Yes, A Trojan Horse Has Breached the Beltway

Yes, DC let a giant trojan horse breach the Beltway last week.  Didn’t we brush up on our history??!  In fact, a history lesson — of the best kind — is exactly what’s in store.  In anticipation of the new exhibition The Greeks-Agamemnon to Alexander the Great, opening at the National Geographic Museum next month, a 19’ Trojan Horse replica traveled from Chicago to DC to be installed at National Geographic headquarters and remain on view through October 10, 2016.

The horse, lovingly dubbed Troy, was created out of hand-burnt and weathered wood by Chicago design shop Illumivation Studios and was originally installed at the entrance to the Chicago Red Line train station.

But this horse isn’t harboring any wily warriors… just attracting attention to an unprecedented exhibition that features more than 550 artifacts from the national collections of 22 museums throughout Greece, making it the largest exhibition of its kind to tour North America in 25 years. Many of the magnificent artifacts in the exhibition have never been displayed outside of Greece. Curator favorites include iconic stone figurines from the Cycladic Islands; gold funerary masks and other treasures from Mycenae; classical marble statues from the Acropolis Museum of Greek poets, athletes and heroes; and brightly painted ceramic vases featuring scenes from Greek mythology and daily life.

In addition to this exhibition, National Geographic is producing a three-hour series THE GREEKS, which will air nationally on PBS starting June 21, 2016 at 9 p.m. Related special events at National Geographic headquarters will include​ ​an engaging Nat Geo Live event featuring Caroline Alexander, author of the recently published and critically acclaimed English translation of “The Iliad.”

The Greeks—Agamemnon to Alexander the Great will be open June 1, 2016, to Oct. 10, 2016.

*Images courtesy