Early Greece
History of Early Greece
 The Heroic Age
 The Age of Colonization
 Development of the Aristocracy
 Wealth and Overpopulation
 Founding of Colonies
 The Archaic Period
[Image 2.1]
Zeus of Artemision
Bronze,
circa(Poseidon?)
460 - 450 B.C.
Zeus
2.09 m (6' 10.5") high,
2.10 m (6' 10.75") fingertip to fingertip.
Found in the sea near cape Artemisio
Homer and the Heroic Age
 Significance of the Polis
 Religion, Mythology and
Folklore
(to be discussed further)
 Art & Literature vs. Prayer
The Iliad & The Odyssey
 “the Homeric question”
 Oral Tradition
 Elaborate Similes
 Iliad
 Theme of Human Responsibility
 Odyssey
 Return of the Epic Hero
Art and Society
 Painted Vases
 Protogeometric(1000-900 B.C.E.)
 Concentric circles, semi-circles
 Geometric (900-700 B.C.E.)
 Linear designs, the meander
 Human Forms (~800 B.C.E.)
 Amphoras
Age of Colonization
 Prosperity of City-States
 Competition, Image
 Wealth + Over-Population =
Colonization
 Development of the Aristocracy
 Founding of Colonies
 Italy, Sicily, Egypt, Asia Minor
 Trade and Cultural Exposure
 Orientalizing
Visual Arts
at Corinth and Athens
 Corinthian Art (Corinthia – city
in Pelopennese)
 Eastern Motifs
 Commercially Successful
 Athenian Art
 Narrative style (Myth, Daily Life)
 Trade Rivalry: Corinth vs. Athens
The Beginnings of
Greek Sculpture
 Near Eastern and Egyptian
influences
 Kore, Kouros
 Increasing Realism, Naturalism
 Careful study of human anatomy
 Representation of Life and vigor
The frontal pose, the left foot extended forward, the arms attached or close to
the hips, the rigid pose, and the mysterious smile are all characteristics of the
Kouros (male) and Kore (female) statues of the Archaic period. The sculpture of
the Archaic Greek style is evidently influenced by ancient Egypt as the
commerce between the two countries was flourishing
The frontal pose, the left foot extended forward, arms not attached but close to the
hips, the rigid pose, and still the mysterious smile.
Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
600 to 480 BCE
 Solon’s Legal Reformations
 was a famous Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker, and Poet.
efforts to legislate against political, economic and
moral decline in archaic Athens. Some of his reforms
failed. yet he is often credited with having laid the
foundations for Athenian democracy.
 [Tyrants / Artistic Patronage
 Artistic Developments




Freestanding Figures
High & Low Relief Carvings
The “Archaic Smile”
Vase Painting
 Black- and Red-Figure Styles
[Image 2.9]
Calf-Bearer
[Image 2.10]
Peplos Kore
[Image 2.13]
Kritios Boy
[Image 2.15]
Euphronios, painter, Euxitheos,
potter, red-figure calyx krater
Architecture:
The Doric Order
 Simple dignity
 No Base/20 flutes
 Capital
 Echinus, Abacus
 Entablature
 Architrave, frieze,
triglyphs/metopes
 Cornice, Pediment
[Image 2.16]
Basilica at Paestum
Architecture:
The Ionic Order
 Ornate, fanciful
 Tiered Base/24 flutes
 Capital
 Volutes
 3-D Architraves
 Running Frieze
Architecture:
The Corinthian Order

The Corinthian order is one of the Classical orders of Greek
and Roman architecture, characterized by a slender fluted
column and an ornate capital decorated with leaves and
scrolls.
Music and Dance
in Early Greece
 Doctrine of Ethos (Musical Theory)
 Dorian, Phrygian modes
 Music=Primarily vocal
 Paean, dithyramb
 Instrumentation
 Cithera, aulos
 Significance of Narratives
 Music and Dance
Literature and Philosophy

Hesiod
 Theogony - Poetic account of the greek Gods

Lyric verse vs. Heroic verse
Lyric from the Lyre – was sung personal, subjective
Sappho – Famous Lyric Poet in Lesbos Island
HEROIC – Epic, adventure, quest, Human Existence

Presocratic Philosophers
 Materialists, Pythagoreanism, Dualists, Atomists
 Thales of Miletus
 Anaxagoras
 Empedocles
 Pythagoras
 Parmenides
 Heraclitus
 Leucippus
 Democritus

Herodotus (Father of History)
 The History of the Persian Wars
 Right over Might