Download Cycladic Culture (3200 2000 BCE)

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Introduction to Ancient Greece
This module will give you an overview of Ancient Greece
Module/Chapter Learning Objectives
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You should be able to do the following after this section:
1. Differentiate between the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean civilizations.
2. Compare and contrast the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods of Greek history.
3. Summarize the development of Greek culture over time.
Map of the Ancient world
Ancient world map.pdf
Map of Greece in the Bronze Age
Greece in the Bronze Age.pdf
Cycladic civilization
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Instructions: Here is an introduction to the Cycladic civlization
Cycladic Culture (3200 ­ 2000 BCE)
The Cyclades, a group of islands in the southwestern Aegean, comprises some thirty small islands and numerous
islets. The ancient Greeks called them kyklades, imagining them as a circle (kyklos) around the sacred island of
Delos, the site of the holiest sanctuary to Apollo. Many of the Cycladic Islands are particularly rich in mineral
resources—iron ores, copper, lead ores, gold, silver, emery, obsidian, and marble, the marble of Paros and
Naxos among the finest in the world. Archaeological evidence points to sporadic Neolithic settlements on
Antiparos, Melos, Mykonos, Naxos, and other Cycladic Islands at least as early as the sixth millennium B.C.
These earliest settlers probably cultivated barley and wheat, and most likely fished the Aegean for tunny and
other fish. They were also accomplished sculptors in stone, as attested by significant finds of marble figurines on
Saliagos (near Paros and Antiparos). In the third millennium B.C., a distinctive civilization, commonly called the
Early Cycladic culture (ca. 3200–2300 B.C.), emerged with important settlement sites on Keros and at
Halandriani on Syros. At this time in the Early Bronze Age, metallurgy developed at a fast pace in the
Mediterranean.
It was especially fortuitous for the Early Cycladic culture that their islands were rich in iron ores and copper, and
that they offered a favorable route across the Aegean. Inhabitants turned to fishing, shipbuilding, and exporting
of their mineral resources, as trade flourished between the Cyclades, Minoan Crete, Helladic Greece, and the
coast of Asia Minor.It was especially fortuitous for the Early Cycladic culture that their islands were rich in iron
ores and copper, and that they offered a favorable route across the Aegean.
Early Cycladic culture can be divided into two main phases, the Grotta­Pelos (Early Cycladic I) culture (ca.
3200?–2700 B.C.), and the Keros­Syros (Early Cycladic II) culture (ca. 2700–2400/2300 B.C.). These names
correspond to significant burial sites. Unfortunately, few settlements from the Early Cycladic period have been
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found, and much of the evidence for the culture comes from assemblages of objects, mostly marble vessels and
figurines, that the islanders buried with their dead. Varying qualities and quantities of grave goods point to
disparities in wealth, suggesting that some form of social ranking was emerging in the Cyclades at this time.
The majority of Cycladic marble vessels and sculptures were produced during the Grotta­Pelos and Keros­Syros
periods. Early Cycladic sculpture comprises predominantly female figures that range from simple modification of
the stone to developed representations of the human form, some with natural proportions and some more
idealized (figure 1). Many of these figures, especially those of the Spedos type, display a remarkable consistency
in form and proportion that suggests they were planned with a compass. Scientific analysis has shown that the
surface of the marble was painted with mineral­based pigments—azurite for blue and iron ores, or cinnabar for
red. The vessels from this period—bowls (figure 2), vases, kandelas (collared vases), and bottles—display bold,
simple forms that reinforce the Early Cycladic predilection for a harmony of parts and conscious preservation of
proportion.
Figure 1 Steatopygous female figure, ca. 4500–4000 Figure 2 Spouted bowl, ca. 2700–2200 b.c.;
b.c.; Final Neolithic , Cycladic, Marble Early Cycladic II Cycladic; Keros­Syros culture
Marble *Taken from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ecyc/hd_ecyc.htm
Minoan Civilization
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Instructions: This module will show you some videos and content on the earliest period of Greek history.
