A monstrous lunchtime odyssey

Just off Fifth Avenue on East 51st Street, opposite the scaffolding that is currently concealing St Patrick's Cathedral, is an office building called Olympic Tower.  Stride purposefully into the lobby and you'll find a new (and free!) art exhibition entitled The Greek Monsters.

The artwork was created by an award-winning communications design company called Beetroot, based in Thessaloniki, Greece.  Their exhibition has never before been seen in the United States, and the New York premiere is hosted by the Onassis Foundation USA, whose mission is to share cultural information about Greece throughout the United States and Canada.

I loved Classical Studies at high school, so much that I included it as part of my undergraduate degree at University.  Somehow I escaped ever having to learn Ancient Greek or Latin as well, but that didn't stop me devouring the stories and plays of Ancient Greece, and loving the heroes, gods, myths, and legends that featured in them.

This exhibition, however, focuses exclusively on the monsters of Ancient Greece who, as the exhibition brochure explains, "represented the counterparts of the gods, the heroes, and the mortals".  Where the heroes and mortals of the stories are flawed but brave, the monsters are blood-thirsty and terrifying, and they're ultimately outwitted and vanquished.  Happy ending for humans!

But rather than just perpetuate this one-dimensional "nasty" side of the monsters, the artists have  chosen to reflect the other side of their nature, that of a victim - a being that has been ostracised, slandered, and brutalised.

For instance, have you ever considered that Medusa was just lonely, or that she'd just been rejected by a man one too many times because of her unfortunate hairdo?  A Gorgon is a woman first, after all.

If you subscribe to the "nurture not nature" school of thought, is it not then reasonable to assume that the three-headed dog Cerberus could really be man's best friend, given the chance?

Or why do we have to think of that terrifying aquatic double-act Scylla and Charybdis as destructive forces of the sea, when they were once gorgeous women desired by gods (until the jerks spurned them)?

In humanising the mythical monsters in this way, Beetroot have given us a very unique perspective from which to view these enthralling and strangely beloved characters.

The Greek Monsters exhibition opened in April, and it will remain on-site until July.  Admission is free, and you can view the works every day from 10am to 8pm.  Just watch out for Sunday programs, as they're particularly targeted at kids and families (the exhibition space is only small, and it may get crowded on those days).