GREECE part 1 de Beaufort

1. Ancient Greece
Part 1
1

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4
The Greek World

5. 5
Trade=middle class

6. Ethnē
There were four major ethnē into
which the Ancient Greeks, or
Hellenes, of the Classical period
considered themselves divided.
Doric, Aeolians, Acheans, Ionians
NEVER A CENTRALIZED EMPIRE
But spoke the same language.
(distinct from the “Barbarians” to
the north”
6

7. Polis
Not like other primordial ancient city-states which
were ruled by a king or a small oligarchy, but
rather a political entity ruled by its body of
citizens.
The body of citizens came to be the most
important meaning of the term polis in ancient
Greece as a polis.
Each polis had a different and unique
constitution..
7

8. Democracy
Cleisthenes, Father of Athenian
Democracy
Human centered, participatory
Liberal Arts “Free Skills”
knowledge for a good citizen
New Concept of Citizens however…
Democracy for citizens only
Slavery was common and acceptable
Athens: 30,000 citizens
10,000 foreigners (metics)
200,000 other ( women, slaves,
children)

9. Arete
"The most articulated value in Greek
culture is Areté. Translated as
"virtue," the word actually means
something closer to "being the best
you can be," or "reaching your
highest human potential.”
The man or woman of Areté is a
person of the highest effectiveness;
they use all their faculties: strength,
bravery, wit, and deceptiveness, to
achieve real results.
In the Homeric world, then, Areté
involves all of the abilities and
potentialities available to humans.
The concept implies a human-
centered universe in which
human actions are of paramount
importance; the world is a place
of conflict and difficulty, and
human value and meaning is
measured against individual
effectiveness in the world.
9

10. Olympiad
776 BCE
Greek history begins.
The historian Ephorus, is believed to
have established the use of Olympiads
to count years.
The Olympic Games were held at four-
year intervals, and later, the Greek
method of counting the years even
referred to these Games, using the term
Olympiad for the period between two
Games.
Previously, every Greek state used its
own dating system, something that
continued for local events, which led to
confusion when trying to determine
dates.
Banned 394 CE (pagan
festivity)
Reinstituted in 1894
10

11. Athens vs. Sparta
Sparta:
•Individual stripped of Individuality
•Garrison State
•Enslaved population (Helots)
•Autarchy (no trade)
•Whoever shouts the loudest wins
Athens
•Port city=Trade
•Active political involvement for
Citizens
•Slaves, but not as brutal as
Spartan (more like domestic
servants)
11

12. Athens vs. Persia
Democracy vs. Authority
Political involvement was a
personal responsibility.
Pericles:
Just because you do not take
an interest in politics doesn't
mean politics won't take an
interest in you.
Battle of Salamis-
12

13. Greek Society
Patriarchal
PATRI ( Father) dominates
Society is Homo “Social”
Men did not marry until 30, and
then their wives were 12-16
years old
Women seldom left the house.

14. Symposium
All-Male party
Except for…..
Hetaerae
“companians”
14

15. Hetaera
Men did not marry until they were thirty
or so and with such little opportunity to
see let alone chat with respectable
citizen women outside their immediate
family, it is perhaps understandable that
prostitution was an important part of
their life, and the many men who came
without families from the various Greek
colonies to seek employment in
prosperous Athens helped to make the
sex trade a major industry. Prostitution
was legal and morally acceptable.
In an age and society where
“respectable” women were entirely
dependent on the men in their life, a
talented hetaera was able to live on her
own terms and accumulate enough
money to live in style and comfort.
http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/prostitutesandhetaeraeinancientathens.htm
15

16. Titans
A race of powerful deities,
descendants of Gaia (earth) and
Uranus (sky), that ruled during the
legendary Golden Age.
The Titans were overthrown by a
race of younger gods, the
Olympians, in the Titanomachy
("War of the Titans") which effected
a mythological paradigm shift that
the Greeks may have borrowed
from the Ancient Near East.
16

17. Olympians
The principal deities of the Greek
pantheon, residing atop Mount
Olympus.
The Olympians gained their
supremacy in a war of gods in
which Zeus led his siblings to
victory over the Titans.
The Olympic Gods acted and
looked human.
17

18. Gigantomachy
A struggle for control
Olympians vs. Progenitors (Chaos)
An idea of civilization as “progress”.
18

19. Implications:
Animism is Over
Centaur (right)
Satyr (below)
Animals are seen as without reason,
Acting on impulse, instinct. Usually
sexual and violent.
19

20. Implications:
Animism is Over
Nature and Man are distinct
Man must overcome his animal side
through the instrument of civilization
Theseus slaying the Minotaur.
20