The Minoan Period (2000 ­ 1400 BCE)
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The Minoans were a peaceful group of people that lived on the island of Crete. They were a bronze age
civilization that left behind some incredible palace architecture and beautiful frescoes and mosaics.
They were a maritime civilization that ruled the Aegean sea. The civilization was first discovered in 1900 by
British researcher Arthur Evans. The civilization was named after the famed king Minos.
Here is a video on Minoan civilization.
Sir Arthur Evans, the British archaeologist, characterized the Bronze Age culture of Crete as Minoan, after the
legendary King Minos. From the material he excavated at Knossos, Evans devised a chronological scheme
consisting of nine periods for Minoan civilization on Crete. His Early, Middle, and Late Minoan periods, each with
three subdivisions, roughly followed the tripartite division of Egyptian history in the Old, Middle, and New
Kingdoms. Our knowledge of Early Minoan Crete comes primarily from burials and a number of excavated
settlement sites. Artistic works of this period indicate that advances were made in gem engraving, stoneworking
(especially vases), metalworking, and pottery. Terracotta bowls on high pedestals appeared and burnishing tools
were used for decoration.
With the palaces came the development of writing, probably as a result of the new record­keeping demands of
the palace economy.
Around 1900 B.C., during the Middle Minoan period, Minoan civilization on Crete reached its apogee with the
establishment of centers, called palaces, that concentrated political and economic power, as well as artistic
activity, and may have served as centers for the redistribution of agricultural commodities. Major palaces were
built at Knossos and Mallia in the northern part of Crete, at Phaistos in the south, and at Zakros in the east.
These palaces are distinguished by their arrangement around a paved central court and sophisticated masonry.
In general, there were no defensive walls, although a network of watchtowers punctuating key roads on the
island has been identified. The walls and floors of the palaces were often painted and colorful frescoes depicted
rituals or scenes of nature. There were sanitary facilities as well as provisions for adequate lighting and
ventilation. Living quarters of the palaces, like the better Minoan houses, were spacious.
With the palaces came the development of writing, probably as a result of the new record­keeping demands of
the palace economy. The Minoans on Crete employed two types of scripts, a hieroglyphic script whose source of
inspiration was probably Egypt, and a linear script, Linear A, perhaps inspired by the cuneiform of the eastern
Mediterranean. The scripts are found on sun­dried clay tablets that are mostly administrative records; on ritual
objects such as miniature double axes and stone libation tables; and on pottery and rings. Archaeological
evidence suggests that the Minoan palaces also functioned as centers for ritual, although major religious
activities also occurred at cult sites in the country such as caves, springs, and peak sanctuaries.
Much of the first half of the second millennium B.C. was a time of widespread prosperity for Minoan Crete and a
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period of active trade with other civilizations around the Mediterranean basin. Cretan exports consisted of
timber, foodstuffs, cloth, and, most likely, olive oil, as well as finely crafted luxury goods. In exchange, the
Minoans imported tin, copper, gold, silver, emery, fine stones, ivory, and some manufactured objects. For their
basic needs, however, the Minoans on Crete were self­sufficient. During this period, great strides were made in
metalworking and pottery—exquisite filigree, granulated jewelry, and carved seal stones reveal an extraordinary
sensitivity to materials and dynamic forms. These characteristics are equally apparent in a variety of media,
including clay, gold, stone, ivory, and bronze.
From 1500 B.C., there was increasing influence from the Mycenaean culture on the Greek mainland, and there is
clear archaeological evidence for widespread destruction on the island around 1450 B.C. If the Mycenaeans were
not responsible for this destruction, they certainly took advantage of the events—administrative records from
this period are written in Linear B, the script of Mycenaean Greeks. Contemporary pottery shows a blend of
Minoan and Mycenaean stylistic traits. Eventually, by the beginning of the eleventh century B.C., the Minoan
culture on Crete was in decline.
Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mino/hd_mino.htm
Mycenaen Civilization
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Instructions: Here is an introduction to Mycenae.
The Mycenaeans (1300 ­ 1000 BCE)
Mycenaean is the term applied to the art and culture of Greece from ca. 1600 to 1100 B.C. The name derives
from the site of Mycenae in the Peloponnese, where once stood a great Mycenaean fortified palace. Mycenae is
celebrated by Homer as the seat of King Agamemnon, who led the Greeks in the Trojan War. In modern
archaeology, the site first gained renown through Heinrich Schliemann's excavations in the mid­1870s, which
brought to light objects whose opulence and antiquity seemed to correspond to Homer's description of
Agamemnon's palace. The extraordinary material wealth deposited in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae (ca. 1550
B.C.) attests to a powerful elite society that flourished in the subsequent four centuries.
The extraordinary material wealth deposited in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae (ca. 1550 B.C.) attests to a
powerful elite society that flourished in the subsequent four centuries.
During the Mycenaean period, the Greek mainland enjoyed an era of prosperity centered in such strongholds as
Mycenae, Tiryns, Thebes, and Athens. Local workshops produced utilitarian objects of pottery and bronze, as well
as luxury items, such as carved gems, jewelry, vases in precious metals, and glass ornaments. Contact with
Minoan Crete played a decisive role in the shaping and development of Mycenaean culture, especially in the arts.
Wide­ranging commerce circulated Mycenaean goods throughout the Mediterranean world from Spain and the
Levant. The evidence consists primarily of vases, but their contents (oil, wine, and other commodities) were
probably the chief objects of trade.
Besides being bold traders, the Mycenaeans were fierce warriors and great engineers who designed and built
remarkable bridges, fortification walls, and beehive­shaped tombs—all employing Cyclopean masonry—and
elaborate drainage and irrigation systems. Their palatial centers, "Mycenae rich in gold" and "sandy Pylos," are
immortalized in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Palace scribes employed a new script, Linear B, to record an early
Greek language. In the Mycenaean palace at Pylos—the best preserved of its kind—Linear B tablets suggest that
the king stood at the head of a highly organized feudal system. By the late thirteenth century B.C., however,
mainland Greece witnessed a wave of destruction and the decline of the Mycenaean sites, and the withdrawal to
more remote refuge settlements.
Taken from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/myce/hd_myce.htm
Here is a video on Mycenae.
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SECRETS OF ARCHAEOLOGY: Mycena…
Archaic Greece
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Instructions: Here is a section on the Archaic Greek period.
Archaic Greece (700­480 BCE)
A striking change appears in Greek art of the seventh century B.C., the beginning of the Archaic period. The
abstract geometric patterning that was dominant between about 1050 and 700 B.C. is supplanted in the seventh
century by a more naturalistic style reflecting significant influence from the Near East and Egypt. Trading
stations in the Levant and the Nile Delta, continuing Greek colonization in the east and west, as well as contact
with eastern craftsmen, notably on Crete and Cyprus, inspired Greek artists to work in techniques as diverse as
gem cutting, ivory carving, jewelry making, and metalworking (Figure 1). Eastern pictorial motifs were
introduced—palmette and lotus compositions, animal hunts, and such composite beasts as griffins (part bird,
part lion), sphinxes (part woman, part winged lion), and sirens (part woman, part bird). Greek artists rapidly
assimilated foreign styles and motifs into new portrayals of their own myths and customs, thereby forging the
foundations of Archaic and Classical Greek art art.
Greek artists rapidly assimilated foreign styles and motifs into new portrayals of their own myths and customs,
thereby forging the foundations of Archaic and Classical Greek art art.
