Lord Byron personal items go on display
Prized personal items from the poet Lord Byron have gone on display at the University of Edinburgh. They are from the poet's final trip to Greece, a country he visited frequently.
George Gordon Byron grew up in Aberdeenshire, but he was a dedicated supporter of the Greek struggle for independence, which began 200 years ago. He died in the town of Greek townofmissolonghiin1824.
The artefacts in the exhibition, which has been launched to explore Scottish-greek connections in the early 19th century, are emblematicoflordbyron's relationship with Greece. They include a handwritten phrasebook, the poet's final journal and a certificate granting him the freedom of Missolonghi.
The display will also look at his Greek connections through exhibits loaned from the National Library of Scotland.
Although famously described by Lady Caroline Lambas"mad,badanddangerous to know", the great Romantic poet was revered throughout Greece.
Byron, who used his fame to internationalise the Greeks'fightforliberty,first arrived in Athens on Christmas Day 1809, when Greece was still under Ottoman rule. He returned to Greece in1823,morethantwoyears into the revolution at the time, by which time he was becoming ever more devoted to the Greek cause.
"While most grand tourists went to Athens for its impressive archaeology, the ruins seemed to Byron to be 'a nation's sepulchre'," Dr Alasdair Grant, the exhibition's curator, said.
“Among these symbols of death, Byron sought life in the living language of the Greeks.”
The exhibition will run until January 29, 2022.