Ancient Greek Art, Architecture, and Mythology: Key Terms and Figures

Homer

Ancient Greek writer and poet, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Minoans

Ancient Bronze age civilization that flourished on the island of Crete between 2700-1450 BCE.

Helen of Troy

The most beautiful woman in the world, whose kidnapping led to the Trojan War.

Heinrich Schliemann

Archaeologist who is known for his excavations of Troy and Mycenae.

Rectilinear

Straight lines and right angles.

Thalassocracy

State or empire that has domination over seas, maritime power.

Sir Arthur Evans

British archaeologist who is known for his excavations of the ancient city of Knossos in Crete, and discovered Minoan bronze age civilization.

Knossos

Bronze age archaeological site in Crete, major centre for Minoan civilizations.

Labyrinth

Complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is too difficult to find one's way through the maze.

Buon Fresco

Water-based pigments are applied to wet plaster, creating a plaster cure.

Fresco Secco

Wall painting where pigments are applied to dry plaster.

Rhyton

Drinking vessel used in ancient Greece, typically having animal form.

Cyclopean Masonry

Construction using huge irregularly shaped stones fitted together without mortar.

Tholos Tomb

Beehive tomb, circular burial structure in the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization.

Apotropaic

Art created to ward off evil or bad luck.

Repousse

Metalwork where you hit the metal object by hammering the opposite/backside of the piece.

Polis

City or community.

Archaic Smile

Shallow unnatural smile used during the archaic period in ancient Greek sculptures.

Kouros

Statue of male youth.

Doric Order

Earliest and simplest Greek architecture orders.

Entasis

Slight concave in the shaft of the column to give a visual illusion that it is up straight.

Stylobate

Continuous base supporting columns.

Pediment

Triangular crowning feature on a classical building, over doorway or window.

Pericles

Greek general that led Athens and let Greek art flourish.

Contrapposto

Naturalistic human pose where the figure's weight is asymmetrical and is weighted on one leg.

Parthenon

Ancient Greek temple on the Acropolis of Athens, dedicated to Athena.

Athena

Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare.

Alexander the Great

Military leader that spread Greek culture, and held a huge empire that stretched from Greek to India.

Tesserae

Small stone, glass, tile or other material to construct a mosaic.