Download PP Ancient Greece (Art, Architecture, Religion)

Ancient Greece
• Terrain consisted of mountain ranges and sea
isolating Greeks from one another
• Communities were independent from one
another
• Greek major territories: Peloponnesus, Attica,
Boeotia, Thessaly, Macedonia
• Minoan Crete considered the earliest
civilization
• The first Greek state: Mycenae
Ancient Greece Timeline
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Archaic Period – 600 to 480 B.C.
Classical Period – 480 to 323 B.C.
Hellenistic Period – 323 to 146 B.C.
Roman conquest began 146 B.C. where
Greece was split into Roman provinces
• The last Roman campaign was in Ptolemaic
Egypt which ended in 31 B.C. with the suicide
of its last ruler Cleopatra
Greek Architecture
• Architecture was at its height during the
Classical Period of ancient Greece
• The design of buildings was based on a series
of vertical columns with a horizontal beam
across them
• The basic design was Doric Style and Ionic
Style
• Public Buildings: Temples, Stoas, Theaters,
Gymnasia
The size and shape of a column are different in these three styles of Greek
architecture
The Doric order: plain capitals an no base
The Ionic order: had an elaborate base and spiral shaped capitals
The Corinthian column featured leaf-shaped capitals
The Parthenon
Built between 447 and 432 B.C. located on the Acropolis in Athens
The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena, the patron goddess of the city
Temple of Hera
•Dated c. 540-530 B.C.
•An example of Doric architecture with thick columns and
spreading capitals
Greek Sculpture
• Greek sculptors worked with marble
• Archaic Period: carved in simple formal style a male nude called kouros and a clothed
female was called kore
• Classical Period: perfected the art of
portraying the human body, figures were
shown in active poses, showing facial
expressions & emotions
Eastern Influence in Greek Sculpture
Kouros
Kore
Critian Boy from the Athenian
Acropolis
Doryphoros, spear
carrier
This statue is a Roman copy of the
original work
It illustrated the ideal proportions of a
human figure
The young male nude was a common
subject during the Classical Period
Lifelike, relaxed pose and flexible with
smooth muscled body
An example of ideal beauty for
ancient Greeks
Myron, Discus Thrower
Early Classical Period sculpture
Fluid body movement and
demonstrates details of
musculature of the young man
• Hellenistic Period: In this period there was a
wider range of subjects such as children,
foreigners, and older people. Emotions of
subjects consisted of pain and death
• Relief Sculpture in buildings and tombs
• High Relief vs. Low Relief
• A lasting influence still seen in today’s
architecture and sculpture
Drunken Old Woman
sculpture
Hellenistic sculpture was more raw
and realistic
Sculptors was more emotional than it
had been in the Classical period
This sculpture shows an old haggard
woman who is poor and struggling in
life
Hellenistic Sculpture & Greek –style Buddha
On the left side is a terra-cotta
statuette of draped woman
made as a tomb offering that
was found in Thebes
Its dated c. 300 B.C.
With the conquest of the
western part of India by
Alexander the Great, there was
some influence of Greek
sculpture in India
The Buddha on the right has
elements of both Indian and
Hellenistic sculpture
Pottery & Metalwork
• Early pottery: Geometric Style and Oriental
Style
• Athenian Pottery: the most detailed and
sophisticated painted pottery
• Black-figure ware & red figure ware pottery
• Artist decorated pots with scenes of Greek
mythology & daily life
• Metalwork sculpture and art are rare finds
since much of it was melted down and reused
Pottery did not only
depict battle scenes
and scenes of daily
life, it also depicted
various scenes of
Greek mythology
A principal activity of Greek women was the making of clothes. This
painted pottery shows one woman spinning and another holding a
small hand loom
This vase shows a woman
playing a lyre
It was common for upper
class woman to stay at
home sheltered from the
outside world
They kept busy at home
caring for their family as
well with other activities
such as playing an
instrument
Religion
• Ancient Greeks had dozens of different gods
and goddesses in charge of different aspects
of life and death
• Very Religious but didn’t have to follow a strict
set of rules
• People worshipped the gods they found most
useful to their needs
Myths & Legends
• Myths were an important part of ancient
Greek religion
• The Creation Story
• The Birth of Zeus
• The Revenge of Zeus
• Zeus ruler of the sky & king of all gods
• Poseidon: king of the ocean, Pluto: king of the
underworld, Hestia: goddess of hearth &
home, Demeter: goddess of plants & harvest
• Temples & Worship
• Daily Prayer & the rules to follow to have your
prayers accepted by the gods
• The Greeks held festivals throughout the year
to pay respect to their gods
• The Great Festival of Athene
• Oracles & Omens
• Soothsayers
Bronze statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom and warrior
protectress of Athens c. 350 B.C.
Death & the Underworld
• The ancient Greeks believed that when they
died their souls were taken to Pluto’s kingdom
in the underworld, Hades
• The person’s next life depended on their
behavior in life
• There were three (3) places where one might
end up: Elysian Fields, Asphodel Fields, or
Tartarus
• Funerals & Burials