Οn International Museum Day, Friday 18 May 2018, the Museum will be open from 8 a.m. to10 p.m. with free entry to its visitors.
On the occasion of this year’s International Museum Day, the Acropolis Museum produced, in collaboration with the Hellenic Mint, commemorative medals dedicated to the Acropolis hunting dog which is dated around 520 BC. The exhibit can be found in the Archaic Gallery. The commemorative medals will be available for purchase at the Acropolis Museum Shops.
On European Night of Museums, Saturday, 19 May 2018, the Museum will be open from 8 a.m. until 12 midnight with free entry from 8:00 p.m. onwards.
On this day, from 8:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., the Athens String Quartet will perform songs of the great composers Α. Mozart, L. van Beethoven and N. Skalkottas, on the second floor balcony that overlooks the Archaic Gallery. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to tour the archaic exhibition, while enjoying the music performance.
The Acropolis hunting dog
This life-size marble sculpture of a dog was unearthed, almost intact, south of the Parthenon, in the ancient layer of damaged architectural and votive sculptures left behind by the invading Persian army during the Greco-Persian Wars. The hound is represented at a moment of extreme stress, ready to strike, as it seems he has caught the scent of his prey. The presence of such a sculpture in the Sanctuary of Athena seems odd, given that real dogs were not permitted there. Rather it is more likely, that the statue had guarded the goddess of the hunt, Artemis in her nearby Sanctuary. The ancient Greeks, since Homer’s time, valued hunting dogs. Laconian and Cretan hounds in particular, were prized for their strength, intelligence and speed.
