Home travel Visiting the Greek Gods, Goddesses, and the Heroes at the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne

Visiting the Greek Gods, Goddesses, and the Heroes at the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne

What comes into your mind when you heard about Greece?

Probably gorgeous vistas? Alfresco café and restaurants? One of the fantastic summer escapades? Or maybe you thought about Mamma Mia, plus singing, dancing plus dining including that moment when you dream of having a local Greek fling.

As part of our weekly spontaneous Melbourne tour, we decided to visit this remarkable museum right in the heart of the CBD, near the famous Flagstaff Garden. It is hard not to notice this outstanding building, one of the famous landmarks in Melbourne (since 1872) along William Street, which is also known as the former Royal Mint.

About the building

The former Royal Mint stands on the land of the peoples of the Kulin Nation.

The gleaming coat of arms, Renaissance Revival architecture and imposing brick wall of the Former Royal Mint are familiar to many Melbournians.

Today, the main building is home to the Hellenic Museum and a series of offices for commercial businesses. The northern guardhouse is now a bar and restaurant and the southern guardhouse is the base for Working Heritage. The Mint Car Park at the rear of the site is a public car park that funds our activities.

Inside the Hellenic Museum

The Hellenic Museum is Australia’s finest museum that is inaugurated in April 2007. Since its inception, the Hellenic Museum has continued to build and maintain its collections. Today, hundreds of objects spanning over 8,000 years of Hellenic history are on view at any given time in the Museum's galleries.

This year 2020, The Hellenic Museum is celebrating its 13th year of continuous bringing together multiple artistic disciplines, historical objects, perspectives that aim to present a holistic experience of Greece, Greek culture, many contributions, and continue to make to contemporary society.

Founded by the late Melbourne businessman and philanthropist Spiros Stamoulis, who emigrated from Greece to Australia back in the 1950s when he was 12-years old.

The museum consists of two floors, and currently hosting five (5) exhibitions: Heroes & Hoplites (Warfare in Ancient Greece); Sam Jinkes The Messenger; Oneiroi; Beyond Attica, Art of Magna Graecia; and Gods Myths & Mortals.

Exhibitions: Heroes & Hoplites – Warfare in Ancient Greece

What is the famous warfare you know from Greece?

If you have seen the movie of Troy, Hercules, Alexander the Great, or the 300 Spartans; then you have a glimpse of what Greek warfare is about.

In the ancient Greek world, warfare was seen as a necessary evil of the human condition. Whether it be small frontier skirmishes between neighboring city-states, lengthy city-sieges, civil wars, or large-scale battles between multi-alliance blocks on land and sea, the vast rewards of war could outweigh the costs in material and lives. Whilst there were long periods of peace and many examples of friendly alliances, the powerful motives of territorial expansion, war booty, revenge, honor, and the defense of liberty ensured that throughout the Archaic and Classical periods the Greeks were regularly engaged in warfare both at home and abroad.

The Hoplite Phalanx

The mainstay of any Greek army was the hoplite. His full panoply was a long spear, short sword, and circular bronze shield and he was further protected, if he could afford it, by a bronze helmet (with inner padding for comfort), bronze breastplate, greaves for the legs and finally, ankle guards. Fighting was at close-quarters, bloody, and lethal. This type of warfare was the perfect opportunity for the Greek warrior to display his manliness (andreia) and excellence (aretē) and generals led from the front and by example.

To provide greater mobility in battle the hoplite came to wear lighter armor such as a leather or laminated linen corselet (spolades) and an open-faced helmet (pilos). The peltast warrior, armed with short javelins and more lightly-armored than the hoplite became a mobile and dangerous threat to the slower moving hoplites. Other lighter-armed troops (psiloi) also came to challenge the hoplite dominance of the battlefield. Javelin throwers (akonistai), archers (toxotoi), and slingers (sphendonētai) using stones and lead bullets could harry the enemy with attacks and retreats. Cavalry (hippeis) was also deployed but due to the high costs and difficult terrain of Greece, only in limited numbers e.g., Athens, possessing the largest cavalry force during the Peloponnesian Wars had only 1,000 mounted troops. Decisive and devastating cavalry offensives would have to wait until the Macedonians led by Philip and Alexander in the mid-4th century BCE.