The Greek world of the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. consisted of numerous autonomous city­states, or
poleis, separated one from the other by mountains and the sea. Greek settlements stretched all the way from
the coast of Asia Minor and the Aegean islands, to mainland Greece, Sicily, North Africa, and even Spain. As they
grew in wealth and power, the poleis on the coast of Asia Minor and neighboring islands competed with one
another in the construction of sanctuaries with huge stone temples. Lyric poetry, the primary literary medium of
the day, attained new heights in the work of such notable poets as Archilochos of Paros and Sappho of Lesbos.
Contact with prosperous centers like Sardis in Lydia, which was ruled in the sixth century B.C. by the legendary
king Croesus, influenced eastern Greek art. Sculptors in the Aegean islands, notably on Naxos and Samos,
carved large­scale statues in marble. Goldsmiths on Rhodes specialized in fine jewelry, and bronzeworkers on
Crete fashioned armor and plaques decorated with superb reliefs (Figure 1).
The prominent artistic centers of mainland Greece—notably Sparta, Corinth, and Athens—also exhibited
significant regional variation. Sparta and its neighbors in Laconia produced remarkable ivory carvings and
distinctive bronzes (Figure 2). Corinthian artisans invented a style of silhouetted forms (Figure 3) that focused on
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tapestry­like patterns of small animals and plant motifs. By contrast, the vase painters of Athens were more
inclined to illustrate mythological scenes. Despite variance in dialect—even the way the alphabet was written
varied from region to region at this time—the Greek language was a major unifying factor in Greece.
Furthermore, Greek­speaking people came together for festivals and the games that were held at the major
Panhellenic sanctuaries on mainland Greece, such as Olympia and Delphi. Dedications at these sanctuaries
included many works from the eastern and western regions of Greece.
Throughout the sixth century B.C., Greek artists made increasingly naturalistic representations of the human
figure. During this period, two types of freestanding, large­scale sculptures predominated: the male kouros, or
standing nude youth, and the female kore, or standing draped maiden. Among the earliest examples of the type,
the kouros in the Metropolitan Museum (Figure 4) reveals Egyptian influence in both its pose and proportions.
Erected in sanctuaries and in cemeteries outside the city walls, these large stone statues served as dedications
to the gods or as grave markers. Athenian aristocrats frequently erected expensive funerary monuments in the
city and its environs, especially for members of their family who had died young. Such monuments also took the
form of stelai, often decorated in relief.
Sanctuaries were a focus of artistic achievement at this time and served as major repositories of works of art.
The two main orders of Greek architecture—the Doric order of mainland Greece and the western colonies, and
the Ionic order of the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor and the Ionian islands—were well established by the
beginning of the sixth century B.C. Temple architecture continued to be refined throughout the century by a
process of vibrant experimentation, often through building projects initiated by rulers such as Peisistratos of
Athens and Polykrates of Samos. These buildings were often embellished with sculptural figures of stone or
terracotta (Figure 5), paintings (now mostly lost), and elaborate moldings. True narrative scenes in relief
sculpture appeared in the latter part of the sixth century B.C., as artists became increasingly interested in
showing figures, especially the human figure, in motion. About 566 B.C., Athens established the Panathenaic
games. Statues of victorious athletes were erected as dedications in Greek sanctuaries, and trophy amphorai
were decorated with the event in which the athlete had triumphed.
Creativity and innovation took many forms during the sixth century B.C. The earliest known Greek scientist,
Thales of Miletos, demonstrated the cycles of nature and successfully predicted a solar eclipse and the solstices.
Pythagoras of Samos, famous today for the theorem in geometry that bears his name, was an influential and
forward­thinking mathematician. In Athens, the lawgiver and poet Solon instituted groundbreaking reforms and
established a written code of laws. Meanwhile, potters (both native and foreign­born) mastered Corinthian
techniques in Athens and by 550 B.C., Athenian—also called "Attic" for the region around Athens—black­figure
pottery dominated the export market throughout the Mediterranean region. Athenian vases of the second half of
the sixth century B.C. provide a wealth of iconography illuminating numerous aspects of Greek culture, including
funerary rites, daily life, symposia, athletics, warfare, religion, and mythology. Among the great painters of Attic
black­figure vases, Sophilos, Kleitias, Nearchos, Lydos, Exekias, and the Amasis Painter experimented with a
variety of techniques to overcome the limitations of black­figure painting with its emphasis on silhouette and
incised detail. The consequent invention of the red­figure technique, which offered greater opportunities for
drawing and eventually superseded black­figure, is conventionally dated about 530 B.C. and attributed to the
workshop of the potter Andokides.