21. Homer
Iliad/Odyssey
Epic Oral Poem (memorized)
Gods have formed a “Council”
Tries to create a “Unified Theory” in
the actions of the Gods, a
“democracy” of sorts
21

22. Zeus
King of the gods and ruler of Mount
Olympus; god of the sky and
thunder.
Symbols include the thunderbolt,
eagle, oak tree, scepter and scales.
Brother and husband of Hera,
although he had many lovers.
22

23. Hera
Queen of the gods and the
goddess of marriage and family.
Symbols include the peacock,
pomegranate, crown, cuckoo, lion
and cow.
Wife and sister of Zeus. Being the
goddess of marriage, she
frequently tried to get revenge on
Zeus' lovers and their children.
23

24. Poseidon
Lord of the seas, earthquakes and
horses.
Symbols include the horse, bull,
dolphin and trident.
Brother of Zeus and Hades.
Married to the Nereid Amphitrite,
although, like most male Greek
Gods, he had many lovers.
24

25. Demeter
Goddess of fertility, agriculture,
nature, and the seasons.
Symbols include the poppy, wheat,
torch, and pig.
Her Latin name, Ceres, gave us the
word cereal."
25

26. Ares
God of war, violence and
bloodshed.
Symbols include the boar, serpent,
dog, vulture, spear and shield.
Son of Zeus and Hera, all the other
gods (excluding Aphrodite)
despised him.
His Latin name, Mars, gave us the
word "martial."
26

27. Athena
Virgin goddess of wisdom,
handicrafts, defense and strategic
warfare.
Symbols include the owl and the
olive tree.
Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid
Metis, she rose from her father's
head fully grown and in full battle
armor after he swallowed her
mother.
27

28. Apollo
God of light, knowledge, music,
poetry, prophecy and archery.
Symbols include the sun, lyre, bow
and arrow, raven, dolphin, wolf,
swan and mouse.
Twin brother of Artemis. Youngest
child of Zeus and Leto.
28

29. Artemis
Virgin goddess of the hunt,
virginity, childbirth, archery and all
animals.
Symbols include the moon, deer,
hound, she-bear, snake, cypress
tree and bow and arrow.
Twin sister of Apollo. Eldest child of
Zeus and Leto.
29

30. Dionysus
God of wine, celebrations and
ecstasy. Patron god of the art of
theatre.
Symbols include the grapevine, ivy,
cup, tiger, panther, leopard, dolphin
and goat. Son of Zeus and the
mortal Theban princess Semele.
Married to the Cretan princess
Ariadne.
The youngest Olympian, as well as
the only one to have been born of a
mortal woman.
30

31. Aphrodite
Goddess of love, beauty, and
desire.
Symbols include the dove, bird,
apple, bee, swan, myrtle and rose.
Daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid
Dione, or perhaps born from the
sea foam after Uranus' blood
dripped onto the earth and into the
sea after being defeated by his
youngest son Cronus.
Married to Hephaestus, although
she had many adulterous affairs,
most notably with Ares. Her name
gave us the word "aphrodisiac".
31

32. Hephaistos
Master blacksmith and craftsman of
the gods; god of fire and the forge.
Symbols include fire, anvil, ax,
donkey, hammer, tongs and quail.
Son of Hera, either by Zeus or
alone. After he was born, his
parents threw him off Mount
Olympus, and he landed on the
island of Lemnos.
Married to Aphrodite, though unlike
most divine husbands, he was
rarely ever licentious. His Latin
name, Vulcan, gave us the word
"volcano."
32

33. Hermes
Messenger of the gods; god of
commerce and thieves.
Symbols include the caduceus
(staff entwined with two snakes),
winged sandals and cap, stork and
tortoise (whose shell he used to
invent the lyre).
Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia.
33

34. Speculative
Philosophy
Eventually Myths become less
important (Classical Age), only
believed by the underclass.
Skepticism
Epistemology-
a theory of knowledge based on
direct observation
34

35. Forces exist in
OPPOSITION to MAN
Fate
Natural Chaos
Humans more orderly than Nature
In a Human centered world, matter is
liberated from Spirit, acts IMPERSONALLY
Should remind us of Egyptian concept of Chaos vs Order
Greeks focus more on the human rather
than divine role in preventing chaos/
35

36. What is Real in a World that
is Constantly Changing?
What is Reality and What is
Appearance?
Heraclitus:
Can you step in the same river
twice?
36

37. Socrates
Credited as one of the founders of
Western philosophy, he is an
enigmatic figure known chiefly
through the accounts of later
classical writers, especially the
writings of his student Plato.
Socratic method, or elenchus.
37

