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Transcript
Chapter 3 CLASSICAL GREECE AND THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD CLASSICAL GREECE Classical Period: 479-404 BCE Begins with the defeat of the Persians led by Xerxes Late Classical Period: 404-323 BCE Ends with the death of Alexander the Great Optimism and Unity – victories in the Persian Wars Limitless possibilities Self-confidence Inspiration to our culture Golden Age of Greece Unparalleled in artistic and intellectual achievement DARK SIDE Athenians lived in a world of tension and violence Could not live in peace with the other Greeks, despite their quest for noble ideals Led to war with the rest of Greece in 431 BCE and to the fall of Athens in 404 BCE THE CLASSICAL IDEAL Humans can achieve order by understanding why people act as they do and by understanding the motives for their own actions The Classical Ideal = quest for reason and order Human order can triumph over the chaos of the natural world Quest for a balanced society HUBRIS Creating balance = staying within reasonable limits Hubris = haughtiness, pride, arrogance Aim of life should be perfect balance: everything in due proportion, nothing in excess Loss of contact with reality, overestimation of one’s own capabilities Greatest crime in Greek society (only crime) People guilty of hubris generally shamed or humiliated their victims for personal pleasure or gratification Generally, those guilty of hubris eventually pay the price AWESOME ATHENS Political and cultural center of Greece Democracy All male citizens required to participate in government Ecclesia (general assembly) Boule (directing counsel) Individual magistracies Serve on juries But Athenians may have had a bit too much pride themselves… DELIAN LEAGUE Organization of Greek city-states Defensive: guard against future attacks Treasury kept on Delos (politically neutral island) Suspicions arose Athens was using Delian League to form an empire of subjects Transferring money to Athens to help build…. THE PARTHENON!!! THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR Athenian League vs. Spartan Allies 431 BCE – 404 BCE Trying to control Athens from getting out of hand After a poorly planned attack on Sicily, Athens surrendered THUCYDIDES Great historian; author of History of the Peloponnesian War Detailed description of events Accurate and impartial (even though he was an Athenian) Attempted to understand human emotions/behaviors so that history wouldn’t repeat itself Hoped that future generations would understand why the war occurred, allowing them to better understand themselves Universal principle of human behavior (emphasis on reason, not on anecdotes) CLASSICAL GREEK DRAMA Theaters = sacred ground Religious experience/ritual Serious and dignified Masks, elaborate costumes Music Beautiful choreography Outdoor performance Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides TRAGIC DRAMA Evolved from choral hymns sung in honor of Dionysus Festivals of Dionysus Each author submitted 4 plays 3 tragedies (trilogy) 1 light-headed (satyr) Single story or different stories with common theme Mythological figure: man with animal ears/tail Plays judged with prizes awarded to the winning author AESCHYLUS (525-456 BCE) Deep awareness of human weakness Dangers of power Belief that good will triumph in the end The process of being able to recognize what is right is painful Humans must suffer to learn of their errors Dramas were bloody and violent Most famous: Oresteia trilogy SOPHOCLES (496-406 BCE) Most prosperous/successful 123 plays, only 7 survived Explored and developed individual characters Combined tragic consequences of individual mistakes with belief in the collective dignity of humanity Major theme: Choice between good and evil is never clear or easy, sometimes impossible Destiny/fate, hands of the gods Respect the forces we cannot see Most religious of the dramatists Most famous: Oedipus the King The story: Impacted ideas of Freud (Oedipus Complex) Aspects of our existence are beyond our understanding Doomed to kill father, marry mother Cannot avoid our destiny Downfall of a tragic hero is a result of a flaw (hamartia) OEDIPUS THE KING (OEDIPUS REX) Understanding the helplessness of humanity Warning against self-reliance (hubris) Weaknesses of Oedipus’s character overcame his good points and destroyed him EURIPIDES (484-406 BCE) Most widely read, realistic view Closest to our times: exposing social, political, religious injustices Disillusioned by war-torn years Characters pushed to the limits Hatred for war, senseless misery Gods not worthy of respect/worship Sympathy and understanding of women Challenged basic premises of contemporary Athenian society Most famous: Bacchae GREEK COMEDY Aristophanes (comic poet) Futility of war Combined political satire with fantasy The Birds: men join with birds to form a society, cut off the gods, Zeus hands over authority to the birds Lysistrata: women withhold sex until peace is negotiated; play ends with Athenians and Spartans dancing together in peace MEANWHILE, IN PHILOSOPHY… Socrates – one of the most important figures in Greek history Wrote nothing! Most of what we know of him came from the writing of Plato Problems of human behavior/morality Dialogues – how much is really Socrates? Took no money, founded no school Walked about Athens to talk and argue, tested traditional ideas through a series of questions “Following the argument wherever it led” DEATH OF SOCRATES Acquired many enemies People don’t like to be proven wrong! 