Discovering the humanities 3rd by henry m sayre 2016 chapter 02

The Acropolis, Athens, Greece.. The Greek WorldGreek world in the fourth and fifth city-states, composed Greece urban center surrounding a natural citadel, which was called an acropolis.

Discovering the Humanities

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The Greek World: The Classical Tradition

2

Learning Objectives

Mycenaean cultures contributed to the later Greeks' sense of themselves

came to reflect the values of Greek

culture

Learning Objectives

shaped Golden Age Athens

Hellenistic world in terms of politics, philosophy, and art

The Acropolis, Athens, Greece Rebuilt in the second half of the 5th century BCE

© Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.1]

The Greek World

Greek world in the fourth and fifth

city-states, composed Greece

urban center surrounding a natural

citadel, which was called an acropolis.

The Greek World

agora, a large open space serving as a

meeting place, marketplace, and civic center

feature of the agora

 It consisted of a long open arcade

supported by colonnades, or rows of

columns.

The Greek World

philosopher who pursued eudaimonia,

"the good or flourishing life."

 This attitude of striving for complete

excellence defines Athens in the Golden Age.

Greek The Stoa of Attalus, Athens, Greece.

150 BCE

© Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.2]

The City-states of Ancient Greece.

[Fig Map 2.1]

Bronze Culture in the Aegean

islands of the Aegean Sea

activities and culture of Bronze Age

Aegean peoples as part of their own

prehistory

 Their word for the way they knew them

was archailogia, or "knowing the past."

The Cyclades

Cycladic people are highly simplified

Neolithic marble figurines in an abstract style that appeals to the modern

viewer

unknown, but they might have been

created for a mortuary purpose

Figurine of a woman from the Cyclades ca 2400–2100 BCE

Marble Height: 17".

Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen, Berlin © 2013 Photo Scala, Florence/BPK,

Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin [Fig 2.3]

The Cyclades

frescoes depicting everyday events—

probably under the influence of the

Minoan culture to the south (Crete)

 The painting Miniature Ship Fresco was

discovered at Akrotiri.

volcano at the center of the island of Thera.

Minoan Culture in Crete

Cyclades also appear in the art

decorating Minoan palaces on Crete

emphasis on the bull, associated with the legend of King Minos and the

Minotaur

Minoan Miniature Ship Fresco, left section Room 5, West House, Akrotiri, Thera.

Before 1623 BCE Fresco Height: 15-3/4".

National Archaeological Museum, Athens akg-images/Nimatallah [Fig 2.4]

Female Deities

that the Minoans in Crete worshipped

female deities

goddesses were associated with a cult

of vegetation and fertility

 The snake is an almost universal symbol

of rebirth and fertility.

Bull Leaping (Toreador Fresco) The palace complex at

Knossos, Crete.

ca 1450–1375 BCE Fresco Height approx 24-1/2".

Archeological Museum, Iráklion, Crete © Craig & Marie Mauzy,

Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.5]

Closer Look: Bull Leaping Fres co

Snake Goddess or Priestess, from the palace at Knossos, Crete

ca 1500 BCE Faience Height 11-5/8".

Archeological Museum, Iráklion, Crete © Craig & Marie Mauzy,

Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.6]

Closer Look: The Snake Goddess

or Priestess from Crete

The Palace of Minos

organized around a central courtyard, with spaces designated in no

discernable order or design

painted bright red with black capitals,

or sculpted blocks that top them

The Palace of Minos

decorating the palace provided the

base, "labrys," for the Greek word,

"labyrinth."

 The association of "labyrinth" with

"maze" came from the inordinately

complex layout of this palace.

Minoan Reconstruction drawing of the new palace complex at Knossos, Crete

(color drawing).

ca 1500 BCE Stephen Conlin © Dorling Kindersley [Fig 2.7]

Grand Staircase, east wing, palace complex at Knossos, Crete ca 1500 BCE

As reconstructed by Sir Arthur Evans © Roger Wood/Corbis [Fig 2.8]

The Legend of Minos and the

Minotaur

is a creation or origin myth

emerge from the sea so he could

sacrifice to the god Poseidon, but he

kept it for himself

making Minos's queen, Pasiphae, to fall

in love with the bull

The Legend of Minos and the

Minotaur

between Pasiphae and the bull

young men and women each year to

the Minotaur

Minotaur using a sword given to him by Minos's daughter and a spindle of

thread leading him out of the maze

Mycenaean Culture on the

Mainland

mainland invaded Crete in about 1450

BCE

especially their metalwork, but the

Minoan and Mycenaean cultures

differed vastly

Mycenaean Culture on the

Mainland

repoussé, a technique in which the

artist hammers out the design from the inside

said to have been a product of

cyclopean masonry because later

Greeks believed that only Cyclopes

could have constructed them

Vaphio Cup, from a tomb at Vaphio, south of Sparta, Greece

ca 1650–1450 BCE Gold Height 3-1/2".

National Archeological Museum, Iráklion, Crete Craig & Marie

Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.9]

Closer Look: Vapheio Cups

Mycenaean Culture on the

Mainland

in Minoan art, but dominated

Mycenaean art together with hunting

scenes

peaceful, while the feudal Mycenaeans

lived and died by the sword

Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece ca 1300 BCE Limestone relief Height of relief panel: 9' 6".

© Konstantinos Kontos/Photostock [Fig 2.10]

Funerary mask (Mask of Agamemnon), from Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Greece.

ca 1600–1550 BCE Gold repoussé Height: approx 12".

National Archaeological Museum, Athens © Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens

mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.11]

The Homeric Epics

Odyssey comprised for the Greeks their

archaiologia, or their way of knowing

their past

Class Amphora, or greek jar with

egg-shaped body and two curved handles,

embodies the concept of areté, or

"virtue" of reaching one's potential

Botkin Class Amphora ca 540–530 BCE Black-figure decoration on ceramic Height 11-9/16" Diameter

Red-The Rise of the Greek Polis

Greek mainland to establish new

settlements

isolated, rural, often warring

communities of the time

all gods, was first detailed by Hesiod in his Theogony

The Temple of Hera I (background), ca 560 BCE , and The Temple of Hera II (foreground),

ca 460 BC.

Paestum, Italy © Marco Cristofori/Corbis [Fig 2.13]

The Greek Gods

of everyday life in Greece

by the Greeks because it could be

perceived as trying to compete with the gods

desire, jealousy, and capriciousness as humans

The Greek Architectural Tradition

• Poleis were distinguished by physical

isolation and fierce independence

but an architectural tradition began to arise between them

reflection of the symposium, or

"coming together" of men to share

poetry, food, and wine

Delphi consisted of two columns

standing between two antae, or

squared stone pilasters

 The pronaos is an enclosed vestibule at

the front of the building

 The cella is the principal interior space

of the building.

The Athenian Treasury, Delphi.

ca 510 BCE

© Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.14a]

The Athenian Treasury plan.

ca 510 BCE

[Fig 2.14b]

Model of a Temple, found in the Sanctuary of Hera, Argos.

Mid-8th century BCE Terra cotta, length 41/2" National Archeological Museum, Athens.

Nimatallah/akg-images [Fig 2.15]

The Temples of Hera at Paestum

arrangement, proportions, and

appearance of the temple, developed

The Temples of Hera at Paestum

adyton behind an elongated cella

where, in a temple with an oracle, the oracle's message was delivered

on the stylobate, or raised platform,

surrounding the inner structure

The Temples of Hera at Paestum

up and contract at the top are said to

have entasis.

utilized the the Temple of Hera I was

topped with its rounded enchinus and tabletlike abacus.

Olympia and the Olympic Games

the original Olympic Games, only

winning

 The stadion, or 200-yard dash, was the

first event supplemented by other events of solo performance.

1896 to promote understanding and

friendship among nations

The Euphiletos Painter Black-figure amphora showing a foot-race at the Panathenaic

Games in Athens (detail) ca 530 BCE Black-figure ceramic Height: 24-1/2".

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.130.12).

Image copyright © Art Resource, NY/Photo Scala, Florence [Fig 2.16]

Greek Sculpture and the Taste for

Naturalism

which gave rise to what may be called a

"cult of the body."

athletic contests and at the same time

represented the conditioning and the

strength of the military forces of a

particular polis

New York Kuoros ca 600 BCE Marble Height: 6' 4".

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Fletcher Fund, 1932 (32.11.1) Image

copyright © Art Resource, NY/Scala Florence [Fig 2.17]

Anavysos Kouros From Anavysos cemetery, near Athens ca 525 BCE

Marble with remnants of paint Height 6'4".

National Archeological Museum, Athens Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr

[Fig 2.18]

Peplos Kore from the Acropolis, Athens.

Dedicated 530 BCE Polychromed marble Height: 47-1/2"

Acropolis Museum, Athens.

Museum of Classical Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK [Fig 2.19a]

Peplos Kore from the Acropolis, Athens, plaster cast reconstructing the original.

Dedicated 530 BCE Plaster cast Height: 47-1/2"

Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge, England [Fig 2.19b]

Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens ca 520 BCE

Polychromed marble Height: 21".

Acropolis Museum, Athens © Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.20]

Greek Sculpture and the Taste for

Naturalism

especially in the widespread genre of

kouros sculpture (i.e., ideal male nude

statue), was found in sanctuaries and

cemeteries, often serving as votive

offerings to the gods or as

commemorative grave markers

 Korai (s kore) are "maiden" versions of

these types of sculpture.

Closer Look

composed of three elements— the

platform, the column, and the

entablature.

(bottom layer of entablature) and frieze (flat band above architrave) are fairly

massive in comparison to Ionic and

Corinthian orders

Doric columns at the Temple of Hera I, Paestum, Italy.

ca 540 BCE Canali Photobank, Milan [Fig 2-CL.1a]

Greek Temple of Hera I, Paestum, Italy, plan.

ca 540 BCE [Fig 2-CL.1b]

Greek Naxian sphinx on an Ionic column, Delphi.

ca 560 BCE Height of sphinx: 91".

Archaeological Museum, Delphi Nimatallah/akg-images [Fig 2-CL.2]

Greek Corinthian capital from the Tholos, Epidaurus.

Fourth century BCE Height: 26".

Archaeological Museum, Epidaurus © Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive/Alamy.

[Fig 2-CL.3]

James Stuart The Classical orders from The Antiquities of

Athens 1794.

London From James Stuart, The Antiquities of Athens, London

1794 Courtesy of the Library of Congress [Fig 2-CL.4]

Architectural Simulation: Gre

ek Orders

Athenian Pottery

painted with slip, a mixture of clay and water, so that after firing they remain

black against an unslipped red

background

of the black-figure process, complicated

by details drawn with a brush

Priam Painter Women at a Fountain House Black-figure decoration on a hydria vase ca

510–520 BCE Black-figure ceramic Height: 20-7/8".

Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Francis Warden Fund, 1961 61.195 © 2015

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [Fig 2.21]

Euphronius (painter) and Euxitheos (potter).

Death of Sarpedon ca 515 BCE Red-figure decoration on a calyx krater, ceramic Height of

krater 18".

Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome © 2014 Photo Scala,

Florence - courtesy of the Ministero Beni e Att Culturali.

The Poetry of Sappho

poems—poems to be sung to the

accompaniment of a lyre—on themes of love and personal relationships, often

with other women

daughter to join the Lesbian cult in the worship of Aphrodite

Polygnotos (vase painter) Two women, one playing a lyre 5th

century bce Red-figure decoration on a pelike (two-handled vase similar to an

amphora).

Musée du Louvre, Paris akg-images / Erich Lessing [Fig 2.23]

The Rise of Democracy and the

Threat of Persia

rise of democratic institutions in Athens

political democracy (from demokratia,

"the rule of the people")

 He reorganized the Athenian political

system into demes, small local areas

comparable to modern precincts.

The Golden Age

of the Peloponnesian Wars, Pericles (ca

Athenian system as well as their

military might as excellent

The Golden Age

source of this greatness as their spirited competitions in the arts and in their

athletic contests, and their

conscientious pursuit of the beautiful

and the good

The Golden Age

reflected in the rebuilding of the

Acropolis, which Pericles saw as a

memorial to the Persian War and to

Athena's role in protecting the Athenian people

The Architectural Program at the

Acropolis

employed thousands of Athenians,

guaranteeing its popularity despite the enormous cost

The Parthenon

the middle to counter the eye's

tendency to see uninterrupted parallel columns as narrowing as they rise

horizontals, giving apparently rigid

geometry a sense of liveliness

to the overall harmony of the building

Ictinus, with contributions by Callicrates The Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens 447–438 BCE

Sculpture program by 432 BCE 221' × 101' (top step).

© Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.24a]

Ictinus, with contributions by Callicrates Plan of the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens.

447–438 BCE Sculpture program by 432 BCE 221' × 101' (top step).

[Fig 2.24b]

Other Architectural Programs on

the Acropolis

built with five gates where the

Panathenaic Way approached the

Acropolis below

Temple of Athena Nike before the end of the Peloponnesian Wars

Other Architectural Programs on

the Acropolis

as columns, surround the Porch of the

Maidens

 These columns illustrate both the idea

of the temple column as a kind of

human figure and the idea that the

stability of the polis depends upon

womenfolk.

Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens.

ca 425 BCE

© Konstantinos Kontos/Photostock [Fig 2.25]

Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens.

430s–405 BCE

© Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens mauzy@otenet.gr [Fig 2.26]

The Sculptural Program and the

Parthenon

for statues was called contrapposto

("counterpoise") in which the figure

twists around its axis with support

resting on one leg

between the beam ends under a roof,

were one area that sculptures were

placed

Kritios Boy, from Acropolis, Athens ca 480 BCE

Marble Height: 46".

Acropolis Museum, Athens akg-images/Nimatallah [Fig 2.27]

Doryphoros (Spear Bearer).

Roman copy after the original bronze by Polyclitus of ca 450–

440 BCE Marble Height 6'6".

Museo Archeological Nazionale, Naples The Art

Archive/Alfredo Dagli Orti [Fig 2.28]

Video: Students on Site: Doryphoros

The Sculptural Program and the

Parthenon

each other They are square blocks

divided by grooves into three sections

the Greeks and four enemies: the

Trojans, giants, Amazons, and centaurs