Curated by Irini Solomonidi

A selection of rare materials from the 300 editions of Homer held at the Gennadius Library will be staged in the Main Reading Room of the Library bringing to life the routes and metamorphoses of the primary Homeric material in time and space. Unique treasures like the first edition of the Iliad and the Odyssey in 1488 Florence by the famous Greek scholar Dimitrios Chalkokondylis, and the earliest paraphrase of the Iliad in modern Greek by Nikolaos Loucanis printed in Venice in 1526, will be displayed next to English, French, Italian and Spanish translations showcasing the wide dissemination and reinterpretation of the Homeric text in its original form or in translation in Europe and North America. The textual material is magically interwoven with John Flaxman’s Homeric illustrations and with quaint collages, a favorite practice of the Library’s founder Joannes Gennadius, creating compositions that bring together separate components, in this case of word and image.  

The opening of the exhibition will take place after the Emily Wilson lecture on Tuesday, October 3.

Duration: October 3-24, 2023

Opening hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 9:00 - 16:30

Thursday: 9:00 - 19:30

Saturday: 9:00 - 13:30

Sunday: October 8, 15 & 22: 11.00 - 14.00

Free Admission

Guided tours to groups can be arranged Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 5.00pm and on Sundays Oct. 8, 15 & 22: 11.00am-2.00pm, by appointment at: msmali.genn@ascsa.edu.gr