The exhibition “Beyond: Death and afterlife in Ancient Greece” is the third in the trilogy of archeological shows organised by the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens which focus on panhuman subjects. The trilogy started with the exhibition “Eros” in 2009 and was followed by “Hygieia: Health, Illness and Treatment from Homer to Galen” in November 2014.
Through the 120 objects from 21 Greek and international museums shown in “Beyond: Death and afterlife in Ancient Greece”, 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.
The exhibition is curated by: Prof. Nicholas Chr. Stampolidis, Director of the Museum of Cycladic Art, and Dr Stavroula Ekonomou, Curator of Antiquities, Museum of Cycladic Art