The Fred Winter Collection

Lakonia, Kyparissos, the little chapel of Ayois Charalambos (Professor Fred Winter, 1982)

Body Politics in Archaic Greece

Many western countries are now facing an epidemic of obesity in all age, gender and socio-economic groups. The causes behind this disturbing phenomenon are diverse. How individuals in the society react to their own weight issues as well as to those who appear “overweight”, if not obese, runs the gauntlet from very positive to very negative. In our era of “political correctness” and the general acceptance of a wider range of personal choices, a neutral discussion of “fatness” seems impossible. As often is the case, the consensus of each society is that their particular situation is unique in human history. Well, then are we the first to grapple with the issue of fatness?

On Wednesday, November 1^st Professor Emily K. Varto (Department of Classics, Dalhousie University) is going to dispel our cultural chauvinism on this topic in her lecture entitled "The Politics of Fatness in Archaic Greece".

Prof. Varto’s lecture will explore how modern narratives that imbue fatness with personal and communal ethical significance compare to ancient narratives of fatness, particularly in archaic Greece politics. Through examining art and poetry, she will explore how fatness was not exactly a marker of elite status, but was a metaphor of the abuse of status with economic, social, and moral consequences for family, community, and state. Although elitism was central to the significance of fatness in archaic Greece, so were ideas about uncontrollable appetite, lack of restraint, and communal harm familiar to us from modern narratives about obesity and socio-economic class.

The lecture will be held in the Library of the Institute starting at 7:30 PM. It will be live-streamed as well.

No matter what your body type may be you are most welcome to attend and learn more about the antithesis of arête in archaic Greece!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

Herakleia, arched secondary gate (Professor Fred Winter, 1982)

World War II and the devastation of the cultural heritage of Crete

The harsh occupation of Greece during the Second World War by German and Italian forces and the atrocities inflicted on its inhabitants are well known. What is less well documented are the contemporaneous assaults on the cultural heritage of the country. This latter phenomenon is a topic that has received very limited attention by researchers. The archaeologist Giorgos Tzorakis (doctoral candidate at the University of Crete) has investigated this broad topic in the context of what happened on Crete between 1942 and 1944. In his lecture on Monday evening, October 23^rd, entitled «"Εν μέσω της μενομένης καταιγίδος...". Οι αρχαιότητες της Κρήτης στη δίνη του μεγάλου πολέμου (1941-1944)», he will share his findings on this dark period on “To Megalonisi”.

The destruction of the antiquities on Crete were documented in summary fashion at the time by the then Ephor of Antiquities and Director of the Herakleion Museum, Nikolas Platon. The extent of the violence against this rich cultural heritage by both German and Italian soldiers and officers is palpable and was fully confirmed after the war. It included the pillaging of private and public archaeological collections, the damaging or the obliteration of archaeological sites and monuments as well as numerous unsupervised “archaeological excavations” throughout the island. Such a short period of opportunity, but so much damage.

This lecture is the first in the 2017/2018 Lecture Program of the Syllogos Filon tou Istorikou Archeiou tis Archaiologikis Yperesias. It will be held in the Library of the Canadian Institute in Greece starting at 7 PM on the 23^rd. The public is most welcome to attend.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

Herakleia, Joan, village kids and flowers in front of school (Professor Fred Winter, 1982)

Imagining the Virgin Mary in Late-Antique and Early Medieval Egyptian Christianity

One of the many areas of research that the members of the Institute have focused on over the past 40 years is Byzantine art, monasticism and culture. The Institute Lecture this coming Wednesday, October 18^th by Prof. Sabrina Higgins (Assistant Professor, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies, Simon Fraser University) will expand this horizon to include Egypt from the 3^rd to 11^th centuries CE. The intriguing title of her lecture is “Imagining the Virgin: The Intersection of Space, Monumentality and Marian Iconography in Late Antique and Early Medieval Egypt (Third to Eleventh Centuries)”.

Prof. Higgins’ lecture will contextualize the iconography of the Virgin Mary within the framework of Late-Antique and Early Medieval Egyptian Christianity. It will situate the creation of a visual culture associated with the Virgin within its historical parameters, particularly highlighting the relatively late appearance of Marian imagery on the chronological axis of Christian Art, and will examine the unique spatial considerations for the placement of these images. In doing so, the lecture will trace the diachronic appearance of particular Marian iconographies, while also interrogating whether particular images were localized to specific areas within ecclesiastical and monastic settings.

The lecture, the first in our Fall 2017 Lecture Program, will be held in the Institute’s Library at 7:30 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

The Fred Winter Collection

Miletos, foundations of Roman Agora Gate (reconstructed in Pergamon Museum in Berlin) (Professor Fred Winter, 1982)

The Fred Winter Collection

Didyma view of temple from SE (Professor Fred Winter, 1982)