Stepping into the first of three rooms of this exhibition, the King’s Room, the visitor encounters an intimate and understated space, designed in deliberate contrast to the exhibition’s archaeological importance. With a focus upon Philip II and his famous son Alexander the Great, on display are hundreds of objects from the Temenid dynasty of Macedon, which ruled from the 7th to the 4th century BC.
Near the entrance of the King’s Room stands a small statue of Heracles, from whom these kings claimed descent – hence the exhibition’s ambitious-sounding name – and images of the legendary hero crop up on various other objects, symbolising strength and power.
For those such as myself with limited knowledge of the classical world, it is easy to walk through archaeological exhibitions seeing no further than the aesthetic beauty of the artefacts. However, on the day of my visit I am lucky to hear Professor Robin Lane Fox and Dr Angeliki Kottaridi introduce the exhibition and speak of its huge significance. Their excitement is palpable as they enthuse about the only first-hand image we have of Alexander the Great, found on an innocuous looking hunting frieze in one corner of the room, and fragments of a palace from Philip II’s time, the building’s importance comparable to that of the Parthenon.
Beauty in itself is not forgotten; Lane Fox does not try to contain his emotion when relating the discovery of an impossibly intricate gold wreath of myrtle leaves, thought to have belonged to one wife of Philip II, the Thracian princess Meda. Such craftsmanship is found throughout this exhibition, on objects ranging from tableware to shield decorations, and rewards close scrutiny.
The Queen’s Room, the largest of the three in the exhibition, holds a particular highlight – the Lady of Aegae. Gold funeral jewellery dating from around 500 BC has been arranged in the shape of the woman it once adorned; placed at the end of the room to face the approaching visitor, she stands just as her living counterpart would once have done. The effect is impressive, and in a way touching. It is possible that this was the mother of Alexander I, but for many her identity will be of less concern than her value as an embodiment of the elevated position of Macedonian women, who were spiritual symbols as well as respected mothers.
From such lavish jewellery to a scattering of broken pottery and bent nails found in funeral pyres, ‘Heracles to Alexander the Great’ brings many aspects of this distant past to life. It is the product of decades of excavations from Aegae, and many of these objects will not yet have been seen anywhere else in the world. It is certainly not to be missed.
