographs by Nelly's – allowed visitors to experience the multiplicity of histories that inform the makeup of Greek society today.
