Dr. Fredricksmeyer
World of the Ancient Greeks
Greek Idealism:
Philosophy, Sculpture, and Architecture
I. IDEALISM: PHILOSOPHY
Background
theoretical thinking (based on ideas) over practical thinking (based on observation)
etymology: idea (Gk. &id, Lat. vid): mental picture of something in its perfect state
[idealism defined: idealism: tendency to want something in reality to approximate
one’s mental picture of it in its perfect state]
reasons for this tendency among many Greeks includedupper-class disdain for practical thought/business
humanism and focus on man rather than natural world
theoretical issues such as virtue
[though interest also in physical well-being/medicine>observation]
observation (practical thinking) unreliable:
stick in water distorted
apparent change vs. permanent reality: life and death vs. spring every year
Pre-Socratics search for underlying, permanent reality:
Milesians (single source, e.g. water)
Parmenides (only permanence)
Herclitus (only change-panta rhei)
Democritus (change and permanence; a-toma)
Plato
Socrates the "Horsefly" (Stingray)
Plato and Platonic dialogues: philosophical dialectic with characterization and humor
Plato's Academy
Plato's Republic
the Cave
Platonic forms/idealism
unreliability of observation
the perfect state/utopia: social stratification
Guardians/Philosopher King (wisdom)
austerity: no money, property, family, or marriage; eugenic breeding
Soldiers (bravery)
Producers (productive-acquisitive urge)
elimination of poetry, art, music
Socrates' death (The Apology)
convicted for being anti-democratic, undermining state religion
punishment
Socrates recommends free meals at state expense
hemlock
Aristotle
Plato's disciple
the Lyceum
materialism: the "form" is inherent in objects; they are informed
Plato's Legacy
Alfred N. Whitehead: western philosophy = footnotes to Plato
recent vote of academic philosophers
Christianity: spiritual world more real than the world of matter
religion and politics: idealism to ideology
ideology: tendency to force something to approximate one’s
mental picture of it in its perfect state
dangerous elements of The Republic
class stratification
rule by elite that is closely associated with a
military
total subordination of the individual to the state
censorship
eugenics
from the Platonic forms to dystopia/ideologies:
Karl Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies (1938)
dystopias on the left and rightMarxism/Stalinist Russia (left)
Maoist China (left)
Nazism (right)
part of problem: Platonic equation of knowledge and virtue [vs. Phaedra in
Euripides' Hippolytus]
Other ideologies
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations; first vs. second and third editions
Laissez faire capitalism and the Industrial Revolution
anti-communism and American Realpolitik (right-wing)
McCarthyism
Latin America, esp. in the 1980's
II. IDEALISM (AND BEYOND): SCULPTURE
To review the slides, go to http://spot.colorado.edu/~fredrice/sculpture.ppt
I would recommend viewing these slides on a campus computer, or at home only if you have
DSL or some other fast connection to the web. Even on campus the slides can take about one
minute to download.
S = Slide
Visual language of Western World
Archaic (750-480)
Kouros (man-child) (S 1)
Korê (S 2)
both rigid, stylized, expressionless, less natural than later sculpture
orientalizing
Egyptian grid system (S 3)
Geometric vases (S 4)
advance: Archaic smile developed (S 5-6)
Classical (479-400)
Kritios boy (Severe Style: no smile) (S 7)
counterpose (contraposto): the chiasmus
idealization: the Platonic form of a male/male nudity
not overtly erotic
compare Michael Angelo's David (S 8)
rebirth (Renaissance) of classical culture
other versions of idealized maleness now possible:
Riace Warrior (S 9)
Artemision Zeus (S 10)
bronze
stronger and allows for more dynamic poses
most statues we have are roman copies of original Greek bronzes
Doryphoros (Spear-bearer) (S 11) (S 12)
vs. Kritos Boy (S 13)
dynamism and kineticism of pedimental sculptures (S 14-16)
Discobolos (Discus thrower) (S 17)
female representations
clothed (mostly, at least until the next century)
