Onored Kore and Raped Kore: the two girls of Hades
Everybody at the MarRC for the second of the wonderful Summer Nights 2019, on the spectacular terrace on the Straits, Saturday July 6th, at 9.00 pm, for the appointment with the scholar Flavia Zisa, professor of Classical Archeology at the University “Kore” of Enna , who will speak about the “mythical” story of “Onored Kore and raped Kore: the two girls of Hades”.
The conference is in collaboration with the International Writers’ Center of Calabria.
Among other things, Zisa received the honorary citizenship of Aidone for treating the negotiations with the Paul Getty Museum for the return of the Venus of Morgantina.
The scholar will lead a journey of iconographic research to discover the “true story” of Kore-Persephone, the abduction of Hades and their love, in an attempt to “scientific” answer to the question: it was a violent abduction or an “escape because of love? The archaeologist will present the results of a research on the materials found in the area of ancient Locri. According to Zisa, the tradition of the figurative narration of the abduction of Kore by Hades over the centuries has undergone a reworking until, in a precise historical moment – identified in the late fourth century BC – no choice was made that over time required to replace the previous image. In other words, the story of the violent rat prevailed, depicting Kore naked, removed from the desire of the earthly world, and therefore, the Kore orgiastic instead of consensual love. The figure of an “onored” Kore consenting to the relationship with the Lord of the Underworld has been crystallized in a single scene until becoming a single splendid and scenographic icon. Thus, according to the scholar, the “raped” Kore will be a winner with respect to a cultural dimension that was originally much more complex and articulated.
“I am happy to be able to present my studies at the Reggio Calabria Museum. My idea on the way the figure of Kore-Persephone has been changing in the ancient myth and in the iconography is the result of a research that I conducted on documents and archaeological materials mostly found in Locri and which are part of the MArRC collection”, Flavia Zisa says. “The figure of this girl-goddess has changed a lot in the history of art. The best known is the “Bernian” one of the rat of Persephone, in the narration of her abduction in a sudden act of Hades. The artifacts kept at the Archaeological Museum of Reggio represent a dressed up Kore and tell us another story: it was rather an “escape because of love”, the girl was “consenting”.
Until September 8th, on Thursday and Saturday, from 8.00 pm to 11.00 pm, the admission ticket to the Museum costs only 3 euros, allowing you to participate in events on the terrace without any surcharge.