Greek Art and Archaeology Midterm

Helladic

Bronze age civilizations of the Greek mainland

Cycladic

pre-Greek cultures of the Cyclades

Minoan

Bronze age civilization of Crete

Anatolia

Corresponds roughly to modern Turkey, Asia Minor

Mycenaean

Civilization of the Greek mainland in the Middle and Late Bronze Age; subgroup of Helladic

Aegean

sea between modern-day Greece and Turkey

Crete

large island in the Aegean, home to the Minoan civilization

style

characteristic features of a culture or an era; stylistic description do not pay much attention to meaning or content of works

Troy

town in northwest Anatolia; another Aegean civilization

stratigraphy

superimposed layers of an archaeological site

relative chronology

historical sequence in which it is known what is relatively earlier and later, though exact dates are not specified

absolute chronology

list of dates; the order in which things occur; also, scholarly study of such lists

medium

the material from which an object is made

Akrotiri

settlement on Thera that was buried by volcanic ash and preserved

Marine Style (LM IB)

Minoan pottery which marine motifs; shellfish, octopuses and other sea creatures

rhyta (LM IB)

conical horn-shaped or animal-shaped vessel

true fresco

pigment applied to damp plaster which dries to stony hardness; extremely durable

megaron (LH IIIB)

large rectangular room, often with a circular hearth at the center, preceded by a vestibule, a porch and an entry court; Mycenaean

stirrup jar (LH IIIC)

Mycenaean jar with stirrup-like handles, used for holding oil

tholos (EM I, MH III)

building or tomb with circular plan

Tiryns

Mycenaean state settling in MH

Thera

Cycladic island closest to Crete; volcanic eruption in LM IA/LC IA blew it sky-high

Pylos

Mycenaean state, location of Palace of Nestor

post-and-lintel

essential principle of Greek building; based on two upright elements spaced apart, with a flat element resting atop!

pier-and-door partition

multiple doorways with transoms, separated by piers

Phaistos

Minoan Bronze Age settlement; particularly rich in Kamares ware; location of Phaistos disk

Mycenae

important site on mainland Greece; center of Mycenaean civilization

shaft grave (MH II)

cist grave at bottom of a deep shaft

cist grave

small pit, often lined with stone and provided with a lid, used for burial

horns of consecration

Minoan stylized horns that decorate roof lines and some sacred scenes; may be related to Egyptian hieroglyph for mountain

ashlar

building block carved into a rectangular shape

pillar crypt (LM IA)

Minoan basement chamber with a single central pillar; may stand in for sacred caves, the pillar representing a stalactite

dromos

long passage giving access to a tomb

Gray Minyan Ware (MH II-III)

unpainted but fired and burnished to a silvery gray

Grave Circle A (LH IA-IIA)

At Mycenae, circular enclosure containing 6 shaft graves with 19 people; large amount of wealth

faience

glass-like ceramic derived from Egypt

Keros

Cycladic island; Keros-Syros culture flourished in EC II, folded-arm figurines

Kolonna

location of first shaft grave (MH II)

Kamares ware (MM IIB)

ceramic with light-on-dark style featuring flat vegetal motifs in mobile, flowing patterns

lustral basin (LM I)

Minoan indoor sunken area resembling a small walk-in pool; function uncertain

Linear B

writing system of Mycenaean Greeks; found in Crete, LH III

Lerna

Mycenaean state; location of House of Tiles (EH II)

corbeling (MH III-LH I)

stacking progressively smaller rings of stone one on top of another and trimming the inner corners to create a smooth, beehive-like dome

Cyclopean masonry (LH IIIB)

walls built of enormous rough-hewn stones; function but also symbolic statements of regal and regional power (ex: citadels at Mycenae, Tiryns, and Athens)

Knossos (LM IA-IIIA)

largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete; largest and best-known Minoan palace

Palace Style (LM II-IIIA)

pottery style that combines Minoan tradition of vegetal and marine imagery with clear articulation of parts characteristic of Mycenaean wares

iconography

the images or symbols traditionally associated with a particular subject or story

polis

city state

Dorian

one of the major subgroups of the Greek-speaking peoples

Geometric

Iron Age pottery style of Greece; also used as a synonym for the Iron Age

symposion

formalized drinking party

Lefkandi

settlement on Euboia; site of apsidal hall (10th cent. BC)

peristyle

row of columns running around all four sides of a temple or a courtyard

Submycenaean

Transitional between the preceding Mycenaean pottery and the subsequent styles of Greek vase painting; squat, lopsided versions of older types

