ABSTRACT
In 1846/7 casts of the Parthenon marbles were sent by the British Museum as a gift to the Greek Kingdom and were exhibited free of charge. Alexandri's study of the Greek State's Museum of Casts reveals an aspect of the close connection between archaeology and politics. The increasing significance of archaeology in international politics had a profound impact on Greece, a source of antiquities par excellence. Archaeology changed from the 1960s onwards with the increasing specialization and professionalization of the field, the advent of archaeological science and the exposure to archaeological theory- but did so only gradually and reluctantly. Access to public service in Greece was controlled until the fall of the dictatorship in 1974 on the basis of political affiliation, and university positions in particular were monopolized by conservative forces. Modernism in Greece retained, or rather acquired, a strong national orientation, even internationalist communists gradually adopted a patriotic discourse.