Figure 1 Helmet, late 7th century b.c.; Archaic Figure 2 Mirror with a support in the form of a Greek, Cretan, Bronze nude girl, second half of 6th century b.c.,
Laconian; Said to be from southern Italy, Bronze https://myetudes.org/portal/tool/4fee5d1c-43c6-4e1a-8005-eecbf2c47e13/print_module.jsf?printModuleId=1782972476
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Figure 3. Dinos (mixing bowl), ca. 630–615 b.c. Figure 4. Statue of a kouros (youth), ca. 590–580
Attributed to the Polyteleia Painter b.c.; Archaic, Greek, Attic, Naxian marble Greek, Corinthian (Transitional Period)
Terracotta https://myetudes.org/portal/tool/4fee5d1c-43c6-4e1a-8005-eecbf2c47e13/print_module.jsf?printModuleId=1782972476
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Figure 5. Antefix with the head of Medusa, 6th century b.c., Tarantine; Said to be from Taranto
Terracotta
Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/argk/hd_argk.htm
Here is a video on the Kouros and Archaic Greece
Map of Greek Cities of the Archaic Age
Greek Cities and Colonies of the Archaic Age.pdf
Classical Greece
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Instructions: Here is a section on Classical Greece
Classical Greece (ca. 480–323 BCE)
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After the defeat of the Persians in 479 B.C., Athens dominated Greece politically, economically, and culturally.
The Athenians organized a confederacy of allies to ensure the freedom of the Greek cities in the Aegean islands
and on the coast of Asia Minor. Members of the so­called Delian League provided either ships or a fixed sum of
money that was kept in a treasury on the island of Delos, sacred to Apollo. With control of the funds and a
strong fleet, Athens gradually transformed the originally voluntary members of the League into subjects. By
454/453 B.C., when the treasury was moved from Delos to the Athenian Akropolis, the city had become a
wealthy imperial power. It had also developed into the first democracy. All adult male citizens participated in the
elections and meetings of the assembly, which served as both the seat of government and a court of law.Greek
artists of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. attained a manner of representation that conveys a vitality of life as
well as a sense of permanence, clarity, and harmony.
Perikles (r. ca. 461–429 B.C.), the most creative and adroit statesman of the third quarter of the fifth century
B.C., transformed the Akropolis into a lasting monument to Athen's newfound political and economic power.
Dedicated to Athena, the city's patron goddess, the Parthenon epitomizes the architectural and sculptural
grandeur of Perikles' building program. Inside the magnificent Doric temple stood the colossal gold­and­ivory
statue of Athena made by the Greek sculptor Pheidias. The building itself was constructed entirely of marble and
richly embellished with sculpture, some of the finest examples of the high Classical style of the mid­fifth century
B.C. Its sculptural decoration has had a major impact on other works of art, from the fifth century B.C. through
the present day (Figure 1).
Greek artists of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. attained a manner of representation that conveys a vitality of
life as well as a sense of permanence, clarity, and harmony. Polykleitos of Argos was particularly famous for
formulating a system of proportions that achieved this artistic effect and allowed others to reproduce it. His
treatise, the Canon, is now lost, but one of his most important sculptural works, the Diadoumenos, survives in
numerous ancient marble copies of the bronze original (Figure 2). Bronze, valued for its tensile strength and
lustrous beauty, became the preferred medium for freestanding statuary, although very few bronze originals of
the fifth century B.C. survive. What we know of these famous sculptures comes primarily from ancient literature
and later Roman copies in marble (Figure 3).
