These are what we fought for

This edition accompanied the exhibition “These are what we fought for… Antiquities and the Greek War of Independence” held in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (12 February – 5 July 2020) that celebrated the landmark anniversary of the country’s national resurgence. The title borrows the famous phrase of General Makriyannis, as the museological narrative focuses on the role which the Greek antiquities played in the ideological reinforcement of the nation’s uprising. 
According to the fighter of 1821, the struggle for liberty was grounded not only on the demand of the Greek people for independence, but also its historical claims on the incomparable works of the ancient ancestors.
The catalogue following the exhibition’s organization unfolds through five extensive thematic units presenting 26 selected antiquities and 26 modern works of the 18th and the 19th century in an eclectic and novel “dialogue”. The introductory and informative texts of each unit/chapter of the exhibition’s catalogue aim to introduce readers to the historical and cultural framework deductively, offering simultaneously insights into the multifarious role of Antiquity in the Struggle through a variety of approaches and examples. 
This approach illuminates the turbulent co-existence of the ancient world with the modern age, revealing significant aspects of the polysemantic relationship of the antiquities with the Greek War of Independence, as well as the parallelism between antiquities and the journey to freedom from various perspectives: the “rediscovery” of Greece by the Europeans, the reconstruction of an idealized historical land, the looting of antiquities by foreign antiquarians and their perception as cultural spoils, the antagonism between the powerful sovereign states over the Greek monuments and the various reactions of the Greek people, the role of antiquities during the Greek War of Independence and the reinforcement of philhellenism, the early attempts – before and during the Struggle –to rescue the “antiquities” and the systematic steps – following the liberation – taken by the State for the protection of ancient heritage. 

• Edited by María Lagogiánne-Georgakarákou
• Edited by Thodoris Koutsogiannis