Ancient Greek treasure to be exhibited in Seoul

Hundreds of artifacts from Greece, “the land of gods,” will be exhibited in Korea for the first time. As part of cultural exchange efforts by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, a special exhibition titled, “The Greeks: Agamemnon to Alexander the Great” will be held from June 5 at the Hangaram Art Museum at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul.

As many as 350 ancient artifacts have been sent from 24 museums throughout Greece for this exhibition. This is the first time that Greek artifacts owned by Greek museums are sent to Korea for an exhibition. Those artifacts include potteries, metal pieces, ornaments, gold, silver and ivory from the New Stone Age to the golden age of Greek culture.

What are interesting among them are the artifacts about Greek mythology written by Greek poet Homer. The head of Homer along with the sculptures of the Olympian gods in Homer’s mythology will be displayed at the exhibition. An amphora, a two-handled pot, which is known to have been presented to the winners of the Ancient Greek Olympics with olive oil inside it, will be exhibited as well.

Other artifacts that catch the eye of the audience include gold coronet and earrings made during the reign of Philip II, who is the father of Alexander the Great and led the golden age of Greece, as well as the sculpture of Alexander the Great. The exhibition will be open until September 15.


Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com