The images of the fathers of the Greek nation-state and the events of the Greek Revolution are everywhere. They illustrate our historical imagination, give color and shape to our collective pride, and forge our collective certainties. We consider them so familiar and intimate that we neglect to ask them? to learn their little and big secrets, to discover the world in which they were born and lived - as well as the many lives they lived afterwards and continue to live today. However, images not only have history. They also have historicity. The author approaches the artworks of the 19th century by asking fundamental questions, such as: How did the Greeks see themselves in history? What influence did the gaze of foreigners have on their self-image? What role did they believe they would play in the new era? How did they want future generations of the nation to remember them? He analyzes paintings, murals, drawings, and engravings, searches for their sources, sheds light on the conditions of their creation, examines their audience, explores their explicit and hidden ideological messages, and discusses the impact they had on collective perception and memory.

In order to trace the projections of historical consciousness and culture in the social field, he wanders through the necropolis of Athens, which he perceives as a historical utopia where the modern present meets the idealistic ancestral past, sublimating an undisturbed eternity. Finally, he constructs a contemporary pedagogical framework for approaching historical images and presents ideas for their utilization in formal education and museums.