The National Archaeological Museum concluded its celebrations for its 150 years since its foundation, with the exhibition “The Countless Aspects of Beauty”, with three-hundred and forty antiquities – of its richest collections – in collaboration with contemporary digital means, an aesthetic feast! Indeed, a journey in time, full of aesthetic delights.
Ancient Greece has left a great legacy of innumerable aspects of what the term ‘beauty’ represents. This is what today determines each and every culture which followed. Whether we are talking
about monuments or statues, the theatre or democracy … this is what forms the western policy within which we live. Assessing and claiming cultural beauty in all its facets; constantly in search for ‘the countless aspects of beauty’ everyday.
Throughout time, man has constantly been in search of beauty. We try to tame it and make it a part of our lives. We conceal it in our sculptures, the words of our poets and in our everyday items; from the most insignificant, to the most impressive mοnuments adorning our public areas. Hidden within all things and at the same time revealed on the skin and on all surfaces.
It would not be an overstatement if we say that mankind is constantly confronting … beauty – in art, in our daily lives, but also in human relationships, politics and way of life. We are constantly in search of harmony in complexities – abundance in shortage.
Among the many secrets Aphrodite has, the world of perfume holds a special place.
The Rose of the goddess Aphrodite
Close your eyes upon opening the bottle and allow the aroma of roses to take you back a million years. The perfume of antiquity – “The Rose” – it is primordial!

Experimental Archaeology
Essential oils had a role to play – they indicated the social standard of the people wearing them. Athletes wore them at sporting events, women in labor wore them, they had a place in wedding and burial ceremonies too. Undoubtedly, Aphrodite would remove the cap and try the “Rose”, the first of three aromas (along with “Sage” and “Coriander”) which were created thanks to experimental archaeology.
The purpose of perfume within the exhibition, wishes to be reminiscent of the senses of the ancient world and to offer a unique experience to the visitor.
According to mythology, Aphrodite was borne of the ocean’s white froth and wherever she walked, colorful, aromatic flowers would grow. Two bottles of red aromatic liquid await the visitor at the museum. It is a unique unprecedented experience – inhaling the aromas of antiquity. The museum commissioned the company Korres to create aromas of prehistoric time. Till now, we only had items to see and admire – now a whole new concept is exhibited … that of smell.
With experimental archaeology, an effort is also made to decode the little information the signs of Linear B give us on how accounting at the palaces of the Mycenaean period was conducted – especially in relation to the ingredients intended for the production of these perfumes in the palace.
We have for now, this, as a guide along with recipes found in the books of Dioskouridis and Theofrastos, and later studies which were based on the method of production of these essential oils.
The “Rose of Aphrodite”, a perfume based on the rose, the favored flower and symbol of the goddess takes the leading role for now and the other two (Sage and Coriander) are to follow at a later stage.

Search through the luggage of anyone leaving Athens International Airport and you will undoubtedly find a stone, a tiny jar with sand, something to remind them of their visit to the land of the gods. Most importantly though, you will find the Grecian sun in their hearts. That is the impact Greece has on its visitors!

From a very young age at school, children are taught history and it is the Greek history that really stays with them; mythology, the majestic Olympus where the gods reside, the sun – burning for ever – warming the hearts of a most hospitable nation, the sapphire-blue sea and its endless beaches – pebbled, rocky, sandy, crowded, secluded – something to cater to all tastes.

The islands of Greece – rocks randomly thrown into the Mediterranean Sea by Poseidon himself – adorn the country, luring its many visitors to come and get a taste of something unique, an experience not encountered anywhere else on the planet

The temples and monuments – built thousands of years ago in honor of some god or another still stand proud and never cease to be the subject of admiration of all that visit them. Their dominance is symbolic too of the strength and the unity of the Greek people themselves.

Greece is the country where the sun shines three-hundred and sixty days in a year. How then could its people not be blessed with warmth and a friendly, outgoing character? Visitors to Athens are fascinated by the ongoing nightlife and entertainment in general.

Whether it is the traditional bouzoukia or the countless clubs and cafeterias one visits, one thing is certain – they know how to have fun and put all troubles behind them.

They will deal with their issues when the sun comes up again, marking a hopeful future, an optimistic outlook and they know that one thing nobody can take away from them is their charisma – their love of life and living it to the fullest.

By taking along some sand or a stone or anything which ultimately reminds them of their visit to Greece, is like a pact, a promise to come back again. Greece is definitely not a country to visit just once in a lifetime – it draws you back again and again.

The magic is there and in abundance and is ready to embrace everyone wishing to visit it, to explore it and to thoroughly enjoy it.