Exhibition: Beyond Attica – Art of Magna Graecia

This exhibition showcases an exceptional collection of vase-wear from early Athenian black-figure to later Apulian, Campanian, and Lucanian red-figure vessels from south Italy.

Until the fifth century, BCE South Italian settlements imported their pottery from Corinth and Athens. By the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BCE, Athenian pot production and trade had declined and cities in southern Italy began to manufacture pottery locally. The five regions in South Italy: Lucania, Apulia, Campania, Paestum, and Sicily produced significant amounts of pottery between 440 and 300 BCE. While these areas were both politically independent and culturally unique regions of the Greek world, they nevertheless drew influence from Athenian pottery shape, design, and iconography.

Working with these Attic models, South Italian painters and potters developed their own styles and shapes- distinguishing them from their counterparts in mainland Greece. A distinct preference for added color especially white, yellow, and red, is characteristic of South Italian vases in the fourth century BCE and attests to the artistic and cultural richness of Greek-speaking settlements.

This exhibition presents a selection of pots ranging from early Athenian black-figure to later Apulian, Campanian, and Lucian red-figure pottery. On loan from the Koumantatakis Family, these vessels are arranged according to style and theme. This collection is significant in its scope of style and regional variations; providing the viewer with a comparative and broad selection of ancient Greek pot production, not limited to a single time period or region.

Exhibitions: Gods Myths & Mortals – Greek Treasures Across the Millenia

If you have one opportunity to be an immortal god, who doy ou want to be?

I reckon that I would be like a goddess, with a combination powers of Aphrodite, Athena, and of course Zeus. Playing lots of time with the RPG game called Age of Mythology gives me a lot of feels about this museum and exhibits.

Some people believe that the statue of Aristodikos is the most beautiful Kouros statue of all. It is currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens (this statue in the Hellenic Museum is the replica). Archaeologist Christos Karouzos, Director of the Museum (1942-1964), examined it and estimated that he must have died at the age of 25, around 500 BC. His relatives asked that his sculpted form be carved on precious marble from Paros, ideal for sculpting human bodies. They mounted it on the grave beside the road, as was the custom, outside their estate in Foinikia, in what is now the municipal unit of Kalyvia. However, twenty years later, they laid the statue over the buried body and covered it with dirt. They wanted to save the memorial statue from the Persians that would burn Attica to ashes. Twenty-five centuries later, the statue emerged from the earth, almost intact and protected. In 1944, the landowner sent workers to plow his field. The plow bumped into stone; the same stone again and again. They grabbed hoes to dig it out, but they unearthed Aristodikos instead. The core was intact; only the arms were missing, and the legs broke. The worst of the smaller wounds were the deformed eyes, lips, and nose, due to years of plowing over the face. They loaded the statue on a carriage, covered it with hay, and took it to the Museum adventurously, but in secrecy. In the empty Museum, all statues had already been sleeping buried in the ground, beneath the floor, for days before the Germans invaded Athens. Anyone who visits the Museum today will see the figure of Aristodikos standing out in the Kouros room; first among equals.

The statue is known as a Diadoumenos ( aka the Diadem Wearer) a youth tying a fillet around his head after a victory in an athletic contest. It is a later Roman copy of a bronze original dated between 450-425 BCE. The original bronze may have stood ins sanctuary such as that at Olympic or Dephi, where games were regularly held. Based on ancient literary accounts, there were over forty known copies of this statue. This attests to the original bronze being one of the most highly esteemed creations of Polykleitos, the renowned Greek sculptor from Argos.

Death of Clytemnestra, the story begins with King Agamemnon of Mynacae, frustrated by poor winds as he tries to set sail for war with Troy, persuades his wife, Clytemnestra, to send their daughter Iphigenia to him. He does so under the pretense that she will marry Achilles, but instead, the girl is sacrificed to Artemis for the sake of fair winds and success in the coming war. Betrayed, Clytemnestra takes revenge by murdering Agamemnon upon his return to Mycenae. Blood crimes were considered the most heinous of crime in ancient Greece and demanded swift retribution, thus Clytemnestra was murdered by her son Orestes.

