Download Classical Greece to Hellenistic

Classical Greece to Hellenistic
The Acropolis
Classical Greece 480-323 BCE
Major Historical Events
•  508 Athenian Democracy founded
•  490 Athenian and its Greek coalition defeat
the Persians at Marathon
•  480 Persians return to sack Athens
•  479 The Greeks defeat the Persians again
Perikles (495-429)
Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, The Temple of Athena, Acropolis, Athens,
447-438 BCE. Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, The Temple of Athena, Acropolis, Athens,
447-438 BCE. The Elgin Marbes in the British Museum (brought to England by the Earl of Elgin in 1801-12
Anon, Details of the Panathenaic Festival procession frieze, from the Parthenon, Acropolis,
Athens, Greece, ca. 447-438 BCE
Anon, Lapith versus centaur, metope the south side of the Parthenon, Athens,
Greece, ca. 447-438 BCE.
Anon, Lapith versus centaur, metope the south side of the Parthenon, Athens,
Greece, ca. 447-438 BCE.
ORIENTALISM: making the other according to
the ideas you have of them…
Ancient Greece Through its Sculpture
• VITALITY – “Wherever possible, materials must sparkle and shine, and
buildings, sculptures, and paintings must seem to live and breathe, to
engage us and to excite our empathy”
• BEAUTY – “Beauty, [the Greeks] believed, is appearance informed by
geometry”
• SENSUALITY – “Classical Greek sculpture and painting are fundamentally
erotic, and even classical Greek architecture has its sensuous appeal”
• SOUL – “…Greek artists discovered how their works could radiate not
merely life but soul: A sense of personhood, or what we might call
interiority”
The Painter Zeuxis as example of Greek Idealization (fits with Platonic Philosophy)
Most Greek painting survives via vase painting…
Archaic Greek Example
(period just before
“Classical” Period that
we’re studying today)
Anon, Kroisos, ca. 530 BCE, Marble. 6’ 4”
Move from Archaic to Classical Greek Sculpture…
Anon, Dying Warrior, from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, 500-490 BCE
Move from Archaic to Classical Greek Sculpture…
Anon, Dying warrior, from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, 490–480 BCE
Move from Archaic to Classical Greek Sculpture…
Thales fourfold description:
1.  “The Doryphoros is a model human being,
Nature personified;
2.  He represents the best human type, a Greek
male;
3.  He is a model Greek male, the perfect
citizen warrior; and
4.  He is an artistic standard or law as well”
Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Roman Copy from Pompeii, original ca. 450-440
BCE, Marble
Praxilites, Aphrodite of Knidos. Roman copy after original of 350-340 BCE, Marble
Hellenistic Period
(Greece after Alexander the Great)
Anon, Old market woman, ca. 150-100 BCE, Marble