Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria

by Dr Gerardo Papalia.

Venue: The Kelvin Club (Melbourne Pl Melbourne VIC 3000)

Date: Thursday 11 April 7:00pm

Entry: Free.

Dr Gerardo Papalia will present an overview of Greek settlement in Italy in the Classical period: from about 700 BC to 200 BC. It will look at which Greek cities sent colonists to Italy and where they settled. The lecture examines their relations with the original inhabitants of Italy and their development into city states. In particular, the lecture will present the cultural expressions of these 'Italiote' colonies and the extent to which they diverged from autochthonous Greek models.
Following this it will briefly look at their histories: their relationships with the Greek mainland and amongst themselves, as well as with other foreign powers such as Etruria and Carthage. It will then examine the reasons for the political, if not cultural decline of these 'Italiote' city states.
The lecture will then briefly examine the Greek legacy in Southern Italy that is still present today, with a particular focus on Calabria.

Throughout, the lecture will present slides showing the architecture and cultural artefacts produced by the 'Italiote' Greek colonies.

Biography
Dr Gerardo Papalia is a specialist in Italian-Australian studies. His teaching and research interests encompass Italian and Italian-Australian history, cinema and literature. After taking an Arts Degree (with Honours) from Melbourne University, Gerardo won a scholarship from the Italian Government and graduated in ‘Lettere e Filosofia’ at the University of Pavia. In 2003 he was awarded a PhD from La Trobe University with a thesis on the history of political and cultural relations between Australia and Italy in the 1930s. He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow in Italian Studies at La Trobe University and Research Associate at Monash University.