The image carved on this stele is a motif known as The Thracian Horsemen, which was popular during both the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The inscription inscribed both above and below the hunt scene reads For Jupiter Sabazius by a soldier of the Second Praetorian Cohort, a century of Mercator, whose name is Valerius Aulusanus.

Vulcan was the Roman god of fire whose worship dates back to the archaic kings of Rome, making him one of the oldest, primary Roman gods. He is depicted in typical style on this relief: a middle-aged, bearded man, holding a double-headed axe in his left hand. Following the Roman victory over Greece, many ancient Greek gods were merged with the existing Roman ones, combining their characteristics. Vulcan’s Greek counterpart was Hephaestus, the god of fire and patron of craftsmen and metalwork.

Dating to between 480-300 BCE this bronze statue is representative of the most powerful of the Olympian gods, Zeus. The statue is so named because it was found in two pieces in the sea off the Cape of Artemision in the 1920s. The god is depicted with legs widespread, the left arm outstretched, and the right drawn back in preparation to loose a thunderbolt. There has been some suggestion amongst historians that the statue may represent Poseidon, in which case he would be holding his trident.

If you've been watching many historical Greek movies, you will notice how intricate their dresses are!

Bridal Dress (in Ionina Islands, Corfu)

The bridal dress of Corfu became a festive dress to be worn after marriage. It comprised a white chemise, heavily pleated underskirt, an overskirt, and a breast cloth, which covered the chest. The apron, made of silk or tulle, was covered with intricate and colorful applique which was secured with a broad velvet and gold embroidered belt. The bodice and outer jacket, also of velvet, was similarly embroidered. An abundance of gold jewelry worn on the chest and ears gives clear evidence of Corfu's historical associations with Italy. Other indications of this are the headgears with its red ribbons wound around black silk padding, often adorned with real or artificial flowers and other ornaments.

We’ve also checked some religious relics from ancient Greek religion, including all the early priests' clothes, old bibles, and other items.

Part of the early Greek priests’ clothes.

History of Ancient Greek Jewelry

Even before the arrival of metallurgy to Greece and surrounding areas, these territories produced a constant stream of simple stone, clay, and bone decoration items. After the arrival of the Bronze Age, Greeks began creating more and more complicated designs eventually producing jewelry that reflected the wealth and power of nobility and rulers.

Jewelry in ancient Greece was viewed as a symbol of power, social status, ward against evil, celebration of the gods, and was most often used by female members of the wealthy class. Even though they received techniques for making gold items from the nearby kingdoms of Egypt and Mesopotamia around 3 thousand years ago, they managed to retain their unique style that remained unchanged in the centuries that followed.

The development of the great Greek Mycenaean civilization brought the first great rise in jewelry use. Gold became primary decorative raw material, although silver, lead, bronze, and various alloys were also used. Carefully crafted rings, necklaces, and pendants were some of the most known jewelry types from that period. Sadly the fall of the Mycenaean civilization brought three hundred years of "dark ages" where culture, technology, and entire Greek society almost collapsed. This period finally ended with the coming of the Golden Age of Greece when their culture blossomed and enabled the advancement of jewel making technology to the next level. Use of molds and thin leaves of gold enabled Greeks to manufacture some of the most beautiful pieces of antique jewelry that are preserved today, and regarded as the masterpieces of the highest order. The most popular gemstones were amethysts, pearls, chalcedony, cornelian, garnet, and emeralds.

Hellenic period and the arrival of Alexander the Great brought an influx of gold, precious gems, and oriental influences to Greece, but the fall of Greece under the control of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century BC brought many drastic changes to their style of jewelry making. Influences of Christianity and the formation of the Byzantine Empire enabled the renaissance of their style, spreading of high-quality jewelry and great regard toward the skilled jewelers. Sadly even those styles reached its end after conquering of Greece by Turkey, and eventual independence gained in 1827. By then, clashes of styles that raged in their culture brought the destruction of many ancient works of art that were melted and modified to look more in line with the new modern European style.

