Module 1: Greek Art - Ancient World

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, periods, architectural orders, and artworks of Ancient Greek Art.

Ancient Art

Art created parallel to Prehistoric art, but originating from faster-advancing civilizations between 4,000/3,000 B.C.E. and 400 A.D./C.E.

Neolithic Age (Greece)

A period from 7000 to 3200 BCE in Greece marked by significant advancements in farming, stock breeding, and tools.

Megaron

A rectangular house with a porch and columns from the Neolithic Age that evolved into the architectural layout for Greek palace halls and temples.

Queen's Megaron Reconstruction

A romantic reconstruction drawing by Emile Gilli)ron the younger from the papers of Arthur Evans relating to excavations in Crete (1922-1926).

Aegean Civilization

The Greek Bronze Age (roughly 3000-1100 BCE) consisting of three distinct, coexisting, and overlapping cultures around the Aegean Sea: Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean.

Cycladic Civilization

An Aegean culture (c. 3300-2000 BCE) centered in the Cyclades islands, famous for flat marble figurines, particularly female idols with elongated noses.

Minoan Civilization

A Bronze Age culture located on Crete (c. 2700-1100 BCE) credited with establishing European foundations, utilizing Linear A writing, nature/animal frescoes, animal-head rhyta, and bull symbolism.

Minoan Bull Leaping Fresco

A fresco depicting bull leaping from Minoan Knossos during the Final Palatial period (1450-1400 BCE), stored in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete.

Mycenaean Civilization

A warrior culture on mainland Greece (c. 3200-1050 BCE) known for the Trojan War, formal geometric art, battle frescoes, and the Lion Gate relief.

Greek Dark Ages

A period of societal decline (1100-750 BCE) following the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, also known as the Homeric period.

Geometric Period

An era of Greek art (900-700 BCE) characterized by abstract geometric patterns and figures on pottery, with a scarcity of inscriptions due to lost literacy.

Archaic Period

A period beginning in the 7th century BCE marked by increasing human naturalism, Eastern/Egyptian influences (lotus, griffins, sphinxes), and the rise of Greek city-states (poleis).

Kouros

A freestanding, nude marble statue of a young male from the Archaic period, symbolizing athletic strength and ideal beauty, used as a grave marker or sanctuary offering.

Kore

A freestanding, fully clothed marble statue of a young woman from the Archaic period, symbolizing femininity and wealth, typically dedicated in sanctuaries.

Archaic Smile

A visual feature of Archaic statues characterized by a subtle curve of the lips, creating an ambiguous expression that conveys presence without overt emotion.

Lady of Auxerre

A Daedalic (Early Archaic) limestone statue of a woman (c. 640-630 B.C.E.), measuring 75 cm high, illustrating early Greek sculpted forms.

Doric Order

The oldest and simplest Greek architectural order, featuring stout fluted columns without bases and plain circular capitals (echinus and abacus).

Ionic Order

An architectural order originating in Ionia, recognized by scroll-like volutes on column capitals and molded base supports beneath the column shaft.

Corinthian Order

The most ornate Greek architectural order, developed in the mid-5th century BCE and characterized by capitals carved with stylized acanthus leaves.

Parthenon

A peripteral Doric temple on the Acropolis of Athens, designed by Ictinus and Callicrates between 447 and 432 BCE to honor the goddess Athena.

Erechtheion

An asymmetrical Ionic temple built between 421 and 406 BCE on the Acropolis of Athens, famous for its Porch of the Maidens featuring Caryatid columns.

Classical Period

A period ushered in by the Greek defeat of the Persians in 479 BCE, centered in Athens and defined by harmony, ideal proportions, naturalism, and contrapposto.

Canon of Proportions

A theoretical system of mathematical ratios formulated by sculptor Polykleitos to construct the ideal proportions of the human figure.

Contrapposto

A sculptured pose where weight shifts onto one standing leg, creating a naturalistic S-curve posture and relaxing the rest of the body.

Doryphoros

A famous sculpture ('Spear Bearer', c. 440 BCE) by Polykleitos created to demonstrate his mathematical Canon of Proportions in physical form.

Discobolus

A 5th-century BCE sculpture by Myron depicting an athlete preparing to hurl a discus, demonstrating dynamic movement within a contrapposto framework.

Aphrodite of Knidos

A 4th-century BCE statue by Praxiteles that pioneered the life-sized female nude in monumental Greek sculpture.

Hellenistic Period

The era from 323 to 27 BCE following Alexander the Great's death, marked by theatricality, dramatic motion, heightened emotion, hyper-realism, and broader subject matter.

The Dying Gaul

A Hellenistic statue by Epigonus (c. 230-220 BCE) depicting a defeated Gaul in his final moments, evoking intense emotional anguish and realism.

Nike of Samothrace

A Parian marble Hellenistic statue (c. 190 BCE), also known as Winged Victory, depicting the goddess Nike landing on a ship's prow to celebrate a naval victory.