Thursday is open night at the Museum of Cycladic Art, with several noted exhibitions on display.

From 21:00 until midnight, visitors can attend the exhibitions of ” BEYOND. Death and Afterlife in Ancient Greece” and “Hygieia. Health, Illness, Treatment from Homer to Galen”.

The details of the exhibitions are as follows:

” BEYOND. Death and Afterlife in Ancient Greece”

Through the 120 objects from 21 Greek and international museums emerges one of the most important issues that puzzled and continues to concern humans; the fate of the immortal soul after the death of the mortal body. The descriptions in the Homeric epics of the underworld as they were depicted on ancient works of different periods is the starting point of this exhibition.
As epilogue, the Platonic concepts –which mark the shift of perceptions on the divine element– both as development and in contrast to the Homeric beliefs. The show will be divided into 5 thematic sections: The moment of death, Burial Customs, Homeric Hades, Bacchic-Orphic Hades and Platonic Hades.

In collaboration with:  the Onassis Foundation (USA) and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports.

Curated by:
Prof. Nicholas Chr. Stampolidis
Director of the Museum of Cycladic Art,

Dr Stavroula Ekonomou
Curator of Antiquities, Museum of Cycladic Art

Guided Tours (in Greek) / Saturday & Sunday: 11.30, 14.00, 15.00
(with the museum ticket, MCA FRIENDS: admission free)

” Hygieia. Health, Illness, Treatment from Homer to Galen”

From the dawn of its existence, humanity has strived to improve all aspects of living conditions. Achieving and maintaining good health, seeking to understand the causes of diseases and, mainly, searching for solutions to fight and treat illnesses have been a primary concern and interest throughout all periods of civilization.

The Museum of Cycladic Art presents the major archaeological exhibition Hygieia: Health, Illness and Treatment from Homer to Galen, focusing on the universal subject of Health, providing an overview of the evolution of ancient medical practices: the transition from magico-religious healing practices to rational, scientific medicine. The exhibition presents approximately 282 artifacts from 41 European museums, including the Louvre, the British Museum, the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, the Musei Capitolini.

The exhibition presents 3 main subjects: Health, Illness, and Treatment, and covers the era from 1200 B.C. to the 3rd c. A.D. Our earliest literary sources for the history of Greek medicine are the epic works of Homer which clearly reveal that the Greeks of the Heroic Age linked sickness and disease with the supernatural, regarding them as manifestations of the wrath of the gods. To appease the gods, they employed prayers, purifications, animal sacrifices etc. Even the idea of health (Hygieia) was personified as a youthful goddess usually accompanied by a snake, the symbol of therapy.

By the late 6th century BC, however, philosophy came to exercise a powerful influence upon the development of medicine. Hippocrates and the classical Greeks were the first to evolve rational systems of medicine free from magical and religious elements, realizing that maintaining good health and fighting disease depend on natural causes.

The exhibition is the second part of the trilogy

EROS – HYGIEIA – BEYOND

Curated by:

Prof. Nicholas Chr. Stampolidis, Director of the Museum of Cycladic Art

Yorgos Tassoulas, Curator of Antiquities, Museum of Cycladic Art