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ANCIENT GREECE - BACKGROUND
The cultural values of the Greeks form the foundations of Western Civilization
Man is “measure of all things”
Humanistic worldview
Democracy = rule by the demos, the people
The Greek contribution
politics
art
literature
science
ANCIENT GREECE - BACKGROUND
Greeks = Hellenes
Mixture of Aegean and Indo-European invaders
Never formed a single nation -> established city-state = the polis
Dorians from the North settled the Peloponnesos
Ionians settled Asia Minor/Turkey and the Aegean islands
776 BCE the Greeks states held their first games at Olympia -> the first Olympiad
From this date forward the Greeks regarded themselves as citizens of HELLAS(the ancient Greek name for Greece)
Those who didn’t speak Greek = “barbarians”
ANCIENT GREECE - BACKGROUND
The Greek gods differed from those of Egyptian and Mesopotamian deities -> immortal but otherwise human -> “ the Greeks made their gods into humans and their humans into gods”
The Greek ideal = the perfect individual;
Focus of many Greek artists = beautiful humans
ATHENS -> the symbol of ancient Greek culture
Playwrights -> AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCOLES, EURIPEDES
The city -> the AGORA = city square, STOAS = covered colonnades, PALAESTRAS = gymnasiums
The ideal of a balance between intellectual and physical discipline -> “a sound mind in a sound body” = ASICS
ANCIENT GREECE - BACKGROUND
Greeks borrowed from the cultures of Near East and Egypt
Existence of slavery
Exclusion of women from public life
Dominated by wellborn white males
most admired virtues were statecraft and military valor
Educated in the values of Homer’s heroes and athletic exercise in the palaestra -> war among the city-states was chronic
THE GOD AND GODDESSES OF MOUNT OLYMPUS
ZUES – king of the gods
HERA – wife and sister of Zeus
POSEIDON – lord of the sea
HESTIA – goddess of the hearth
DEMETER – goddess of grain and ag.
ARES – god of war
ATHENA – goddess of wisdom and warfare
HEPHAISTOS – god of fire and metalworking
APOLLO – god of light and wisdom
ARTEMIS – goddess of the hunt and wild animals
APHRODITE – goddess of love and beauty
HERMES – messenger of the gods
GEOMETRIC AND ORIENTALIZING PERIODS
Disintegration of the Bronze Age social order -> destruction of the Mycenaean palaces
The Dark Age of Greece -> loss of knowledge of
1. how to cut masonry
2. Construct citadels and tombs
3. Paint frescoes
4. Sculpt stone
5. Arts of reading and writing
6. Depopulation
7. Poverty
8. Loss of contact w/outside world
Revival of Greek culture begins in the 8th century
GEOMETRIC ART – DIPYLON KRATER
Human figure returns to Greek art in the Geometric period in the 8th century -> small bronze figurines and paintings on ceramic pots
Geometric krater
Dipylon cemetery in Athens
740 BCE -> marked a grave
Over 3 feet tall
Bottom of krater is open -> pour libations? Drain for rainwater?
Abstract angular motifs = GEOMETRIC period = formative period of Greek art
Meander = key pattern around rim
Two bands of human figures and horse drawn chariots
Mourning scene and procession in honor of the deceased
GEOMETRIC ART – HERACKLES AND NESSOS (750-730 BCE)
Geometric sculpture -> small solid cast bronze group -> two figures locked in hand to hand struggle
Herackles vs. the centaur Nessos
CENTAUR = half man half horse
Centaur is composite monster -> man in front and horse in back
Man and centaur are bearded and wear helmets -> man is bigger than horse = the victor
Painted and sculpted figures in Geometric art are nude -> natural beauty of the human figure
ORIENTALIZING ART – MANTIKLOS APOLLO (700-680BCE)
600’s BCE Greek trade and colonization accelerated -> Greek artists exposed to Eastern artworks
So many motifs borrowed from Egyptian and Near Eastern art -> the 7th century is called the ORIENTALIZING period
Small bronze statuette dedicated to Apollo by Mantiklos -> is it Apollo? Mantiklos? Neither?
Votive offering
Increased interest in reproducing human anatomy -> pecs/abs
GREEK VASE PAINTING
Geometric Amphora. 8th century BCE. Pitcher (Olpe) from Corinth. c. 600 BCE. Ceramic with black-figure decoration, height 11 1/2".
1. Signed/brand name?
2. Remove impurities in clay
3. Knead it4. Body of vase
thrown on a wheel5. Handles shaped
and sepately6. Piment/glaze/slip
applied to surface7. Three phase firing
process-> red, black, red and black
ORIENTALIZING AMPHORA Corinthian black-figure amphora
Animal friezes
Rhodes, Greece
625-600 BCE
1’2” high
AMPHORA = two handled storage jar
Animals and composite creatures, SIREN on the neck = part bird, part woman
BLACK FIGURE PAINTING
Black silhouettes, delicate incised detailing, bright polychrome overlay
TEMPLE PLAN A, PRINIAS First Greek stone temple
Prinias on Crete -> 625 BCE -> called Temple A -> honor and unknown deity
Resemlbes Mycenaean magaron -> porch, main room w/two interior columns flanking a hearth or sacrificial pit
Exterior had 3 piers on porch
Doorway with huge lintel with sculpted frieze