The middle of the fifth century B.C. is often referred to as the Golden Age of Greece, particularly of Athens.
Significant achievements were made in Attic vase painting. Most notably, the red­figure technique superseded
the black­figure technique, and with that, great strides were made in portraying the human body, clothed or
naked, at rest or in motion. The work of vase painters, such as Douris, Makron, Kleophrades, and the Berlin
Painter (Figure 4), exhibit exquisitely rendered details.
Although the high point of Classical expression was short­lived, it is important to note that it was forged during
the Persian Wars (490–479 B.C.) and continued after the Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.) between Athens
and a league of allied city­states led by Sparta. The conflict continued intermittently for nearly thirty years.
Athens suffered irreparable damage during the war and a devastating plague that lasted over four years.
Although the city lost its primacy, its artistic importance continued unabated during the fourth century B.C. The
elegant, calligraphic style of late fifth­century sculpture (Figure 5) was followed by a sober grandeur in both
freestanding statues (Figure 6) and many grave monuments (Figure 7). One of the far­reaching innovations in
sculpture at this time, and one of the most celebrated statues of antiquity, was the nude Aphrodite of Knidos, by
the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles. Praxiteles' creation broke one of the most tenacious conventions in Greek art in
which the female figure had previously been shown draped. Its slender proportions and distinctive contrapposto
stance became hallmarks of fourth­century B.C. Greek sculpture. In architecture, the Corinthian—characterized
by ornate, vegetal column capitals—first came into vogue. And for the first time, artistic schools were established
as institutions of learning. Among the most famous was the school at Sicyon in the Peloponnese, which
emphasized a cumulative knowledge of art, the foundation of art history. Greek artists also traveled more
extensively than in previous centuries. The sculptor Skopas of Paros traveled throughout the eastern
Mediterranean for his commissions, among them the Mausoleum at Halicarnassos, one of the seven wonders of
the ancient world.
While Athens began to decline during the fourth century B.C., the influence of Greek cities in southern Italy and
Sicily spread to indigenous cultures that readily adopted Greek styles and employed Greek artists. Depictions of
Athenian drama, which flourished in the fifth century with the work of Aeschylus, Sophokles, and Euripides, was
an especially popular subject for locally produced pottery (Figure 8).
During the mid­fourth century B.C., Macedonia (in northern Greece) became a formidable power under Philip II
(r. 360/59–336 B.C.), and the Macedonian royal court became the leading center of Greek culture. Philip's
military and political achievements ably served the conquests of his son, Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 B.C.).
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Within eleven years, Alexander subdued the Persian empire of western Asia and Egypt, continuing into Central
Asia as far as the Indus River valley. During his reign, Alexander cultivated the arts as no patron had done
before him. Among his retinue of artists was the court sculptor Lysippos, arguably one of the most important
artists of the fourth century B.C. His works, most notably his portraits of Alexander (and the work they
influenced), inaugurated many features of Hellenistic sculpture, such as the heroic ruler portrait (Figure 9). When
Alexander died in 323 B.C., his successors, many of whom adopted this portrait type, divided up the vast empire
into smaller kingdoms that transformed the political and cultural world during the Hellenistic period (ca. 323–31
B.C.).
Figure 1. Grave stele of a little girl, ca. 450–440 b.c. Figure 2. Statuette of the Diadoumenos (youth Greek ,
Parian marble tying a fillet around his head), 1st century b.c.