399 BCE – put on trial for impiety and leading youth to question authority Refused to escape because of the strength of his morality and his respect for the law Put to death by drinking hemlock PLATO Construction of an “Ideal Society” Founder of The Academy Devoted to education and research Forerunner of universities Focus on mathematics, law, political theory Produced experts for the service of the state Theory of Forms In a higher dimension of existence, there are perfect forms Phenomena around us are pale reflections Challenge to think about how our lives should be organized ARISTOTLE Plato’s most gifted student Started competitive school (Lyceum) Agreed to disagree (rival philosophy) Severed ties with Plato Lectured students in the morning Educated public in the afternoon Main focus: forms are present in the world around us, no alternate perfect reality Wrote on every serious study of the time Classified and categorized life forms CATHARSIS According to Aristotle, the downfall of the tragic hero is his undetected “tragic flaw” Audience experiences catharsis through various emotional and intellectual connections with the tragic hero Catharsis = cleansing of the soul TRAGIC HEROES CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY Aristotle’s work is basis for Christian theology Official philosophical position of Roman Catholic Church St. Thomas Aquinas’s synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy and Christian doctrine Art – Early Greece Strong Egyptian influence Few subjects repeated over and over again Kore – Standing female figure, clad in drapery Kouros – Standing male figure, nude Flat planes, rigid stances, archaic smile ART Early Classical works Interest in Realism Showing a figure in motion Fully rounded Careful study of human anatomy Ex. Kritios Boy Natural expression Realistic movement of hips and stomach muscles Myron Striving to create a new standard of human beauty Principles of proportion, symmetry, and balance Ex. Discus Thrower Combined realistic treatment of action with an idealized portrayal of the athlete SHIFT IN FOCUS Late fifth century BCE During the Peloponnesian War Individual more important than ideal Emotional responses of ordinary people to life/death Death/mourning increasingly common subjects Ex. Grave stele of Crito and Timarista ACROPOLIS Citadel of Athens PARTHENON Temple to Athena “parthenos” Classical ideals = proportion, theme of order Supreme = virgin = goddess Athena expression Represents the supremacy of Athens, but is also its downfall ELGIN MARBLES Sculptures removed from Parthenon British ambassador to Constantinople, Lord Elgin Beginning of the 19th century Now housed in the British Museum, London Ex. Three Goddesses ERECTHEUM Caryatid – female statues used to support a roof Form vs. Function Blurring lines of traditional distinctions between architecture and sculpture Structure vs. decoration HELLENISTIC PERIOD 323 BCE – 146 BCE Death of Alexander the Great to the Roman Conquest Generals could not name a successor Divided Macedonian Empire Four most important kingdoms – Syria, Egypt, Pergamum, Macedonia Continued to spread Greek culture “to Hellenize” – to spread Greek influence Combined Greek intellectual ideas and artistic styles with native Eastern ones CLASSICAL ART Realistic figures Calm faces, little emotion Order Restrained Clarity Balance Work produced for state = religious and political themes Temples Religious sanctuaries HELLENISTIC ART Realistic portraits Emotional, expressive Freedom Confusion, contrast Light vs. dark Work produced for individuals = lavish decorations Responsible to individuals, not humanity or gods Marketplaces, theaters, technical buildings CLASSICAL ART VS. HELLENISTIC ART CLASSICAL ART HELLENISTIC ART CLASSICAL ART VS. HELLENISTIC ART PERGAMUM Wealthy city of Hellenistic Asia Alter of Zeus – chief religious shrine Decorated with drama and violence of the battle between the gods and the giants Intense gestures and facial expressions Ex. Athena Slaying the Giant LAOCOÖN Freestanding sculpture Intended to impress a wide public Trojan priest, Laocoön, punished by the gods for his attempt to warn his people against allowing the Trojan horse to enter their gates Apollo sent two sea serpents to strangle him and his two sons as punishment ROMAN CONQUEST Hellenistic kingdoms did not work together Caused Roman began to take them over individually Ended their fall with Corinth in 146 BCE Greece made into Roman province Greek art and culture dominated much of Roman cultural life and was passed on into Western tradition
