Greek Art from Prehistoric to Classical – Key Vocabulary

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A set of key vocabulary terms and their definitions drawn from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s educator resource on Greek art, covering religion, social customs, warfare, architecture, sculpture, and ceramics from the prehistoric to classical periods.

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61 Terms

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Anthropomorphic

Having human form and characteristics; describes the Greek gods, who were imagined as human in shape and personality.

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Zeus

Sky-god, king and father of the Olympian deities; sacred symbols include the ox and the oak tree.

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Hera

Queen of the gods, sister-wife of Zeus; often shown wearing a tall crown called a polos.

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Athena

Goddess of wisdom, war strategy, weaving, and carpentry; depicted in armor with helmet, spear, and Medusa’s head on her aegis.

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Apollo

God of music, prophecy, and healing; associated with the kithara and bow, and honored at Delphi.

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Artemis

Goddess of hunting and wild nature; usually shown with bow, quiver, and deer.

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Hermes

Messenger god; recognized by winged sandals and the herald’s staff called the kerykeion (caduceus).

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Aphrodite

Goddess of love and beauty; born from sea foam according to myth.

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Dionysos

God of wine, theater, and ecstasy; followers include satyrs and maenads.

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Ares

God of war and bloodshed; counterpart to Athena’s strategic warfare.

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Hephaistos

Lame god of fire and metalworking; divine blacksmith of Olympus.

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Mount Olympos

Highest mountain in mainland Greece; mythic home of the twelve Olympian gods.

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Sanctuary

Sacred precinct dedicated to a deity; contained temple, altar, and usually an enclosure wall.

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Temenos

Boundary wall or sacred enclosure that set a sanctuary apart from secular space.

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Altar

Outdoor structure within a sanctuary where animal sacrifices and libations were performed.

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Votive Offering

Object dedicated at a sanctuary as thanks or petition to a deity.

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Panhellenic Festivals

Major religious-athletic gatherings at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, and Isthmia attended by Greeks from across the Mediterranean.

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Olympia

Site of the Olympic Games held every four years in honor of Zeus beginning in 776 B.C.

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Delphi

Sanctuary of Apollo and location of the famous oracle considered the center of the world.

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Nemea

Site of games in honor of Zeus, part of the Panhellenic circuit.

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Isthmia

Sanctuary near Corinth where games honored Poseidon.

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Mystery Cult

Religious group with secret rites open only to initiates, such as the mysteries at Eleusis.

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Eleusis

Town near Athens famous for Demeter’s mystery cult promising blessed afterlife to initiates.

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Psyche (Greek concept)

The animate spirit or ‘breath’ that leaves the body at death.

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Prothesis

Funerary vigil over the deceased’s body held in the home before burial.

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Ekphora

Funeral procession that carried the body from house to cemetery, usually before dawn.

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Greek Immortality

Achieved through lasting remembrance by the living rather than a blissful afterlife.

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Symposium

Regulated drinking party for male citizens featuring conversation, poetry, music, and games.

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Symposiarch

Master of ceremonies at a symposium who set drinking rules and water-to-wine ratios.

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Krater

Large mixing bowl for diluting wine with water at symposia.

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Hoplite

Heavily armed Greek infantryman equipped with spear, sword, bronze armor, and large round shield.

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Phalanx

Tightly packed rectangular formation of hoplites fighting with overlapping shields and spears.

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Hoplon

Round bronze-faced wooden shield about 30 inches in diameter carried by hoplites.

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Hippeis

Second wealthiest Athenian class able to afford a horse; served as cavalry.

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Zeugitai

Middle Athenian property class who could equip themselves as hoplite infantry.

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Pentakosiomedimnoi

Wealthiest Athenian class (“five-hundred-bushel men”) who provided military leaders.

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Thetes

Lowest Athenian class; served mainly as rowers in the fleet or as light troops.

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Doric Order

One of the main Greek architectural systems, with simple capitals, no column base, and triglyph-metope frieze.

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Ionic Order

Classical architectural order marked by bases and capitals with volutes resembling scrolls.

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Corinthian Order

Later Greek order distinguished by elaborate acanthus-leaf capitals.

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Pediment

Triangular gable end of a temple roof often filled with sculptural groups.

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Entablature

Horizontal superstructure above columns, including architrave, frieze, and cornice.

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Column

Vertical support comprised of base (except Doric), fluted shaft, and capital.

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Stylobate

Top step of the temple’s stepped platform on which columns stand.

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Flute (column)

Vertical concave groove running along a column shaft; separated by arrises or fillets.

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Lost-Wax Casting

Technique for bronze sculpture in which a wax model is replaced by molten metal.

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Direct Method (lost-wax)

Bronze casting where wax is modeled directly over a core before investment and casting.

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Indirect Method (lost-wax)

Bronze casting using reusable molds to produce hollow wax replicas for large statues.

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Bronze

Copper-tin alloy favored by Greek sculptors for durability and lifelike coloration.

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Black-Figure Technique

Early Athenian vase-painting method (c. 600–500 B.C.) with figures painted in glossy slip that fires black; details incised.

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Red-Figure Technique

Later vase-painting style (from c. 530 B.C.) leaving figures the red clay color while background is glossed black, allowing freer drawing.

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Gloss (vase painting)

Refined clay slip applied to vases; turns black during firing to create decorative contrast.

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Oxidizing Stage

First kiln phase in which ample oxygen reddens the entire vase.

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Reducing Stage

Middle kiln phase where oxygen is cut off and smoke turns the vase surface black.

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Amasis Painter

Renowned black-figure artist active ca. 560–515 B.C.; noted for balanced, precise compositions.

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Exekias

Master potter-painter (ca. 550–530 B.C.) celebrated for monumental black-figure scenes and innovations like the eye-cup.

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Euphronios

Early red-figure painter famed for dynamic anatomy and bold foreshortening; active ca. 520–500 B.C.

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Kylix

Shallow, footed drinking cup with horizontal handles, popular at symposia.

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Lekythos

Slender oil-flask, often white-ground, commonly used as a grave offering.

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White-Ground Technique

Vase-painting method applying a light slip to provide a white background for colored figures, especially on lekythoi.

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Kerameikos

Potters’ quarter of Athens where many black- and red-figure vases were produced.