Chapter 5
In the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. Greeks formed independent city states (Poleis)
By 6th century BCE. Athens rose to preeminence,
Early “democracy” or reperesentative government where all citizens
participated, though citizens were only Athenian men
Creation story involving battle between Gods and Giants
Greek gods Zeus, Hera and their offspring, sanctuaries sacred to gods
Geometric Period 900 to 700 BCE.
Tight banding of geometric decorations lines, dots, diamonds, cross-hatch
filled every available space, Dipylon cemetery Athens funerery vessels
“krater” large mixing vessel with no bottom marked grave
human figures in form of triangles, dots, thin rectangles, funeral depicted
Orientalizing Period (700-600 BCE)
Contact with Eastern civilizations (Near East, Egypt), freer use of negative
space, “olpe” or pitcher, silhouetted figures of lions, panthers, goats, deer,
bulls
Archaic Period (c. 600-BCE)
Sanctuary at Delphi, mountain site of sactuary to Apollo
Apollo communcated with humans through a medium (Pythia)
Treasuries held offerings of citizens
Treasury of the Syphnians, “caryatids” columns shped like female figures
Temples
Marble stone gradually replaced earlier mud brick and wood, housed cult
statue of gods
Temple of Aphaia, Aegina on island of Aegina dedicated to local goddess Aphaia
Exagerated taper or “entasis”, “pedament” held figural sculpture of gods
“peristyle” or row of columns, cella, stylobate, triglyphs, metopes
“Doric” order, “entablature”, “architrave”
Archaic sculpture, large eyes, archaic “smile”
Freestanding Korous and Kore figures found marking graves and in sanctuaries
Metropolitan Korous
Egytian proportion, large eyes, patternized hair
Anavysos Korous, more naturalistic proportion
“Peplos” Kore, pelos dress of Spartan women, rigid stance, archaic eyes/smile
Pottery
Black figure technique, 3 stage firing process, scenes from mythology
Red figure technique, allows more refine interior contour lines
Early Classical Period (480-450 BCE)
Kritian Boy 480 BCE from Athenian Acropolis
Contrapostto, naturalistic musculature
Charioteer of Delphi, comemorates a driver from the Pythian games of 478 BCE
Realism
Warrior (also called Riace Warrior) c. 460-450 BCE
Weight shift, realism, sometimes called “sever” style by historians
High Classical Period c. 450-400 BCE
Polykleitos sculptor, Polykleitan Canon of proportion
Athenian Acropolis
Parthenon, Propylaia, Erechtheion,Temple of Athena Nike
Parthenon begun c. 490 BCE (dedicated 438 BCE)
mathematical ratio 4:9, ideal proportions, purposeful distortion to
compensate for human eyesight, peripteral
pedament sculpture, Phedias, deeply carved drapery “wet”
Panathenaic frieze , drapery, spacial illusion, relief
Propylaia
Cermonial gate, first library, painting gallery
Erechtheion
Asymetrical, houses multiple religious sites
“Porch of the Maidens”, caryatids
Temple of Athena Nike
“Ionic order”
Late Classical Period c. 400-323 BCE
Praxiteles, soft modeling, s- curve, double weight shift
Lysippos, 8 heads high proportion, heroic atheletes, emphasizes body
Painting
Little survives of encaustic painting, but unerstand from Roman mosaic
Alexander the Ggreat confronts Darius III (Roman mosaic copy)
Foreshortening, reflections, cast shadows
Hellenistic Period 323-31/30 BCE
“supersize”, empire period, Alexnder
Theater at Epidaurus, skene, proskenion, parodos, tiered seating
Hellenistic sculpture
Realism, Pergamon style, pathos, drama, large scale, eldery and children
enemy combatants, erticism