Join us for the inaugural Estia lecture presented by Dr Stavros Paspalas on Greek antiquities during World War II.

LECTURE SYNOPSIS

There is no way to exaggerate the destructive nature of war and the price that must be paid by the societies caught up in its horrors. Clearly, the desperate toll paid in the currency of human loss and suffering is the greatest, and great human loss was exacted from Greece during World War II.

This lecture, however, focuses on how the country’s antiquities, ancient and mediaeval, fared during this period of upheaval, death and displacement. What were the attitudes of the occupying forces (German, Italian and Bulgarian) to Greece’s cultural heritage? How did the perceived role of Greece as one of the major sources of Western civilisation impact the occupiers? How did the Greek authorities prepare during the run-up towards war? What was their stance during the subsequent Occupation? What symbolic role were the antiquities called to serve by the Greeks during these dark years? How did the antiquities themselves fare?

This presentation will look at a number of case studies against the backdrop of the Occupation in order to elucidate these and other questions, as well as to offer some explanation for what was lost and what was saved.

ABOUT DR STAVROS PASPALAS

Stavros Paspalas has been the Deputy Director of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens since 1996, and he served as Acting Director between 2016 and 2023. He holds BA and MA degrees from the University of Sydney and a DPhil from Oxford University.

His research interests include the Greek world’s links (particularly Macedonia's) with Lydia and the Achaemenid Empire, the archaeology of the northern Aegean during the Archaic and Classical periods, and the Early Iron Age Aegean.

An experienced field archaeologist, he currently co-directs the Zagora Archaeological Project (with Associate Professor Lesley Beaumont and Dr Paul Donnelly, both University of Sydney) and the Australian Paliochora Kythera Archaeological Survey with Dr Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory.

ABOUT THE VENUE

Location: The Greek Club, level 1, 65 Federal St, North Hobart. This is the centre building within the Greek Community of Tasmania complex.

Time: commencing at 6pm.

Accessibility: this venue is only accessible by stairs.

Cost: free.

This event is a part of the Estia Greek Festival program for 2025.