Upcoming Events

• Thursday, September 18, 7 pm: "Ancient Greece and the American Founding Fathers," with Carl Richard, Professor of History at the University of Louisiana. At the Brookings Institution (1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC; Metro: Dupont Circle).
• Wednesday, October 15, 7 pm: Author Scott Huler will speak on his new book No Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through the Odyssey. At the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC; Metro: Dupont Circle).

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The Seeds for Classics Program

The Society for the Preservation of the Greek Heritage (SPGH), in cooperation with the Embassy of Greece in Washington, D.C., has established a unique educational program for 8th and 9th graders at the SEED Public Charter School, the only public boarding school in the United States. The Seeds for Classics program, currently being offered for the third year, provides self-selected eighth and ninth grade students from The SEED School exposure to Greek mythology, ancient Greek history, philosophy, and classical art and architecture through a combination of classroom and experimental learning. Ninth grade students also participate in a seminar on Homer's Odyssey. Students who successfully complete the program with a high level of achievement, and who meet other requirements, qualify for participation in a two-week summer study program in Greece.

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Restoration & Preservation

Past Projects (in collaboration with our affiliate in Greece, Elliniki Etairia):

• The Plaka House, located in one of Athen's oldest continuously occupied areas. This neo-classical building represents three centuries of architecture and five distinct building phases. It serves as the new headquarters for Elliniki Etairia, the Greek Center for Environment and Cultural Heritage, and the Mediterranean Information Office of the European Environmental Bureau. SPGH trustees and sponsors are welcome to use the Plaka House as headquarters when in Athens.
• Restored friezes and objects in the Refectory of St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula.
• Preservation of historic documents in the manuscript library at the Monastery of St. John at Patmos. The Monastery contains one of the most complete collections of medieval books in existence, featuring more than 1,000 manuscripts dating from the 5th through the 19th centuries. SPGH is building a document preservation library and will train the monks in modern techniques of manuscript preservation, conservation and binding.
• The Monastery of Osios Loukas, a 10th century monastery located near Delphi, which is one of the finest Byzantine monuments in Greece. SPGH has restored the refectory, which now houses a museum of Byzantine relief sculpture. SPGH has also helped repair the adjoining 10th century church of Theotokos.

Elliniki Etairia, a leading organization in environmental preservation, manages wetlands, protects lakes, encourages local communities to form safe environmental policies and frequently discourages industrial construction near areas of historic importance and natural beauty.

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Recent Events

• Saturday, May 10, 2008: A seminar on "Faith and Reason" with Mary Lefkowitz, author and Professor Emerita of Classics at Wellesley College, and writer/journalist Tom Lange. Introduced and moderated by author/playwright Sophy Burnham.
• Friday, April 18, 2008: Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution and former deputy Secretary of State, on his new book The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation.
• Thursday, December 6, 2007: "Greek Ways in Republican Rome: Roman Lenses on Greek Sexualities" with Judith Hallett of the University of Maryland.
• Wednesday, November 7, 2007: "Athens and Jerusalem: Faith and Reason Intersect in 4th-century Greece and 21st-century America," with Prof. Jennifer Hockenberry of Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Wednesday, October 3, 2007: "Albion, Rome and Athens: Political Ideals and American Democracy," with Prof. Sanford Lakoff of the University of California at San Diego.
• Thursday, May 24, 2007: "Greek Political Thought and the American Regulatory Practice," with Dr. Neil Kerwin, President of American University.
• Wednesday, March 28, 2007: "The Persian Invasion of Greece and the End of History," with Tom Holland, BBC Radio presenter and author of the recent book Persian Fire.
• Wednesday, February 21, 2007: "Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind" - a lecture by Nancy Sherman, Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University.
• Wednesday, October 18, 2006: "The Decline of Modern Conversation: What We Can Learn from Ancient Greece" - a lecture by Stephen Miller, author of the recent book Conversation: A History of a Declining Art.
• September 21, 2006: A discussion on Neitzsche's theory of the Apollonian and Dionysiac impulses as they have influenced Greek tragedy, with Prof. Gonda Van Steen of the University of Arizona, and Prof. Frank Romer of East Carolina University.
• May 4, 2006: A lecture by Dr. Jonathan Shay, psychiatrist at the Veteran's Administration Outpatient Clinic in Boston and author of the groundbreaking books Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming, on "Homer on Military Leadership."
• April 6, 2006: A lecture by Prof. Judith Herrin of King's College London on "How Ancient Greece Influenced Early Christianity."
• March 2, 2006: A lecture by Prof. Athanasios Moulakis, scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, on "The Intangible Motives of International Conflict: Cleopatra's Nose and the Shadow of Helen."
• December 1, 2005: A seminar on "The Influence of Greek Drama on Classical Opera," co-sponsored by Opera Lafayette of Washington, D.C., and featuring Herbert Golder, professor of classics at Boston University, music historian Nizam Kettaneh, and Ryan Brown, conductor and artistic director of Opera Lafayette.
• November 9, 2005: "The Meaning of Heroism Through the Ages," by Peter Bien, Professor Emeritus of english & comparative literature at Dartmouth.
  
