The exhibition “Chaeronea, August 2, 338 BC: A Day That Changed the World,” presented by the Museum of Cycladic Art in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, has been extended until April 23 due to high demand from the public.
According to the organizers, the exhibition ingeniously approaches one of the most significant historical events of Greek antiquity, the Battle of Chaeronea, which brought Alexander the Great onto the political stage and laid the foundations for the creation of the modern world.
Through 240 artifacts, the exhibition unfolds the significance of the Battle of Chaeronea in the transition from the classical to the Hellenistic period, an era during which Greek civilization would dominate for centuries and lay the groundwork for what we now call the Western world. It was the battle that pitted the army of Macedonia led by Philip II against that of the allied Greek cities of southern Greece—primarily the Sacred Band of Thebes and the army of Athens—bringing the eighteen-year-old Alexander to the forefront of history, who would later conquer the world with his great campaign in Asia.
In addition to the two conflicting worlds, the exhibition presents the burial practices of the two armies, at the Polyandrian of the 254 Theban Sacred Band with the Monument of the Lion of Chaeronea and at the Tomb of the Macedonians. Special emphasis is given to the archaeological excavation of the battle, showcasing the work of two pioneers of Greek archaeology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Panagiotis Stamatakis and Georgios Soteriadis.
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Visitors to the exhibition can listen to unique narrations about the exhibits through a bilingual audio guide available on the “Museum of Cycladic Art Guide” app on the Apple Store and Google Play. Before or after their visit, they can also listen to the eponymous podcast where the scientific director of the Museum and co-curator of the exhibition, Dr. Panagiotis Iossif, converses with Dr. Evie Papadopoulou, curator of prehistoric antiquities at the Museum, about the significance of the Battle of Chaeronea in antiquity and its enduring impact even today.
