The exhibition He who appears upon the tetradrachm… Coins and Constantine P. Cavafy was presented in the Numismatic Museum from 17 December 2008 to 13 March 2009.



Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933), one of the greatest Greek poets, wrote more than 300 poems, many of which were translated early on and were internationally cherished.



Cavafy had a deep knowledge of history. He was aware of the works by contemporary historians and often read Plutarch and Polybius. In many of his poems he dramatised moments of historical changes and intensity. He has presented historical figures from his own point of view, following them in decisive and fatal events in their lives, as a result of either their own choices and/or the historical circumstances. He used coins, especially of the Hellenistic period, as a historical source getting his inspiration from them. It is not by chance that four of his poems refer on coin iconography as well as coin legends.



In the context of the exhibition an attempt was made to associate Cavafy’s poems with coins that bore witness on the person or historical moment they referred to. The exhibition was based on 35 poems illustrated by 176 coins, most of which belong to the Numismatic Museum collections while a small number came from the collections at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris.