Ancient Greek Culture

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Ancient Greek Culture Arts
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Ancient Greek Art

• Ancient Greek Art is divided into 4 stylistic
  periods
• Geometric Period
• Archaic Period
• Classical Period
• Hellenistic Period

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Geometric Period

• This period began in the Dark Ages (around 1000
  BCE)
• Age of trade, development, formation of the
  polis, construction of temples and sanctuaries
  for worship

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• Votive offerings made of terracotta
• Painted scenes show an appreciation of imagery
  that shows the heroic world of warriors
  equipment
• The armed warrior, the chariot, and the horse are
  the most familiar symbols of the period.
• Images difficult to interpret , however many
  principle characters and stories are based on
  mythology

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Media of the Geometric Period

• Decorating firing terracotta vases
• Casting bronze
• Engraving gems
• Working with gold

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• Box w/ Lid
• Mid 8th century
• Terracotta

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• Krater (used as grave markers)
• 8th century
• Terracotta
• Funeral scene, horses linked to chariots,
  shields, and warriors carrying spears indicate a
  man of warrior descent

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Archaic Period

• A more naturalistic style
• Artists work in techniques of gem cutting, ivory
  carving, jewelry making, metalworking
• Pictures represented animal hunts, composite
  beasts (part bird, part lion), sphinxes (part
  women, part winged lion), and sirens (part women,
  part bird)
• Naturalistic representations of the human figure
  (statues of nude male youth, or female maiden in
  traditional Greek clothing)

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• Statue of a priest
• End of 6th century
• Limestone

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• Neck- amphora
• Terracotta

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Classical Period

• A revolutionary period for the art of statues
• Poses became more natural
• Poses became varied
• Beginning in 500 BCE statues are of actual people
• For the 1st time we known the names of sculptors
  Phidias designed the Parthenon, Praxiteles made
  the female nude.

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Hellenism

• Followed the period of Alexander the Great
• Reflected the merging of many different societies
• Common people became the subjects
• Artists no longer felt obligated to represent
  strength and beauty

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Ancient Greek Architecture

• Temples were built in Ancient Greece for
  religious worship and to celebrate pride
• Elegance balanced with beauty and proportion
• Greek Architecture is dominated by the orders
• Doric
• Ionic
• Corinthian

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Doric

• Sturdy
• Plain
• Most famous
• Example The
• Parthenon

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Ionic

• Thinner
• More elegant
• Scroll like
• design

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Corinthian

• Seldom used in Greek worlds, often seen in Rome
• Very elaborate
• Decorated w/ leaves

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Socrates

• Used critical reasoning
• Questioned the truth in popular opinions, yet
  offered no alternatives
• Found guilty by a Athenian jury put to death
• Never wrote anything down, we rely on Plato for
  all we know

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Plato

• Socrates student, our only source on Socrates
• Considered any real philosopher to be an outcast-
  not accepted by society
• The more wise a person is considered by society
  the less that person is in contact with what
  TRUTH is

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Aristotle

• Believed world could be understood (unlike his
  teacher Plato)
• Believed in observation and categorizing what is
  observed
• Really thought out what evidence is and used the
  process of inductive reasoning