The ancient historian Christian Meier described the sea battle in the Strait of Salamis as "the eye of a needle through which world history had to pass".
Here, off the coast of Attica, an alliance of Greek communities faced the world power of the Persians in 480 BC.
Meier describes how the calculating Athenian strategist Themistocles led the Greek navy to victory, which brought the course of the war in an unexpected direction: The Persian invasion was stopped and the cultural development of classical, democratic Athens with its large maritime empire was possible in the first place.
The Munich Collection of Antiquities is now devoting itself to this turning point in world history in an exhibition spread over five rooms. In addition to pieces of jewelry such as the only surviving victory monument in the form of a tropaion, detailed text panels with explanations and source passages are presented - the latter has its own space reserved. So there is a lot to read, but little audio-visual preparation. This does not necessarily correspond to the latest museum didactic fashions, but does not have to be a disadvantage.
The exhibition presents its objects in a rough chronological order, starting with loot from both sides from the early phase of the conflict. For example, a bust of Apollo attributed to the early classical artist Kanachos von Didyma is shown, which the Persians are said to have stolen from Miletus in 494 BC. It exemplifies a problem of the ambitious, but rather small-scale exhibition in view of the subject: the sculptures are largely made of plaster casts or copies. This is sufficient for the approach of any archaeological exhibition - to make historical developments understandable on the basis of the existing finds. Copies and casts do not surround the same aura as the originals.
In contrast, the conception of the exhibition area in which Persians and Greeks are juxtaposed with one another is convincing. The Persians are also given sufficient space here, for example with a reconstruction of the Persian palace of Karačamirli and a large number of Persian drinking vessels. Reference is also made to the interactions between the two cultures, for example in the occurrence of Persian-looking clay bowls in attic. The exhibition thus picks up on the endeavors of research to balance out the one-sided Greek view of the Persian Wars resulting from the sources.
On the Greek side, the connection between myth and history is worked out in the culture of remembrance - a separation that did not exist at all for Greeks of the classical period. The campaign against Troy is a welcome example as a nationwide company. Another mythical point of reference is the struggle of Greek heroes under Heracles against the legendary Amazons, who also come from the east. It is exciting to see how the Amazons gradually took on Persian traits in the picture since the Persian Wars.
The space that deals with the sea battle is monumentally designed. Framed by rows of seats like in a Greek theater, behind which the epochal Salamis painting by Wilhelm von Kaulbach from the nineteenth century can be seen, a model of the course of the battle is presented. Across from the rows of seats is a larger than life statue of the Homeric hero Aias, who is also the local hero of Salamis. It represents a modern addition to the Belvedere torso and is supplemented with Aias depictions on ceramics. On the sides there are showcases with the equipment of Greek ships and soldiers. In this composition the classical meaning of salamis comes to life: the epochal victory of Greek culture. There is no trace of the Persians.
The fact that the “alternative shouldn't necessarily have been an oriental despotism”, as Florian Knauß wisely notes in the accompanying volume, definitely deserved more attention. The importance that Christian Meier attached to the “eye of the needle” in Salamis for the development of ancient Greece is indisputable. The view of history, which is often encountered but inadmissibly simplistic, that a defeat would inevitably have led to the downfall of Greek culture, is certainly not in his sense. If one considers the rather relaxed way in which the Persians led their empire, Greek thinkers could probably also have developed under Persian sovereignty. The Persians also practiced extensive acceptance of different forms of government among subordinate peoples - as long as they recognized the Persian great king.
The highlight of the exhibition is at its end: it is the only tropaion mentioned above that has survived from antiquity. This victory monument made of captured weapons was erected on the site of the battlefield where the opponents are said to have turned to flee. The piece comes from a battlefield in the fourth century BC. In the accompanying volume, Harald Schulze plausibly explains that this form of the victory memorial was first erected after the battle of Marathon in 490 BC and thus stands for the culture of remembrance during the Persian Wars. Against the backdrop of the monumental theme, “Salamis 480” presents itself as a smaller, but well thought-out exhibition. The fact that it is aimed more at visitors who are already familiar with the topic does not have to be a disadvantage.
Salamis 480th
State Collection of Antiquities on Königsplatz, Munich;
by March 13, 2022. The catalog costs 28 euros.