Stathis Kalyvas, political scientist and professor at the University of Oxford, studies comparative politics with a focus on how political identities are formed and how conflict and violence shape societies. Over the past decade, he has increasingly turned his attention to understanding contemporary Greece—how it functions, how it is perceived, and which deeper cultural patterns define it. He is currently writing a book on political violence, exploring how different forms of violence, from revolutions to wars, are interconnected and how they have shaped modern realities, including Greece’s own emergence as a state.

Reflecting inside the Benaki Museum, he examines how Greece’s identity is tied to powerful symbols such as the Acropolis—a landmark transformed into a national vision that shaped Athens and continues to define Greek self-perception. He argues that the city surrounding the monument is not a failure but a complementary creation that expresses modern Greek originality.

Kalyvas proposes that understanding the dynamic between past and present can help Greece imagine a creative future grounded in its strengths. Drawing on the figure of Odysseus, he highlights the value of cosmopolitanism: only by engaging with the wider world can Greeks rediscover what is unique within their own culture.