About Telesilla
In the 5th century BC, the Greek heroine and lyric poet Telesilla of Argos lived. She was one of the Nine Earthly Muses and she achieved recognition for her patriotic and literary works. She was born into a prosperous family, and it is said that she followed the Oracle of Delphi's advice and used poetry as a means of recovering from her illness. Her poetry, which emphasized strength and spirituality, was primarily devoted to female deities, like Artemis and Athena.
Telesilla became well-known due to a historical event that occurred prior to the Persian Wars and was documented by Plutarch. Telesilla gathered the city's women, the elderly, and the children into a temporary military force when the Spartans, under the leadership of the general Cleomenes, attacked Argos after vanquishing the city's army and pillaging the Heraion. She encouraged her neighbors to protect Argos, which prevented the city from being taken. She became a symbol of bravery and resistance as a result of this incident.
A statue of Telesilla standing on her own poems and holding a helmet was erected above the Argos theater in her honor. Although only fragments of her work have survived, her impact on literature and historical memory endures forever. She is a unique but important example of a female leader and creative voice in ancient Greece.
Every year on the anniversary of the battle, the descendants of Argos created a celebration known as the “Hybristika” to honor the women who fought against the Spartans. Men dressed as women during this celebration, while women dressed as men.
Our mission is to foster greater peace and understanding through culture, conversation, and exploration of themes relevant to the issues of our time. Just as Telesilla defended her city of Argos, we will defend and our shared humanity, and seek dialogue that dignifies the challenges we face in our attempt to pass to the next generation a capacity for the virtue and excellence known as “arete” to the ancient Greeks.
We invite the participation of scholars, artists, farmers, educators, and others in our community to join us.
The Arete Fund is a charitable foundation (U.S. based) which was founded in 1997 by Dianne and Steven de Laet. It is the mission of The Arete Fund to support education locally and the arts globally to encourage greater cultural understanding by means of humanitarian, educational, and artistic projects.
Born and raised in Nauplion, Greece, Dr. Adrianos Psychas earned a B.A. (2013), M.A. (2017), and Ph.D. (2022) in History and Archaeology from the University of Athens. He has participated in numerous archaeological excavations, including Prosymna, Tiryns, Mycenae, Petras (Siteia), and Lamia, serving in capacities ranging from student to assistant field director. In addition, he has been involved in museum work at Argos, Mycenae, and Lamia, and has collaborated with institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.
Combining academic research with extensive field experience, Dr. Psychas possesses strong expertise in research, data collection and recording, image scanning and processing, as well as text editing for publication.
He is also a published author of archaeological scientific research, with additional works currently in press.
Dianne is the founder and executive director of The Arete Fund (See: www.aretefund.net). She is also an author, poet and harpist. Arete was initiated with the proceeds from her memoir, Giants & Heroes: A Daughter’s Memories of Y.A. Tittle, published by Steerforth Press in 1996.
The Arete Fund was meant to be the last and best chapter of a book based on a question: What is a hero? This unwritten chapter was intended to play out in real time in the lives of largely unsung heroes whose day by day excellence deserved recognition and support.
In the last decade, The Arete Fund has expanded its educational mission to include cultural outreach and humanitarian projects. Dianne serves this mission with her own creative work. As a poet who cross trains, it might be said that she works for a single word – Arete. (See: www.diannedelaet.com)
Steve has had two professional careers. He was president and owner of Peters-de Laet, Inc., an industrial distributor of parts and equipment covering the western United States, from 1973 to 2004. In 2000, Steve founded PartsRiver, Inc., a software company based in Fremont, California, which provides data quality management for large companies that procure or sell MRO and spare parts.
Steve’s professional experience has focused on business management and development. As president of the Arete Fund, he he has overseen the growth of the organization and expanded the mission.
In 2021 Steve spearheaded a fund-raising campaign to raise funds in the U.S. to purchase olive trees that were burned in Ancient Olympia. As a result, Steve and Dianne were made Honorary Citizens of Ancient Olympia. (See: www.olympia-trees.com)
Communications Consultant Marian Hubler has significant experience in cultural programming, strategic marketing communications, public relations and special event planning for non-profit organizations, the federal government, and the private sector. She has worked for three decades as Vice President of Communications and a concert producer for Bread & Roses Presents, where she is responsible for bringing hope and healing through live music in 200 annual performances that uplift audiences in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before this, she was a National Park Service ranger managing cooperative activities for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. She worked as the conference center director at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco and public relations director of the Peabody Essex Museum, formerly the Essex Institute, in Salem, Mass.
She has served on the board/advisory board of the Arete Fund since its inception. A singer and a writer, Marian believes in the power of positive culture to effect meaningful change. She has a BA in English from Trinity University in Washington, DC.
Fanis Bouris is a creative consultant focused on media, visual storytelling, and cultural narratives. Based in Nafplio, Greece, he explores the intersection of communication, design, and moving image, often drawing inspiration from everyday life, memory, and local identity. He is the co-founder of Gemini Studio, a creative platform that blends design, art, and community-oriented projects.
At Telesilla Talks & Walks, he contributes to the visual direction and the development of multimedia content that supports and expands the themes of the program.