A Greek archaeologist will be coming to Australia to speak on the theatre and sanctuary of Dionysos, on the south side slope of the Athenian Acropolis.
Dr Christina Papastamati-von Moock, on behalf the Greek Ministry of Culture and sponsored by the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, will present a lecture in Greek on her recent research of the cult site of Dionysos. She will evaluate what role it had in the development of Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes and Menander and how their work impacted modern western culture.
The theatre and the sanctuary was one of the most important cultural centres in the ancient world. The theatre was dedicated to Dionysos who was a popular god with all the different classes in Ancient Athens. Professor Peter Wilson, William Ritchie Professor of Classics, University of Sydney, said he is “particularly excited” about this upcoming lecture. “She’s on a special committee for the restoration of the monuments on the Acropolis and the most famous one, of course, is the restoration of the Parthenon. But she’s an archaeologist working on a committee that looks at all the monuments on the south side of the Acropolis, and the most famous and important is the theatre of Dionysos.
And she’s done fantastic work in both getting the actual site of the first theatre into beautiful condition. It used to be a real jumble of stones from all sorts of different periods and it was all in a bit of a mess but now it’s in a wonderful shape to see, and now she’s managed to do some minor exploratory work in the theatre which has not been done for well over a century by anybody and she’s found evidence of the earliest stages of the development of the theatre which is really very exciting. She has evidence that is going to reshape the way we think about the early history of that theatre which is wonderful.”
Dr Papastamati-von Moock will present a lecture, in Greek, at the CCANESA Boardroom on behalf of the Greek Ministry of Culture, titled “The Theatre and the Temple of Dionysos on the south slope of the Athenian Acropolis”. The one hour lecture will begin at 6.00 pm and will focus on the sanctuary and theatre of Dionysos, a god who held great power in all aspects of the Athenian society, and the relationship between the Greco-Roman antiquities. The lecture not only focuses on Athens but the entire Greco-Roman population in what promises to be an interesting and informative format.
The lecture will be held on Thursday 14 July. Bookings are essential for this event and cost $15 each. For more information contact arts.aaia@sydney.edu.au or call (02) 9351 4759