Gold wreaths that imitate natural ones come mainly from royal tombs of Macedonia, Asia Minor, and southern Italy. The crowning of the dead with a wreath signified that they were worthy of being rewarded with eternal life after death. The preference for a particular plant species was presumably related to the deity worshipped by the family of the deceased. Wreaths of myrtle are associated with Aphrodite, Demeter, and Persephone.

Ancient Greek coins all are on loan from the Peter & Mary Mitrakas Collection

Exhibition: ONEIROI – Photographic Installation by Bill Henson

The Museum’s photographic installation Oneiroi, is a unique collaboration between the Hellenic Museum, Benaki Museum, Athen and artists, Bill Henson.

The contemporary works incorporate five historical objects from the Benaki Museum collection, on display in the exhibition Gods, Myths & MOtrals; including a 3500-year old gold cup, an Ottoman period necklace, and the knife which once belonged to a revolutionary leader. The objects reflect the rich and varied nature of Greek history and the ways in which Greece has evolved through the ages.

Despite spanning millennia, the Benaki treasures included within each of the portraits still appear breathtakingly modern. They are unique pieces individually created by artists and craftspeople whose aesthetics and skill are a testament to a culture's dedication to design innovation.

Henson’s technical and aesthetic approach to his work, his structure, composition, and his use of light and shadow adds an ethereal quality to the works. His invocation of the Oneiroi, the spirits of dreams, as elusive as the shadows of memory which make up the past, transform the objects from static artifacts, to objects alive with purpose.

Exhibition: The Messenger by Sam Jinks

IRIS – The Messenger Goddess

In collaboration with the Victorian Government, the Hellenic Museum has commissioned an exciting new work by Australian artist Sam Jinks. Inspired by a fragment from the Parthenon, the Messenger is a work unlike any other.

The Messenger, a spectacular new work by internationally lauded artist Sam Jinks. The sculpture is inspired by a statue of the Greek goddess Iris from the west pediment of the Parthenon (now in the British Museum).

Sam Jinks' commission was made possible by the support of the Victorian Government and philanthropists Peter and Mary Mitrakas. It was produced as part of a cross-cultural partnership between the Hellenic Museum and the Benaki Museum, Athens.

Sculptor Sam Jinks’ inspiration for his new work is the statue of the goddess Iris which once graced the west pediment of the Parthenon. Iris was the swift messenger goddess with the ability to communicate between the gods and mortals; moving beyond the realm of the living and freely into the Underworld.

Iris, a goddess of liminal spaces, is for Jinks a metaphor for the way we can view the Parthenon sculptures. While we are separated by the creators of the Parthenon by over 2400 years, by focusing on the details- the contours of the marble, the subtle movements of the sculptor, the gentle care taken in forming the bodies, and the resistance of the tools over the marble surface, the divide between the contemporary and the ancient recedes. In this way, we can attempt to decode the meaning and sentiment left behind by ancient sculptors for whom the works were a testament to the power and magnificence of the gods. By creating a work with its roots in classical sculpture and mythology Jinks seeks to connect with an ancient tradition while guided by contemporary sensibilities and using the tools available to a sculptor today.

Admission Fee

Entry Fee and Access to all exhibitions:

Adult AUD$10.00
*Concession - AUD$5.00 (Students, Seniors, Pensioners, Health Care Card)

Due to Covid-19, the Hellenic Museum is currently temporarily closed until further notice
For all inquiries contact (03) 8615 9016 / Email: info@hellenic.org.au

I am truly glad that we’ve visited the Hellenic Museum. It was an amazing experience for both of us, and we learned more about the Hellenic culture. After this tour, we promised each other that one day we will visit Greece and explore more his Greek side.

For now, I am happy that my boyfriend got his own Greek blood (*wink, wink)

The Hellenic Museum
280 William Street, Melbourne
Victoria, 3000 Australia