38. Socrates
Elenchus
A commonly used tool in a wide
range of discussions, and is a type
of pedagogy in which a series of
questions are asked not only to
draw individual answers, but also to
encourage fundamental insight into
the issue at hand.
The “Socratic Method”
38

39. “Critical Thinking” is
Dangerous
Rather than upholding a status quo
and accepting the development of
what he perceived as immorality
within his region, Socrates
questioned the collective notion of
"might makes right" that he felt was
common in Greece during this
period.
Plato refers to Socrates as the
"gadfly" of the state (as the gadfly
stings the horse into action, so
Socrates stung various Athenians),
insofar as he irritated some people
with considerations of justice and the
pursuit of goodness.
His attempts to improve the
Athenians' sense of justice may have
been the source of his execution.
Plato was skeptical of DEMOCRACY
(saw it as mob rule)
What can Democracy do well?
Where does it lack ?
39

40. Plato
He who sees with his eyes is blind-
this idea is most famously captured in
his allegory of the cave.
The allegory of the cave is a
paradoxical analogy wherein Socrates
argues that the invisible world is the
most intelligible ("noeton") and that the
visible world ("(h)oraton") is the least
knowable, and the most obscure.
40

41. Aristotle
Interested in observable specific
reality rather than abstract ideas.
Aristotle disagreed with Plato,
arguing that all universals are
instantiated. For Aristotle, there are
no universals that are unattached
to existing things.
41

42. The Universe Has Order
and Makes Sense:
Great chain of being
The central concept of the chain of
being is that everything imaginable fits
into it somewhere (hierarchy), giving
order and meaning to the universe.
42

43. Plato=Universals
Aristotle=Particulars
43

44. Pottery
Pottery was made of terra cotta
(earthenware material) which
may or may not be glazed
Black-figure pottery was
popular.
Figures were painted in black
Details were incised with a
sharp tool, exposing the
orange clay below
Vase was fired to turn the
painted figures black and the
surface areas orange
Red-figure vases involved
reversal of this process

45. Hydria: water jug with 3
handles: two for lifting and the
top for pouring
Lekythos: flask for pouring oil
Krater: bowl for mixing wine
and water
Amphora: vessel for storing
olive oil, wine, honey, or water
Kylix: drinking cup
Oenachoe: jug for pouring wine

46. 46
Geometric krater, from the Dipylon
cemetery, Athens, Greece, ca. 740
BCE. 3’ 4 1/2” high. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.

47. Geometric Style
The main scene, which occupies the widest
portion of the vase, shows the prothesis, a
ritual in ancient Greek funerary practice in
which the deceased is laid out on a high bed
(bier), usually within the house.
During the prothesis, relatives and friends
may come to mourn and pay their respects to
the deceased. Here, the figure seated at the
foot of the bier may be the dead man's wife,
and the smaller figure on her lap their child.
Emphasis on surviving mourners.
Death is mysterious-no real afterlife.
47

48. 48

49. Krater has no bottom- all libations spill into the
earth.
49

50. 50
Lady of Auxerre, ca. 650–625 BCE. Limestone, 2’ 1 1/2”
high. Louvre, Paris.
Daedalic Period
Daedalus “the skillful one”
Minoan Crete

51. 51

52. 52

53. Archaic Period
Close ties to Egypt are evident
Kouros=male youth
Grave markers
53

54. 54

55. 55
Kouros, ca. 600 BCE. Marble, 6’ 1/2” high. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.

56. 56

57. 57

58. 58
Kouros, ca. 600 BCE. Marble, 6’ 1/2” high. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.
Frontal
Left foot advancing
Arms are held
Fist clenched
Funerary purpose
Liberated from stone block
Nude

59. 59

60. 60

61. 61

62. 62

63. 63
Calf Bearer, dedicated by Rhonbos on the
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 560 BCE. Marble,
restored height 5’ 5”; fragment 3’ 11 1/2” high.
Acropolis Museum, Athens.

64. 64
notice the big X
..and the smile

65. 65
The “Archaic Smile”

66. 66

67. 67
Kroisos, from Anavysos, Greece, ca. 530 BCE. Marble,
6’ 4” high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

68. Kroisos 530 BC Marble 6’ 4”
Not a portrait
Grave marker
“Archaic Smile”
More naturalistic
Orig. painted in encaustic
"stay and mourn at the tomb
of dead Kroisos, whom raging
Ares destroyed one day as he
fought in the foremost ranks."

