The National Archeological Museum (ΝΑΜ), feeling playful, has cast the spotlight on the games of times past in its current exhibit titled “Board Game Amongst Friends”. Using the exhibit as the starting point on an exciting journey into the games of antiquity, the museum has set up a series of workshops focused purely on the Ancient Greek spirit of play on June 10, 12 and 17 and July 17.

“Nothing much has changed really,” says Dr. Maria Chidiroglou, archeologist of the Department of the Collection of Vases, Minor Arts and Metal Artefacts. The figurines from the 1st century AD, forever suspended in game, don’t differ that much from players today. The woman has her hands over the board, gesticulating so as to explain something. There is a goose at the back of her chair, indicating that she is the loser. The male player, lounges back, sitting back in victory with a rosette indicating this from behind his seat. There is a dwarf, a jester of sorts, sitting on a stool, facing the winner of the game.

The figurine is displayed as part of the “Unseen Museum” series, aimed at shedding light on various artifacts from the museum’s storerooms. “We thought it would be a good idea to use the exhibit as a starting point for a wider focus on games in antiquity,” says Dr. Chidiroglou, who surmises that the rules of the board game on display required the winner to collect the opponent’s pawns.

“Games were very popular in antiquity, played by people of all ages,” says Dr. Chidiroglou who says that the fact that there were board games found in graves indicates their importance. “Young children played games of skill, such as hoops, whereas older people liked to gamble.” In fact, the Greeks may have invented dice, with Pausanias stating that Palamidis, one of the Greeks in the expedition against Troy, visited the Temple of Fortune in Corinth and dedicated the dice he had invented to the gods. Homer also refered to board games played in the Greek camp outside the walls of Troy.

“The ancients probably played more than we do today,” says Dr. Chidiroglou. “Various forms and adaptations of strategic board games that are based on the acute intellectual power of players are still popular,” says Dr. Chidiroglou. During the NAM’s workshops, archeologists will give insight into the games played and the materials used to create them. In antiquity, it was more about marbles, ivory and knucklebones than it was about plastic. The motives for playing and the sense o fun that games offered players remains surprisingly familiar.