Greek; copy of a Greek bronze statue by
Polykleitos, ca. 430 b.c. Terracotta Figure 3. Fragments of the Great Figure 4. Amphora, ca. 490 b.c.; Classical; Eleusinian Relief, 27 b.c.–14 a.d.; Augustan red­figure, Attributed to the Berlin Painter Fragments of a
Roman copy set in a plaster Greek, Attic, Terracotta cast of the original Greek marble relief, ca. 450–
425 b.c., Marble
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Figure 5. Relief with a dancing maenad, Figure 6. Statue of Eirene (personification of ca. 27 b.c.–14
a.d.; Augustan. Roman copy peace), ca. 14–68 a.d.; Julio­Claudian. Roman copy of a Greek relief
attributed to Kallimachos, of a Greek bronze statue by Kephisodotos, ca. Pentelic marble
ca. 375/374–360/359 b.c., Marble https://myetudes.org/portal/tool/4fee5d1c-43c6-4e1a-8005-eecbf2c47e13/print_module.jsf?printModuleId=1782972476
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Figure 7. Grave stele with a family group, Figure 8. Calyx­krater (mixing bowl) with theatrical ca. 360 b.c., Greek, Attic, Pentelic marble scene, ca. 400–390 b.c.; red­figure, Attributed to the Tarporley Painter, Greek, South Italian, Apulian
Terracotta
Figure 9. Stater with head of Alexander the Great, 286–281 b.c.; Hellenistic Greek; Lysimachos, Pella, Gold https://myetudes.org/portal/tool/4fee5d1c-43c6-4e1a-8005-eecbf2c47e13/print_module.jsf?printModuleId=1782972476
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Take from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tacg/hd_tacg.htm
Here is a video on Classical Greece.
Map of Greek and Phoenician Colonies and Trade
Greek and Phoenician Colonies and Trade.pdf
Map of the Delian League and the Peloponnesian War
The Delian League and the Peloponnesian War.pdf
Map of the Eastern Mediterranean
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The Eastern Mediterranean.pdf
Hellenistic Period
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Instructions: Here is a section on the Hellenistic period.
Hellenistic Period (323­146 BCE)
Between 334 and 323 B.C., Alexander the Great and his armies conquered much of the known world, creating an
empire that stretched from Greece and Asia Minor through Egypt and the Persian empire in the Near East to
India. This unprecedented contact with cultures far and wide disseminated Greek culture and its arts, and
exposed Greek artistic styles to a host of new exotic influences. The death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.
traditionally marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period.
Hellenistic kings became prominent patrons of the arts, commissioning public works of architecture and
sculpture, as well as private luxury items that demonstrated their wealth and taste.
Alexander's generals, known as the Diadochoi, that is, "successors," divided the many lands of his empire into
kingdoms of their own. New Hellenistic dynasties emerged—the Seleucids in the Near East, the Ptolemies in
Egypt (Figure 1), and the Antigonids in Macedonia. However, some Greek city­states asserted their
independence through alliances. The most important of such alliances between several city­states were the
Aitolian League in western central Greece and the Achaian League based in the Peloponnese.
During the first half of the third century B.C., smaller kingdoms broke off from the vast Seleucid kingdom and
established their independence. Northern and central Asia Minor was divided into the kingdoms of Bithynia,
Galatia, Paphlagonia, Pontus, and Cappadocia. Each of these new kingdoms was ruled by a local dynasty
lingering from the earlier Achaemenid Persian empire, but infused with new, Greek elements. The Attalid royal
family of the great city­state of Pergamon reigned over much of western Asia Minor, and an influential dynasty of
Greek and Macedonian descent ruled over a vast kingdom that stretched from Bactria to the Far East. In this
greatly expanded Greek world, Hellenistic art and culture emerged and flourished.
Hellenistic kingship remained the dominant political form in the Greek East for nearly three centuries following
the death of Alexander the Great. Royal families lived in splendid palaces with elaborate banquet halls and
sumptuously decorated rooms and gardens. Court festivals and symposia held in the royal palaces provided
opportunities for lavish displays of wealth. Hellenistic kings became prominent patrons of the arts,
commissioning public works of architecture and sculpture, as well as private luxury items that demonstrated
their wealth and taste. Jewelry, for example, took on new elaborate forms and incorporated rare and unique
stones. New precious and semiprecious stones were available through newly established trade routes.
