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Exhibition Highlights
During the 8th century BC, Greeks from the region of the Aegean Sea migrated to the Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily. This important event laid the foundation for the mingling of the two cultures of Italy and Greece for centuries to come. The Romans would look to the Greeks as models for both art and culture, and the humanists of the Italian Renaissance would look to the Romans as their cultural example. Thus, the Greeks would become the true progenitors of Western culture.
Some of the cities from which the treasures in this exhibition come are familiar to all of us, if only by their name, and it is these cities which were founded by Greeks from various regions: Corinthians founded Syracuse; Rhodians from the island of Rhodes and Cretans from the island of Crete founded Gela. The famous warriors, the Spartans founded Taras, and the mainland Greeks, called Achaeans by the poet Homer, founded Sybaris, Croton, Caulonia, Metapontum, and Poseidonia.
The influx of Greeks had a profound impact in the region, both by the sheer number of Greeks who made it their home as well as the spreading of Greek culture. By the 5th century BC, this region of Italy became known as Magna Graecia (Great Greece). These immigrants to a new world brought with them art, poetry, philosophy, religion, and mythology, all imported from the motherland, and integrated it with local traditions to create a culture that was both reminiscent of that found in Greece itself and yet wholly unique.
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