69. 69

70. 70

71. 71

72. NUDITY
Ancient Greece had a particular
fascination for aesthetics, which was
also reflected in clothing or lack
thereof. Sparta had rigorous codes of
training and physical exercise in the
nude. Athletes would compete in the
nude in public sporting events. Spartan
women, as well as men, would
sometimes be nude in public
processions and festvals.
Nudity=Heroic
Large penis=animalistic, barbaric
Small penis is more civilized
72

73. 73

74. 74
Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece,
ca. 530 BCE. Marble, 4’ high. Acropolis Museum,
Athens.

75. 75

76. 76
Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece,
ca. 530 BCE. Marble, 4’ high. Acropolis Museum,
Athens.
Notice traces of encaustic paint on
the Peplos Kore. Most Greek stone
statues were painted.
Notice also that the Peplos Kore is
clothed.

77. 77

78. 78

79. 79

80. 80
Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca.
520–510 BCE. Marble, 1’ 9” high. Acropolis
Museum, Athens.

81. Sanctuary
Sacred space
Natural setting is integrated in
overall design
81

82. Plan of a typical peripteral Greek temple.
Peripteral: having a single row of pillars on all sides
82
Peripteral Greek Temple

83. 83
Temple of Hera I (“Basilica”), Paestum, Italy, ca. 550 BCE.

84. The Cult Figure
The cult figure occupies the
temple center

85. 85

86. Parts of a Temple: The Doric
Order as Example
The main column is known as
a shaft, with 20 flutes running
lengthwise
The foot is known as the
stylobate
The top part of the column is
called the neck
See diagram for other parts of
the column

87. The Three Orders of Columns

88. Comparing the Three Orders
The Doric is the simplest, with
no decoration at the top
The Ionic contains volutes
(scroll shapes) that replace the
echinus (the bulge above the
necking) of the Doric
The Corinthian has a flowery
capital just above the necking

89. 89
Geometric krater, from the Dipylon
cemetery, Athens, Greece, ca. 740
BCE. 3’ 4 1/2” high. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.

90. Orientalizing Style
Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Persian
influences
90

91. Black-Figure Pottery

92. 92
EXEKIAS, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice game (detail from an Athenian black-figure amphora),
from Vulci, Italy, ca. 540–530 BCE. Whole vessel 2’ high; detail 8 1/2” high. Musei Vaticani, Rome.

93. 93
ANDOKIDES PAINTER, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice game (Athenian bilingual amphora), from
Orvieto, Italy, ca. 525–520 BCE. Black-figure side (left) and red-figure side (right). 1’ 9” high.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

94. 94
EUTHYMIDES, Three revelers (Athenian
red-figure amphora), from Vulci, Italy, ca.
510 BCE. 2’ high. Staatliche
Antikensammlungen, Munich.

95. Transition to Classical
Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, Greece,
ca. 500–490 BCE.
Local Goddess of fertility
95

96. 96
Plan (left) and GUILLAUME-ABEL BLOUET’S 1828 restored view of the façade
(right) of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, Greece, ca. 500–490 BCE.

97. 97

98. 98
Dying warrior, from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, Greece, ca. 500–490
BCE. Marble, 5’ 2 1/2” long. Glyptothek, Munich.

99. 99
Dying warrior, from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, Greece, ca. 480 BCE.
Marble, 6’ 1” long. Glyptothek, Munich.

100. 100

101. Dying Warriors
(Temple of Aphaia)
Fake smile vs. real pain
outward vs. inward
a classical revolution

102. 102
East pediment from the Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, ca. 470–456 BCE. Marble, 87’ wide.
Archaeological Museum, Olympia.

103. E Pediment (Temple of Zeus) 470-456 BCE
• Chariot race btw Pelops and King Oinomaos
• Center Zeus, Oino and wife, Pelops and Hippodamia

104. 104
Seer, from the east pediment of
the Temple of Zeus, Olympia,
Greece, ca. 470–456 BCE.
Marble, full figure 4’ 6” high;
detail 3’ 2 1/2” high.
Archaeological Museum,
Olympia.

105. Seer
Keeping it “REAL”
Old age
Wrinkled
Saggy
Gray hair
Emotional
Horrified expression

106. 106
Athena, Herakles, and Atlas
with the apples of the
Hesperides, metope from
the Temple of Zeus,
Olympia, Greece, ca. 470–
456 BCE. Marble, 5’ 3” high.
Archaeological Museum,
Olympia.

107. 107
Early Classical :Severe
Style; no emotion

108. 108
Kritios Boy, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 480
BCE. Marble, 2’ 10” high. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

110. 110
Kritios Boy, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 480
BCE. Marble, 2’ 10” high. Acropolis Museum, Athens.
Kritios Boy is the earliest known example of
contrapposto, a relaxed and natural stance.
Notice how his weight shifts to his left leg and
how his head turns slightly to his right.
Also notice absence of Archaic smile.