Ancient Greek Emotions Exhibition at Onassis Center Reveals Complex Cultural Psychology
From March 9 to June 24, 2017, the Onassis Cultural Center in New York presented 'A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD.' Situated at Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Avenue, the exhibition featured items that conveyed human emotions, such as pottery, marble sculptures, lead curse tablets, and coins. It explored feelings like erotic desire, sorrow, and the fervor of battle. Key depictions included scenes of Achilles striking Ajax, Ajax’s tragic end, and the actions of Medea. The exhibition connected these artifacts to Greek philosophical discussions on emotion, citing thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, and Euripides, and examined the conflict between emotional expression and moral evaluation in Greek society.
Key facts
- Exhibition titled 'A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD'
- Held at Onassis Cultural Center, Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Avenue at 51st Street, New York City
- Dates: March 9 to June 24, 2017
- Featured artifacts: pottery, marble statuary, lead curse tablets, gold funeral masks, ostraka, coins, inscriptions
- Explored emotions through mythological figures: Medea, Achilles, Ajax, Ganymede, Iphigenia, Gorgons
- Referenced philosophical works: Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Rhetoric and ethics, Thucydides' history
- Connected visual artifacts with Greek literary and philosophical analysis of emotions
- Challenged stereotype of Greek art as emotionally cool and distant
Entities
Artists
- Nickolas Pappas
- Plato
- Aristotle
- Thucydides
- Euripides
Institutions
- Onassis Cultural Center
- City University of New York
- Routledge
Locations
- New York City
- United States
- Dodona