In 1896, after the organization of the first modern Olympic Games, Athens was in turmoil, even though the capital was then a tiny city of only 130,000 people. “The world was experiencing the spring of the Olympic movement as we know it today, and little Greece began to think about the prospect of victory. At least twice as many Greeks then lived outside of it, in the territories of the Ottoman Empire. The center of Hellenism was Constantinople. Thus, after the Games, there was widespread optimism that the time had come for the realization of the Great Idea: to return the lands of the Byzantine Empire – and therefore Constantinople – and for the growth of Greece. The vast majority of Greeks thought they could do it. That is why many volunteers went to the front to participate in the Greco-Turkish war of 1897.” (ss Also known as “Black 97” or “Unsuccessful War”, it lasted only a month and ended with the defeat of Greece).

With Rodrik Beaton, Emeritus Professor in the Chair of Korai (Recent Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature) at King’s College London, specialist in Greek history and deep philhellenes, the curtain opens on the new historical documentary of Maria Ilios. Athens and the Great Idea 1896-1922”, which will be shown from January 25 to April 23 in the amphitheater of the Benaki Museum in Kolonaki and will be accompanied by a photo exhibition. From here, renowned director, historical consultant Alexandros Kitrof and their staff pick up the thread of the story: from the revival of the Olympic Games, but also from the self-confidence of the Greeks, who became increasingly convinced that the ancient Greek spirit and precious Byzantine traditions would be the key that would open the vision Great Greece.

Ninety minutes of film, a quarter of a century of historical time, and yet it’s impressive how much has gone into the narrative thanks to the exhaustive speeches of the speakers and archival visual material from three continents – mostly unpublished photographs and films discovered and preserved in America, Australia and Europe: development, that began with the dawn of a new age; carving of Syngrove Avenue, 1902; death of Pavlos Melas, 1904; purchase of the battleship Averof, the symbol of the Great Idea, in 1909, the first government of Eleftherios Venizelos in 1910, the Balkan Wars, the liberation of Thessaloniki and Ioannina, the death of King George I in 1913, the gap between Venizelos and King Constantine I, two governments in Athens and Thessaloniki, national split and bloody clashes between the Venizels and monarchists, the Asia Minor campaign, the collapse of the front and the Holocaust, waves of refugees. Nothing will ever be the same…

Next to big History, art and literature, as well as small History, snapshots of the daily life of people in a city that changed day by day: “primitive” Athens of the late 19th century, with low houses, dirt roads, carriages and trams, drawn by horses; European influence on the dress and craftsmanship of the “good” society; the modernization of the city under the leadership of Spyros Merkouris as mayor; paving and street lighting, first with gas and later with electricity; the first telephones; excavations at Kerameikos; walks of citizens along Vasilissis Amalia Avenue; “Dardanelia” on Panepistimiou street, with the cafe Yannaki, which is frequented by royalty, and the confectionery “Doré”. , which was favored by Venizelos’ supporters; the impressive palaces and shops of the Stadium; excursions to Neo Faliro for taking sea baths and to the hotel “Aktayon”; musical theater (operetta and revue) and its songs. Theophrastus Sakellaridis, who raised the wave.

Shown are unpublished photographs and films found in the US, Australia and Europe.

In addition to Roderick Beaton and Alexandros Kitroev, the speakers will include Professor of American History and Dean of New York University Katherine Fleming, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History and Chancellor of Pantheon University Christina Kouluri, Director of the American School of Classics Jim Wright, British academic and diplomat Sir Michael Llewellyn-Smith , Kathimerini journalist Nikos Vatopoulos; and Marina Lambrakis Plaka, former director of the National Gallery, who gave this interview a few months before her death (in June 2022). Despina Gerulanou, member of the administrative committee of the Benaki Museum, and Philippos Mazarakis-Ainyan, curator of the National History Museum, also tell family stories of national division. Director Maria Iliou has been collecting material for twenty years. “For the most part, videos and photos are rare and truly… amazing, they not only convey information but also evoke countless thoughts and feelings,” she says. “And in this film, as in previous ones (Journey: A Greek Dream in America, Smyrni, the Destruction of a Cosmopolitan City, On Both Sides of the Aegean), we wanted to tell the story in a different way, with a fresh perspective, combining great events with the everyday moments of the people of that time. Roderick Beaton contributes greatly to this with his sober assessment of national division. In fact, he accuses Venizelos of something that few even dare to mention to this day: the invasion of Greece by Franco-British troops of the Entente allies. We tried to be honest in our narrative of the November and Julian days, two moments of horror for Venizelik and the monarchist, respectively,” continues Ms. Iliou. “In essence, however, the film is permeated with a double thread: on the one hand, war and death, and on the other, joy and life. The strong presence of both in that period with so many catastrophic changes…”.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, famous writers and scientists came to Athens, from Virginia Woolf to Herman Melville. Among them is Sigmund Freud, who traveled to Greece with his brother in 1904. When he climbed the Holy Rock and saw the Parthenon, he was stunned. “So what we were taught in school was true,” he said. Journalist Periklis Yiannopoulos, a visionary of the “Greek Renaissance” and one of the main representatives of Greek centrism, committed suicide on April 8, 1910. That morning he shaved himself, trimmed his mustache, put on a good suit, rode a white horse, entered the Scaramagh Sea and shot himself. A few days later, the waves washed his body ashore.

Museum of Greek Culture Benaki, from 25/1 to 23/4. Entrance: 9 and 7 euros (exhibition or film screening), 15 and 12 euros (combination of exhibition and film screening).