• October 5, 2005: "The Heritage of Thermopylae: What the Spartans Have Done for Us" by Paul Cartledge, professor of Greek history at the University of Cambridge and internationally renowned authority on both Athens and Sparta.
  
• May 22, 2005: Presentation of the Play of Jason & the Argonauts by the Synetic Theatre, followed by a panel discussion with Professor Gregory Nagy, director of the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington D.C., and Paata Tsikurishvili, Artistic Director and founder of the Synetic Theatre.
• April 21, 2005: "Madness and the Artistic Genius: From Aristotle’s Melancholia and Genius (the XXX Problem) to Today's Thought & Evidence" by Kay Redfield Jamison, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and author of several national best sellers, and Vassilis Koliatsos, M.D., associate professor at Johns Hopkins University.
• March 17, 2005: " Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness," by Guy MacLean Rogers, professor of classical studies at Wellesley College.
• February 3, 2005: "Aristotle's Contributions to Modern Democracy," by Jeffrey Reiman, William Fraser McDowell Professor of Philosophy at American University and author of many books & articles on philosophy and criminal justice.
• October 27, 2004: " Aristotle’s Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Dark Ages," by Richard Rubenstein, professor of conflict resolution and public affairs at George Mason University and author of many books, including When Jesus Became God, and Alchemists of Revolution.
• October 7, 2005: "Defining the Diaspora: The Case of the Greeks," by Richard Clogg, University Research Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford, former professor of history at the University of London, and author of books on the history of modern Greece.
• May 11, 2004: " The Role of Serpent in Literature and Mythology," by Willie Lewis, author of Snakes: An Anthology of Tales, a collection of humorous and imaginative essays by well-known authors from Rudyard Kipling, D.H. Lawrence, John Steinbeck, and Tom Wolfe to Jim Lehrer, David Barry and many more. Ms. Lewis was introudced by Ms. Susan Eisenhower, chairman of the Eisenhower Institute and author of Breaking Free, Mrs. Ike, and many publications on foreign policy.
• April 20, 2004: "Dictatorships: From Ancient Greece to Modern Iraq & Iran" by Clive Foss, professor of history at Georgetown University and author of many publications on dictatorships, including Juan and Eva Peron and Fidel Castro.
  
• January 23, 2004 : "Greek Gods, Human Lives" by Mary Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College.
• March 16, 2002: A seminar entitled "Empires and Superpowers: Their Rise and Fall," held at Georgetown University and co-sponsored by the International Initiatives Office of the Provost at Georgetown University. This seminar examined the creation and decline of the Athenian, Roman/Romaic, Ottoman and British empires.
• December 3, 2001: A evening highlighting "The Meaning of Classical Theater Through the Ages" with prominent theater directors Michael Kahn, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theater, and Joy Zinoman, artistic director of the Studio Theater, and renowned classicist and former SPGH chair Bernard Knox.
• November 26, 2001: A benefit to raise funds for the Seeds for Classics program, hosted by the Embassy of Greece in Washington, D.C., and featuring the critically acclaimed Violins of Lafayette ensemble, which performed the Orpheus cantata.
• October 25-27: A symposium co-sponsored with the Modern Greek Studies Association, dealing with modern Greek history and literature, at Georgetown University.
• September 2000: A lecture by Peter Bien, professor of english and comparative literature at Dartmouth, on "Odysseus Across the Centuries."
• March 2000: A slide presentation and narrative entitled "A Journey to the Greek Isles Through the Eyes of a Photographer."
• November 17, 1999: Two films by Lydia Carras about current restoration of Greece's architectural and ecological heritage after the 1985 earthquake in Kalamata, and in Allonisos, a reservation for monk-seals and an international center for the teaching of homeopathy.
• November 15, 1999: Gala benefit screening of Michael Cacoyannis' The Cherry Orchard, co-sponsored by the embassies of Russia and Greece, at the American Film Institute of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

SPGH has also participated in the International Youth Essay Contest, "What Democracy Means to Me," sending two winning students from the Washington, D.C.-area to Greece; played a key role in receiving and repatriating a collection of Mycenaean jewelry, which had been illegally removed from Greece; co-sponsored three seminars with the Smithsonian ("The Stolen Treasures of Troy," "The Iliad, the Odyssey and the Real World," and "Mycenaean Treasures of the Aegean Bronze Age Repatriated"); and co-sponsored an internationally recognized seminar on "The Parthenon Sculptures: Their History and Destiny," with the Corcoran Gallery of Art and a representative from UNESCO.

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