Alastair Blanshard, professor at the University of Queensland presented a lecture entitled “Explorations of Beauty and Desire in Ancient Greece” during the Greek history and culture seminars held by the Greek community of Melbourne on Thursday, March, 27. The seminars were attended by thousands of Greek Australians.
The lecture examined why the concept of beauty was that important in ancient Greece. Poets, philosophers, and artists were trying to define beauty thus creating the western canon of aesthetics.
Alastair Blanshard holds the Chair of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland which was founded after the donation of 1 million dollars by the Greek Australian oncologist, Paul Eliadis. The University of Queensland is the only university in Queensland that includes history, culture and literature classes of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.
“Knowledge is at the root of freedom and democracy,” claims the 60 year-old Eliadis who also has an impressive collection of paintings by leading Australian and Aboriginal artists. Eliadis has donated a part of his collection to the Queensland Public Art Gallery.
Paul Eliadis describes himself as an Australian of Greek origin. Eliadis is passionate about Greek culture and in his free time he is studying ancient Greek history.