Historical story

Barbie and Ken in Ancient Greece

One of the first Barbie models

The mythical game of Barbie her and her eternal boyfriend Ken it is not a prerogative of our times:the boys and girls of Ancient Greece they already knew and appreciated it thousands of years ago.

This is testified by a recent discovery (dating back to a few months ago) in Parion (today in Turkey ), where in some Hellenistic tombs, miniature objects were found alongside the bodies of infants .

These are artifacts with the most disparate shapes made of ceramic: there are animals, mythological figures and, precisely, female and male statuettes, the first placed next to the girls, the second placed next to the boys.

The discovery was made by the archaeologist Hasan Kasaoglu , according to which these dolls were used just as they still do today with Barbie and Ken who, born from a brilliant intuition of Mattel in the 60s of the last century, they literally revolutionized the modern play world of the little ones.

But why were these toys buried with their unfortunate owners?

The gesture had a symbolic value important, not exclusive to Greece but widespread among many other populations of antiquity (it would later be learned and imitated by the Romans ), or to accompany the deceased to the afterlife.