virginal, matronly, or androgynous: Orestes and Electra (S 18)
yet, 5th century hints at the female formAphrodite (S 19)
the three Fates (S 20)
Late Classical (400-423)
Female Nudity and Eroticism
Praxiteles' Aphrodite (S 21)
Realism (post-idealism)
loss of political freedoms
natural course of artistic evolution
Demosthenes (S 22), old age and anxiety
Hellenistic Period (323-31) and beyond
range of styles, including:
increasing female nudity and eroticism
overt male eroticism
increasing realism
pathos
baroque
increasing female nudity and eroticism
Crouching Aphrodite (S 23)
Venus de Milo (S 24)
overt male eroticism
early overt male eroticism the exception: Herms (S 25)
Barbarini Faun (S 26)
realism
Old Market Woman (S 27)
Terme Boxer (S 28)
Ludovisi Gaul (S 29)
Dying Gaul (S 30)
idealism and realism combined
Baroque/Pathos
baroque = exaggerated/pathos = suffering [pathos exists in Greek sculpture before baroque,
e.g., Dying Niobid of 5th cent., but they go well together]
exaggerated, melodramatic effects: bulging musculature and veins, open mouth, deep-set
eyes, snake-like hair
Laocoön and his sons (S 31-32)
Michael Angelo's Moses (S 33)
Sperlonga Odysseus (S 34-35)
Sperlonga Polyphemus (S36)
III. IDEALISM: ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTUAL SCULPTURE
To review the slides, go to http://spot.colorado.edu/~fredrice/arch.ppt
I would recommend viewing these slides on a campus computer, or at home only if you have
DSL or some other fast connection to the web. Even on campus the slides can take about one
minute to download.
S = Slide
A. General
Archaic public architecture
Egyptian influence
temples, theaters, stoa, etc.
Three Orders (see also TWTG 120)
Doric-plain capital, unfluted (S 1)
Ionic-rams' horns capital, fluted (S 2)
[Combination: plain capital, fluted] (S 3)
Corinthian-acanthus leaves capital (S 4)
Other distinguishing characteristics of the orders:
Doric: thicker, shorter, columns not resting on a base (S 5), pseudo-dipteral (S 6),
pedimental figures (S 7)
Ionic: thinner, taller, columns, resting on a base, dipteral (S 8), no pedimental figures
(S 9)
shared characteristics of temples (S 10 [=TWTG 121])
rectilinear
(Romans invented arch)
frieze: continuous, or triglyphs and metopes TMT (S 11)
most common types: Gigantomachy, Centauromachy, Amazonomachy
architrave
stylobate (see TWTG 120)
cella with statue of a god (S 12)
temples mostly painted (S 13-14)
positioning: usually facing east/sunrise
dramatically located, for example:
temple at Segesta (S 15-16)
temple of Poseidon at Sounion (S 17-18)
Delphi (S 19)
Athenian Acropolis/Parthenon (1 S 20-21)
best remains: temple of Poseidon at Paestum (S 22)
B. Architecture at Athens
destruction of pre-classical Acropolis after Thermopylae
Oath of Plataea (479)
compare Berlin's Memorial Church (S 23)
Agora (S 24-25)
including Stoa of Attalus (S 26)
Pericles (S 27)
Peace of Kallias (449)
Pericles' building program and beyond
Delian League
Acropolis-four main structures (S28-30):
Propylaea
Temple of Athena Nike
Parthenon
Erechtheum
Venetian canon 1687
Jacques 1674
Propylaea (S 31)
entrance Gate
double-porched
Pinakotheke (Art Gallery) to the left
Temple of Athena Nike (S 32)
with statue
first temple to depict historical event (Battle of Marathon)
Erechtheum (S 33)
Caryatids on the "Porch of Maidens" (S 34)
multiple cults
Athena Polias
Athena's olive tree
scrapes of Poseidon's trident
sacred snakes
Parthenon (S 35-36)
architects: Callicrates and Ictinos
marble (Pentelic)
dimensions: 31 X 70 m
painted (S 37)
Doric: doric columns, pseudo-dipteral
friezes
continuous: Panathenaic Procession (S 38-39)
triglyphs and metopes
Amazonomachy/Trojans (west)
Centauromachy and Trojan War (north and south) (S 40-42)
Gigantomachy (east) (S 43 at Pergamon)
pediments
west: contest between Athena and Poseidon (S 44)
east: birth of Athena
includes horses' head (S 45), and Aphrodite leaning on Dione [or Fates] (S 46)
statue of Athena Parthenos (S 47)
Phidias
Refinements to Parthenon (kinetic design)
stylobate curves upward
columns
slant inwards
convex
corner ones thicker
architrave curves upwards