November 2012

26 November 2011 at 7:30pm

The Things They Left Behind: Athenian Burial Vases from the Geometric to the Classical Period

Chelsea Gardner

UBC Department of Classical, Near Eastern & Religious Studies.

There is a certain fascination with funerary customs, burial practices, and grave goods from antiquity: not only do they provide valuable information for archaeologists about the material culture of the past, but the treatment of the deceased often reveals as much about living people as it does the occupants of the grave itself. Two areas of ancient Athens, the Kerameikos and the Agora, have been particularly informative with regard to ancient burial customs, due to a long history of excavations and a veritable wealth of funerary deposits. This talk will examine one class of grave goods: vases used for cremation or as votive offerings, and will visually highlight the customs surrounding funerals and burials using examples of extraordinarily well-preserved pottery from the Geometric to the Classical periods. A special focus will be made upon a vessel in our very own University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology.

October 2012 (Pharos and AIA)

Pharos, Monday October 29, 2012 at 7:30

Patmos: The Monastery of St. John and the Book of Revelation

Professors Hector Williams and Robert Coiusland
UBC Department of Classical, Near East and Religious Studies
Upper Hall, Hellenic Centre, 4500 Arbutus Street, Vancouver

This illustrated talk will present the famous 11th C monastery on the island of Patmos in the Dodecannese near which, in a cave, St. John wrote the last book of the New Testament.  Hector Williams will report on his visit to the island and monastery last April, and his colleague, Robert Cousland, will bring us up to date on the Apocalypse (the Greek word for "Revelation').  The monastery is richly endowed with wall paintings, movable icons, rare manuscripts and a spectacular setting on a hilltop;  John's cave is now part of a medieval Orthodox chapel.

AIA, Tuesday October 30, 2012 at 7:30

Ancient Sounds of Greece

Dr. Nikos Xanthoulis
Acadamy of Athens and the Greek National Opera
Buchanan B213, UBC Point Grey Campus

The subject of the lecture-concert will be ancient Greek music, dating from 800 BC to 400 AD.  The study of this sophisticated art leads us to the roots of western culture: music, melody, chord, tone, rhythm, poetry are all words with Greek origins.  Our knowledge of ancient Greek music has increased dramatically during the last hundre years, through the evidence of archeology and art, the abundance of references to music in Greek literature form the 8th century onwards, books on ancient Greek music theory from 4th C. BC to 4th C AD that survive until nowadays, the non-literary documents, the musical scores and many rediscovered papyri.

In addition to these materials, there is another crucial element that adds to our understanding:  mythology.  the lecture will cover the myths concertning music and musicians and will include songs performed by reconstructed instruments, the ancient lyr and salpinz (ancient trumpet).  The combination of lecture and performance will transport the audience to a world which wa the cradle of western civilization.

Dr. Xanthoulis is Director of Education of the Greek National Opera, a classical trumpeter and composer whose many works include two children's operas in folk style.