Protogeometric

Follows Submycenaean; taller and more symmetrical with high shoulders; formulaic, angular patterns

Dipylon

cemetery outside of Athens; pottery characterized by processions of chariots and soldiers bearing odd shields

Eretria

settlement on Euboia

akropolis

citadel of any Greek town

hekatompedon

large building; "hundred footer"

Ephesos

city on coast of Ionia; home to Temple of Artemis

Corinth

city on mainland Greece

Isthmia

home to shrine to Poseidon; strategically important site to Corinth as it was on the road linking the Peloponnesos to central Greece

Perachora

home to shrine to Hera; dominated shipping in the Corinthian Gulf

Panhellenic

having to do with all of the Greek-speaking peoples

agalma

something that delights

tripod cauldron

three-legged stand with attached cauldron

Orientalizing

period of massive Near Eastern (Oriental) influence in Greece, corresponding roughly to the 7th century BC

hoplite phalanx

infantry formation used in hoplite battles; men standing in parallel rows and marching in unison toward and enemy

Al Mina

site on the coast of Syria with large quantities of Greek pottery from c. 800; probably a port of trade

Syracuse

planned community in eastern Sicily with strong central authority

Megara Hyblaea

settlement in Sicily, 8th century BC

Metapontion

Akhaian town in southern Italy

agora

marketplace, civic center

griffin protomes

projecting, separately made attachment to a vessel or other object featuring a creature with a lion's body, wings, and an eagle's head

sphinx

creature with a lion's body, eagle's wings, and woman's head

Protocorinthian

Orientalizing fineware in the late 700s BC; introduced colored slips and black-figure

black-figure

technique of decorating pottery with black painted silhouettes against unpainted or burnished clay, with incised details and a restricted number of secondary colors (purple, white, and yellow); invented in Corinth

Wild Goat style

from southern Ionia; features repetitive bands of animals up and down the wall of the vase

Protoattic

Orientalizing style of Athens; Early: incision, wavy lines and vegetal motifs; Middle: white slip to emphasize patterns and faces; Late: full black-figure with white and purple slip

Dedalic style

new way of rendering the human figure at the end of the 8th cent. BC; head as a set of three triangles: one pointing downward for the face and two pointing upward on either side for hair

Potnia Theron

Artemis, Mistress of Animals

Psamtik

Egyptian prince who united Egypt and became Pharaoh (664 BC) and granted Greeks a trading concession as the site of Naukratis in the Nile delta

Naukratis

Trading site of Greeks in the Nile delta; where Greeks saw Egyptian building technology

sema

"sign"; statues, tombs, letters, omens and other meaningful things

Prinias

center of Crete; home to the first stone temple in Greece

kore

statue of a young woman, clothed, standing stiffly with one arm at the hip the other holding something either to the breast or with forearm extended forward; feet can be together or slightly offset

kourous

a nude or semi-nude youth, typically standing stiffly with arms at or near the sides, and one foot (usually left) extended forward

Archaic period

c. 600 - c. 480 BC

terracotta roof tiles

roof tiles made of baked clay; led to need for stronger walls

sima

low barrier along a roof line to keep roof tiles from sliding off; typical of West Greece

antefix

upright element along a roof line which keeps the roof tiles in place; typical of mainland Greece

pronaos

front porch of a temple

opisthodomos

rear porch of a temple

adyton

the innermost chamber of a temple

architrave

the horizontal blocks resting atop the columns

frieze

a horizontal zone running the length of a building immediately about the architrave. Doric alternates triglyphs and metopes; Ionic is unbroken and may or may not be decorated

triglyph

Doric: grooved panel that is part of the frieze

metope

Doric: square or rectangular panel; can be decorated with paint or relief carving

flutes

long, straight grooves running along the length of columns, roughly semi-circular in section

echinus

Doric: distinctive cushion-shaped part of capital, just blow the abacus