Back to the Roots of Alexander the Great

Conferenza martedì a Istanbul (in inglese), alle ore 18 al consolato greco che funge anche da istituto di cultura:  in cui verrà enfatizzata la “grecità” di Alessandro (che dalle mie parti chiamano Iskender), non a caso in parallelo con l’apertura di una mostra al Louvre – di cui parlerò in altra sede  - dall’analoga interpretazione (la risposta alle recenti iniziative di appropriazione simbolica della figura di Alessandro da parte della Macedonia)

“Back to the Roots of Alexander the Great”. A talk on the transition from the isolation of a peripheral Greek tribe to the Oecumene of Alexander the Great.

Dr. Angeliki Kottaridi, Director of the Museum of the Royal Tombs in Aigai (Vergina), invites us to a journey ‘Back to the roots of Alexander the Great’, on Tuesday, 4th October 2011, at 6 p.m., at the Sismanoglio Megaro.

Alexander the Great stands among the most famous figures in world history; yet little is known about the traditions and the political, cultural and ideological background which shaped this unique man who changed the route of this world. Over the last years, the excavations in Macedonia, mainly in Aigai, the ancient capital of the Macedonian Kingdom, and their astounding findings have shed light in a most impressive way on historical developments leading us ‘Back to the Roots of Alexander the Great’. Isolated in their economic self-sufficiency, the Macedonians, like the other peripheral Greek tribes, remained far from the economic, social and political developments in the south and, down to the 4th century B.C., they preserved institutions, customs and traditions typical of the Homeric society. Scions of Heracles, blood descendants of Zeus himself, the Macedonian kings continued the tradition of the “Zeus-born, Zeus-nurtured” kings of the Homeric poems. Towards the end of the 5th c. B.C. and while the Athenian democracy would enter a period of turbulence, the Macedonian King Archelaos was distinguished as the greatest patron of the arts and literature. From that time on, the Macedonian court would preserve close ties with artists, intellectuals, and philosophers, mainly Plato, and would render itself a fertile ground for “enlightened sovereignty” to flourish. During the reign of King Philip II (359-336 A.D.), this tendency would reach its peak and Macedonia would rise as the main centre for the promotion of Greek culture, the equivalent to Athens during Pericles’ Golden Era. Having been born and nurtured in such an environment, Alexander the Great would spread the Greek culture all over the world. Having conducted excavations for many years and having written numerous books, Dr. Angeliki Kottaridi, Director of the Museum of the Royal Tombs in Aigai, will present unpublished findings that compose the world of the Kingdom of Macedons; from the economic self-sufficiency and isolation of a peripheral Greek tribe to the Oecumene of Alexander the Great.