Concurrently, increased commercial and cultural exchanges, and the greater mobility of goldsmiths and
silversmiths, led to the establishment of a koine (common language) throughout the Hellenistic world.
Hellenistic art is richly diverse in subject matter and in stylistic development. It was created during an age
characterized by a strong sense of history. For the first time, there were museums and great libraries, such as
those at Alexandria and Pergamon (Figure 2). Hellenistic artists copied and adapted earlier styles, and also made
great innovations. Representations of Greek gods took on new forms (Figure 3). The popular image of a nude
Aphrodite, for example, reflects the increased secularization of traditional religion. Also prominent in Hellenistic
art are representations of Dionysos, the god of wine and legendary conqueror of the East, as well as those of
Hermes, the god of commerce. In strikingly tender depictions, Eros, the Greek personification of love, is
portrayed as a young child (Figure 4).
One of the immediate results of the new international Hellenistic milieu was the widened range of subject matter
that had little precedent in earlier Greek art. There are representations of unorthodox subjects, such as
grotesques, and of more conventional inhabitants, such as children and elderly people (Figure 5). These images,
as well as the portraits of ethnic people, especially those of Africans, describe a diverse Hellenistic populace.
A growing number of art collectors commissioned original works of art and copies of earlier Greek statues (Figure
6). Likewise, increasingly affluent consumers were eager to enhance their private homes and gardens with
luxury goods, such as fine bronze statuettes, intricately carved furniture decorated with bronze fittings, stone
sculpture, and elaborate pottery with mold­made decoration. These lavish items were manufactured on a grand
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scale as never before.
The most avid collectors of Greek art, however, were the Romans, who decorated their town houses and country
villas with Greek sculptures according to their interests and taste. The wall paintings from the villa at Boscoreale,
some of which clearly echo lost Hellenistic Macedonian royal paintings, and exquisite bronzes (Figure 2) in the
Metropolitan Museum's collection testify to the refined classical environment that the Roman aristocracy
cultivated in their homes. By the first century B.C., Rome was a center of Hellenistic art production, and
numerous Greek artists came there to work.
The conventional end of the Hellenistic period is 31 B.C., the date of the battle of Actium. Octavian, who later
became the emperor Augustus, defeated Marc Antony's fleet and, consequently, ended Ptolemaic rule. The
Ptolemies were the last Hellenistic dynasty to fall to Rome.
Interest in Greek art and culture remained strong during the Roman Imperial period, and especially so during the
reigns of the emperors Augustus (r. 27 B.C.–14 A.D.) and Hadrian (r. 117–138 A.D.). For centuries, Roman
artists continued to make works of art in the Hellenistic tradition.
Figure 1. Head of a Ptolemaic queen, Hellenistic, Figure 2. Statuette of a veiled and masked dancer, ca. 270–
250 b.c., Greek, Marble Hellenistic, 3rd–2nd century b.c., Greek, Bronze
Figure 3. Head of Athena, Hellenistic, Figure 4. Statue of Eros sleeping, Hellenistic, late 3rd–early 2nd century b.c., Greek, Marble 3rd century b.c.–2nd century b.c., Greek, Bronze https://myetudes.org/portal/tool/4fee5d1c-43c6-4e1a-8005-eecbf2c47e13/print_module.jsf?printModuleId=1782972476
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Figure 5. Statue of an old market woman, Figure 6. Statue of a draped seated man, Republican Early Imperial, Julio­Claudian, 1st century a.d or Early Imperial, 1st century b.c., Roman, Marble Roman, Marble Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm
Here is a video on the Hellenistic Age.
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The Hellenistic Age : Documentary on …
Map of the Empire of Alexander the Great
The Empire of Alexander the Great.pdf
Map of the Hellenistic Kingdoms
The Hellenistic Kingdoms.pdf
Class Powerpoint
Greece History.ppt
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