1. Chapter Two
Ancient Greece

2. Prehistoric Aegean Art
Dates and Places:
BCE
Styles difined by regions: Cyclades Islands (Cycladic) Crete (Minoan) Peloponnesos (Mycenaean)
People:
Kings, priests, warriors
Described in Homer’s Iliad

3. Prehistoric Aegean Art
Themes:
Human figures
Nature
Funerary offerings
Palaces and citadels
Forms:
Formal conventions vary
Post-and-lintel and masonry construction
Stairwell in the residential quarter at the palace at Knossos, ca BCE, Fig. 2-4.

4. Prehistoric Aegean: Cycladic
Dates and Places:
BCE
Cyclades Islands
People:
Little known
Example:
Schematic figures
Painted funerary offerings
Figurine of a woman, ca BCE, Fig. 2-2.

5. Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan
Dates and Places:
BCE
Island of Crete
People:
Palace builders
Prosperous
Rituals involving animals
Octopus jar, ca BCE, Fig. 2-7.

6. Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan
Aerial view of the palace at Knossos, ca BCE, Fig. 2-3.

7. Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan
Example:
Labyrinthine yet open palace plan
Light and air wells
Open courtyard
Wood columns with bulbous capitals
Administrative, commercial and religious center
Aerial view of the palace at Knossos, ca BCE, Fig. 2-3.

8. Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan
Bull-leaping from the palace at Knossos, ca BCE, Fig. 2-5.

9. Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan
Example:
Palace fresco paintings of people and nature
Conventional representations by gender
Minoan figures slender and animated
Bull-leaping from the palace at Knossos, ca BCE,
Fig. 2-5.

10. Prehistoric Aegean: Mycenaean
Dates and Places:
BCE
Mainland Greece
People:
Kings and warriors
Prosperous
Ancestors of the Greeks
Funerary mask, ca BCE, Fig

11. Prehistoric Aegean: Mycenaean
Lion Gate, Mycenae, ca BCE, Fig

12. Prehistoric Aegean: Mycenaean
Example:
Citadel built of Cyclopean masonry
Corbeled arch
Relief sculpture on relieving triangle
Inside: tholos with dome housing funerary goods
Lion Gate, Mycenae, ca BCE, Fig

13. Greek Art Dates and Places: 900-30 BCE
Greek mainland and nearby outposts
People:
Democratic city-states
Human-centered
Poetry, philosophy, Olympic games
Worship of gods
Kritios Boy, ca. 480 BCE, Fig

14. Greek Art Themes: Humans Mythology Trojan War Forms:
Conceptual→Optical
Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders
Mathematical proportion
Restored façade of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, ca BCE, Fig

15. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Geometric krater, ca. 740 BCE, Fig

16. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Example:
Abstracted human figure
Storytelling
Two-dimensional
Geometric krater, ca. 740 BCE, Fig

17. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Kroisos, ca. 530 BCE, Fig and Peplos Kore, 530 BCE, Fig

18. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Example:
Archaic kouros (female version is kore)
Egyptian pose but with motion
Nude hero
Archaic smile and paint to look lifelike
Kroisos, ca. 530 BCE, Fig

19. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Temple of Hera, ca. 550 BCE, Fig

20. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Example:
Doric temple
Mathematical order and proportion
Cult statue and pediment frieze reliefs
Temple of Hera, ca. 550 BCE, Fig

21. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Euthymides, Three Revelers, ca. 510 BCE, Fig

22. Greek: Geometric and Archaic
Example:
Red-figure vase painting
Signed by artist
Narrative with varied poses
Red-figure painting allows for more detail
Foreshortening
Euthymides, Three Revelers, ca. 510 BCE, Fig

23. Greek: Classical
Polykleitos, Doryphoros, ca BCE, Fig

24. Greek: Classical Example: Marble copy of hollow-cast bronze sculpture
Contrapposto with ordered human motion
Asymmetrical balance
Canon of proportion
Polykleitos, Doryphoros, ca BCE, Fig

25. Restored view of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, Fig. 2-36.
Greek: Classical
Restored view of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, Fig

26. Greek: Classical Example: Doric Temple of Athena on Acropolis
Relief sculpture in pediments and friezes
Symmetria from numerical ratios
Adjusted for viewer’s eye
Plan of the Parthenon,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, 447–432 BCE, Fig

27. Greek: Classical
Achilles Painter, Warrior taking leave of his wife, ca. 440 BCE, Fig

28. Greek: Classical Example: White-ground lekythos
Emulates polychrome painting
Scene of daily life
Achilles Painter, Warrior taking leave of his wife, ca. 440 BCE, Fig

29. Greek: Late Classical
Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, ca BCE, Fig

30. Greek: Late Classical Example:
Late Classical less interested in order and perfection
Sensuousness despite modest pose
Roman marble copy
Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, ca BCE, Fig

31. Greek: Late Classical
Philoxenos of Eretria, Battle of Issus, ca. 310 BCE, Fig

32. Greek: Late Classical Example: Roman mosaic copy of Greek painting
Natural light and shadows
Motion and expression
Foreshortening
Alexander versus Persian king Darius
Philoxenos of Eretria, Battle of Issus, ca. 310 BCE, Fig

33. Greek: Hellenistic
Altar of Zeus, ca. 175 BCE, Fig

34. Greek: Hellenistic Example: Kingdoms rise after death of Alexander
Monument to Zeus
Motion, emotion, drama
Dramatic light and shadow for narrative
Altar of Zeus, ca. 175 BCE, Fig

35. Greek: Hellenistic
Old market woman, ca BCE, Fig

36. Greek: Hellenistic Example:
New interest in realism versus idealism of Classical era
Representation of aging process
Different types of people, not just heroes and gods
New social climate
Old market woman, ca BCE, Fig

37. Greek: Hellenistic
Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön, first century CE, Fig

38. Greek: Hellenistic Example: Sculpture for Roman patron
Found in Emperor Titus’ home, described by Pliny
Trojan priest punished by gods
Emotional through pose and facial expression
Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön, first century CE, Fig