1. ANCIENT GREECE
GARDNER CHAPTER 5-8 PP

2. HELLENISTIC PERIOD 320-30 BCE
Alexander’s conquest of the Near East and Egypt ushers in a new cultural age called the HELLENISTIC PERIOD
Begins with the death of Alexander in 323 BCE and ends with the double suicide of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra -> they were defeated by Augustus at the Battle of Actium
Cultural centers were the court cities of the Greek kings who succeeded Alexander
Antioch in Syria
Alexandria in Egypt
Pergamon in Asia Minor

3. HELLENISTIC ARCHITECTURE
Variety, complexity and sophistication of Hellenistic culture
Architecture on an imperial scale and wide diversity -> the wealth of the East
Center of culture shifts from the Greek mainland to the wealthy lavish cities of the Hellenistic monarchs in the East
Pergamon in Asia Minor – Altar of Zeus at center right

4. PERGAMON
One of the most significant Helllenistic cities -> the kingdom controlled most of western and southern Asia Minor
Bequeathed to Rome in 133 BCE
Immensely wealthy -> vast sums spent on the capital city and its acropolis
GALLIC CHIEFTAIN KILLING HIMSELF AND HIS WIFE, Roman marble copy of bronze original, BCE, 6’11”, from Pergamon

5. The most famous Hellenistic sculptural ensemble, 175 BCE
Altar was an elevated platform, framed by Ionic stoa-like colonnaded with projecting wings on either side of broad staircase
All around the platform was a larger than life sculpted 400 ft long frieze -> gigantomachy
The frieze = violent movement, swirling draperies, vivid scenes of death and suffering
(2-38/1) GREAT ALTAR ZEUS AND ATHENA AT PERGAMON Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) Hellenistic Greek c. 175 B.C.E. Marble (architecture and sculpture)
FLASHCARD

6. (2-38/1) GREAT ALTAR ZEUS AND ATHENA AT PERGAMON Athena Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) Hellenistic Greek c. 175 B.C.E. Marble (architecture and sculpture)
Gigantomachy
Describes battle between gods and giants -> the giants are being dragged up the stairs of the altar of Zeus and Athena
Parallels the victory of Alexander over the Persians
Deeply carved and overlapping figures -> creates spatial illusion
Drama, intensity, movement = Hellenistic sculpture
Athena grabs Alkyoneos by the hair, Nike is crowning Athena, Gaia is begging for mercy for her sons the giants
FLASHCARD

7. DYING GAULS
Dying Gaul, Roman marble copy of bronze original BCE, 3’ ½” high
Victory of Pergamon over the Gauls -> barbarians shown w/bushy hair, mustaches, neck bands
Gallic trumpeter collapsed on his shield -> stares at the ground in pain -> recalls the dying warrior from east pediment of Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
Enemy is presented as a noble and savage foe who fights to the end

8. (2-37) WINGED VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE Hellenistic Greek c. 190 B. C. E
(2-37) WINGED VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE Hellenistic Greek c. 190 B.C.E. Marble
FLASHCARD
Nike alighting on a warship, from Samothrace, Greece, 190 BCE, marble, 8’1” high
Nike is crowning the naval victor -> right arm held crown
Wings still beating, wind sweeps her drapery
Statue was part of a two-tiered fountain with war galley and nike in upper portion, large boulders in lower portion, flowing water created sound and drama

9. VENUS DE MILO
In Hellenistic period sculptors undressed Aphrodite and explored the eroticism of the nude female form
Larger than life marble statue of Aphrodite found on Melos, BCE, 6’7” high
More overtly sexual than the Knidian Aphrodite -> slipping garment teases the spectator

10. BARBERINI FAUN
Sleeping Satyr (Barberini Faun), BCE, marble, 7’1” high
Archaic statues smile, Classical statues look away, Hellenistic statues often portray sleep -> fantasy and dreams -> the antithesis of Classical ideal of rationality and discipline
Satyr has consumed too much wine -> thrown down panther skin on a convenient rock -> fallen into a drunken, restless sleep
Blatantly sexual -> spread legs focus attention on the genitals

11. (2-41) SEATED BOXER (DEFEATED BOXER) Hellenistic Greek c. 100 B. C. E
(2-41) SEATED BOXER (DEFEATED BOXER) Hellenistic Greek c. 100 B.C.E. Bronze
Seated boxer, from Rome, ca BCE, bronze, 4’2”
Hellenistic art treated traditional themes but in novel/new ways -> Greek athlete -> but not a young victorious athlete w/ a perfect face and body
Older, defeated boxer w/a broken nose and battered ears
Compare the Hellenistic boxer to the Early Classical Riace warrior -> appeals to the emotions and compassion not the intellect
FLASHCARD

12. FLASHCARD
(2-additional/chapter 5) OLD MARKET WOMAN Hellenistic Greek c B.C.E. Marble
Classical period = idealism
Hellenistic period = this statue = realism
Many Hellenistic statues portray old men and women from the bottom on the social order
Haggard old woman -> bringing chickens, fruits, vegetables to sell at the market -> wrinkled, bent with age, broken spirit and lifetime of poverty
New interest in social realism -> the poor, foreigners

13. HELLENISTIC ART UNDER ROMAN PATRONAGE
Beginning of the 2nd century the Romans defeat the Macedonians and “free” Greece
Greece becomes a Roman province in 146 BCE
In the 80’s Athen’s sides with an enemy of Rome -> Roman general Sulla crushes the Athenians
Greeks artist will continue to be in great demand to furnish Romans w/endless copies of Classical and Hellenistic masterpieces -> and create new statues A LA GRECQUE = in the Greek style
Lucius Cornelius Sulla

14. LAOCOON
Laocoon and his sons, from Rome, early 1st century, marble, 7’10” high
Depicts the Trojan priest Laocoon and his son being strangled by sea serpents in punishment for trying to warn the Trojans about bringing the the Greek’s wooden horse into the city
The 3 Trojans writhe in pain as they struggle to free themselves from the death grip of the serpents
Akin to images of the great frieze on the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon