ANCIENT GREEK CULTURE

HUMANISM end (for a while) of god-kings “Man is the measure of all things” – Protagoras (p. 61 box) plenty of gods but no sacred text or dogma art reveals a delight in the human form

Human figures as decoration amphora ca. 530 B.C.; Archaic Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter Greek Terracotta; H. 24 1/2 in. Black-figure technique This Panathenaic amphora would have been filled with oil from the sacred olive groves in Attica, and would have been awarded as a prize to some worthy victor in one of the Panathenaic games held in Athens every four years. With its typically fat body and small neck and foot, the prize vase is, perhaps, the best example of a vase shape made to serve an official function. Each Panathenaic amphora was made according to a standardized shape and capacity of one metretes (approximately 42 quarts), and was decorated in black-figure technique. The principle decoration is always in the panels of the body of the amphora, with an armed Athena typically on the front and an illustration of the featured competition on the back. On this partcular Panathenaic amphora, the event is even labeled "men's foot race." Foot races, the earliest competitions of the Olympic games, were undertaken over varying distances. The stadion, probably the original race, was a fast sprint over one length of the track (over 200 meters), while the diaulos and the dolichos, both introduced somewhat later, covered distances of approximately 400 meters and 1,400 to 3,800 meters, respectively. The painter of this vessel has neatly fit five sprinters—five men and a youth—into the panel of the pot. Notice the wealth of incised lines depicting musculature, a preoccupation of Greek artists for centuries to come. Orders for Panathenaic amphorae were placed with leading artists of the time. On the basis of style, this vessel has been attributed to the Euphiletos Painter. An inscription on the front of the amphora gives not only the official designation of the vase as a prize, but also the signature of the potter, Nikias, a rare occurrence on pots of this shape. Human figures as decoration (not in textbook)

The Death of Sarpedon c 515 bc. Red-on-black SEE TEXT p. 46

Three periods Archaic (650-490 BC) Classical (480-323 BC) Hellenistic (323-145 BC) about 500 years in all

Archaic epic and lyric poetry evolution and change in works such as in terracotta from black figure to red figure Pythagoras

Classical (480-323 BC) Plato, Aristotle Theater – comedy & tragedy Sophocles (p. 59): Oedipus Rex, Antigone (play titles) about 150 years

Golden Age 480-404 BC (or 480-430 BC) Beginning of Classical Period 76 years! (or only 50) of demos (people) kratos (power) Democracy! (Also an Imperial era)

Hellenistic (323-145 BC) Works more dramatic First to look back on “the good ol’ days” – Classical Greece Alexander’s empire Other philosophies: Skepticism, Epicureanism, Stoicism doesn’t really end in 145 BC; continues while attention shifts to Rome, which invades Greece in 145 BC

Change in Greek sculpture An illustration of the 3 periods

kouros Kouros Text p. 47 by the Dipylon Master monumental sculpture of human (6 ft.) KEY IMAGE

What is a kouros? free-standing nude MALE youth. MALE = IDEAL sculpture would be outside a temple or serve as a grave-marker possibly a god, but usually a human athlete rigid symmetry from Egyptian roots "stylized geometry" note – the term is singular

kore Text p. 47 Kore - female

The Archaic Smile Text p. 47

The first evidence of change in sculpture Kritios boy No Archaic smile New idea . . . Contrapposto (weight shift; literally, “placed opposite”) Idealized form - perfection

Kritios boy TEXT p. 56 KEY IMAGE Ideal proportions? CLASSICAL

Vitruvius: Principles of Symmetry (Roman, c. 30 BC) Probably based on writings of Polycleitus (Classical Greek) open hand = chin to top of hairline = 1/10 of entire body height head from chin to top = 1/8 middle of the breast to top of head = ¼ bottom of chin to nostrils = nose to eyebrow = 1/3 of face length of the foot = 1/6 of body height forearm = breadth of the breast = 1/4

Leonardo da Vinci, Proportional study of a man in the manner of Vitruvius TEXTBOOK p. 190

Poseidon/Zeus ? bronze dynamic pose!

Discobolus Discus Thrower (Discobolus) by Myron Text p. 57

Hermes and Dionysis S-curve Originally attributed To Praxiteles… New discovery in the sandals tells us this work is probably Roman Or in the style of Praxiteles Text p. 55

Riace Warrior TEXT p. 56-57

Laocoön and his two sons (lay ahk a wan) HELLENISTIC - dramatic! c. 150 BC Laocoön  One of the major discoveries of the Italian Renaissance, this sculptural grouping was found in Rome in 1506 in the ruins of Titus' palace. It depicts an event in Vergil's Aeneid (Book 2). The Trojan priest Laocoön was strangled by sea snakes, sent by the gods who favored the Greeks, while he was sacrificing at the altar of Neptune. Because Laocoön had tried to warn the Trojan citizens of the danger of bringing in the wooden horse, he incurred the wrath of the gods. The grouping was probably designed for a frontal view only. The theatricality and emphasis on emotional intensity is typically Hellenistic Greek--often called "Baroque" as well. Note the writhing serpents, one of whom bites Laocoön's left leg, and pained expressions. The furrowed brow and open-mouthed pain would be copied by Bernini and Caravaggio in the seventeenth century. KEY IMAGE p. 66

More Hellenistic examples Copy after bronze original

More Hellenistic examples Copy after bronze original

More Hellenistic examples – Athena Slaying Giant, Pergamon, c, 180 BC

More Hellenistic examples Gaea - mother of the Giants