Geometric

Diplyon Krater

• Also known as Terracotta Krater

• Found in the Diplyon cemetery

• Made to mark a gravesite; like a gravestone

• The bottom of the vase is open → pour liquid and the liquid goes to the dead OR to drain off rainwater

• Completely covered in decorations

• Divided into bands/registers → Pictorial bands (friezes)

  • Humans and animals

  • Reminder it’s a funerary

• Geometric motifs

• Top register

  • The dead figure being mourned, female figures raising their arms (gesture of grief) (decorative lines on faces, tears?)

  • Checkerboard pattern → funerary shroud

• Bottom register

  • Procession

  • Chariots and horsemen

  • Soldiers with shields, spears, and swords.

• No pictorial depth

• Decorated with slip → clay suspended in liquid then painted on the vase

  • Didn’t use kilns yet that were hot enough to make it glossy

• Generally big and good quality → wealthy and powerful family

Archaic

Statue of a Kouros

• Funerary sculpture

• Life-sized

• Only wearing a choker and headband

• Meant to trespass lifetimes

  • No stone backing

• Made of stone

• Made to mark a tomb

• For aristocratic families

• Strongly inspired by Egyptians

  • Close-form sculpture

• Embodied the ideal of the period

• Symmetry and pattern

• The ideal form of kouros changed over the years → became more naturalistic, lifelike, and muscular

• Not about skill but what people wanted

Exekias, Achilles, and Ajax Playing a Dice Game

• Achilles on the left and Ajax on the right (signed names on top of drawings)

• The metaphor of how the myth will unfold

Classical

Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer)

• Original in Bronze

• Roman marble copy → Romans loved Greek art

• Philosophical and mathematical

• Moving toward naturalistic

• Transitional moment of walking → contrapposto

• Tree trunk → structural support

• A bridge between the right wrist and right hip

• Originally holding a spear

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos

• One nude, one clothed.

  • Cos took the clothed one → more “proper”

  • Knidos took the nude one → became more popular

    • Build a special sanctuary for her

• Modest Venus → loosely covering herself

• Men fall in love with her, not realizing she’s not real.

• Female nudity uncommon in Greek art

• Would have been painted

Parthenon

• On top of a rocky outcropping in the City of Athens

• Dedicated to Athena

  • Poseidon (god of the sea) vs Athena (goddess of wisdom and war)

  • Poseidon gave salt water of the sea (a gift of naval superiority)

  • Athena gave an olive tree (idea of the land of prosperity and peace)

  • Chose Athena

• Doric temple with ionic elements

  • Doric

    • Massive columns with shallow, broad flutes

    • A little flare that rises to a simple rectangular block called an abacus

  • Ionic

    • Covered with sculpture in the metopes

      • Metopes were carved with scenes that showed the Greeks battling various enemies, either directly or metaphorically.

        • Greeks battling the Amazons, Greeks against the Trojans, Lapiths against the centaurs, and Greek gods against the Titans.

        • Did not depict effortless victory

        • Forces of civilization challenged and sometimes overcome

    • Frieze ran around all four sides of the building, just inside this outer row of columns that we see.

      • Procession for Athena

• Pediments → Story of Athena vs Poseidon

• The sculpture of Athena missing

  • Made of gold and ivory

  • Could have been melted down for money

• Brightly colored

• No altar outside. Maybe served as a treasury.

• No right angles. Slight adjustments and curves to make it look straight.

  • Columns are bulging

• Ottomans used the Parthenon to hold ammunition and gunpowder

  • Gunpowder exploded from the inside

  • Lord Elgin took shit and brought them back to England

Hellenistic

Nike of Samothrace

• Originally would have been in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the Island of Samothrace

  • Military victory monument

• Hellenistic → more expressive

• Would have been facing the coast, so the wind would have added to the illusion of the clothing.

• Maybe stood within a fountain

• Maybe blowing a trumpet or offering a crown of victory

• Originally would have been painted brightly

• Right-wing modern replica → would have been higher than the left-wing

• Maybe have been gesturing a greeting

• In-flight

• Goddess of victory

  • Crowns gods and victorious athletes

• Rarely featured in Greek mythology

Laocoon and His Sons

• Laocoon → Trojan priest

  • Knew the Trojan Horse was a trap

  • A goddess (protector of Greeks) didn’t like that

    • Sent serpents to eat him and his sons

  • Reconstructed; limbs could be placed differently

  • Very expressive

Altar of Zeus, Pergamon

• One side has Athena; the other has Zeus

• The battle between the giants and the gods and goddesses

• Athena’s side

  • Battling a Titan

  • Athena’s winning

  • Grabbed Alcyoneous by the hair, pulling him out of the earth while one of Athena’s snakes is biting him

  • His mother is unable to help him

  • Athena’s head is missing

  • Being crowned by Nike

• Zeus’ side

  • Zeus’ winning

  • Defeating three giants

  • Eagles and thunderbolts

• Optimism that they could overcome chaos

• Fire would have been lit along the stairs → grand staircase

• Figures spill out away from the wall

Vocabulary

• Mediterranean

  • Easiest way to move people and goods

    • Roads were limited to dirt tracks

  • Greeks established colonies and trading stations around the Mediterranean and profited from trade with them

  • Greeks built boats for warfare and used the water to aid their causes

• Ancient Aegean

  • First major civilization in Europe

  • Home to three distinct but related cultures: Minoans, Mycenaeans, and Cycladics

  • Characterized by trade and communication opportunities with the Near east and the Mediterranean

• Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean

  • Cyclades

    • “Kyklos” → “circle”

    • Named for their rough circular formation around the sacred island of Delos

    • Group of islands in the Aegean Sea

    • Rich in mineral resources, including marble, copper, lead, iron, gold, and silver.

    • Likely cultivated barley and wheat and fished the Aegean

    • The reason for abandonment is unknown

    • Art

      • Known for their white marble sculptures which depict abstracted nude human figures

      • Female nudes, roughly triangular bodies, inverted triangular heads, and crossed arms.

      • Meant to lie down

      • Symbolize mother goddess, fertility, rebirth, or the afterlife.

  • Minoan

    • Named after the mythical King Minos

      • Believes to have rules Knossos in the distant past

    • Known for its sophisticated culture

      • Included elaborate pottery, seals, and frescoes.

    • Art

      • Often depicted religious and secular scenes and featured motifs like the snake, bull, and leaping dancer.

    • Seafaring and trading people who traded with Egypt, Cyprus, and the Near East.

  • Mycenaean

    • City of Mycenae

    • A fortified palace in the Peloponnese that was a prominent center of Mycenaean culture

    • Warlike, prosperous, and powerful people who traded with other cultures in the Mediterranean and beyond.

      • Acquired materials like ivory and gold through trade, and produced goods like ceramics and bronze objects to trade.

    • Created a sophisticated culture that included art, writing, and urban organization.

    • Metalwork, architecture, and terracotta figures.

• Buon fresco

  • Applying pigment to wet lime plaster without a binding agent

    • Plaster absorbs the pigment and fixes it, protecting it from fading.

  • Bull-Leaping Fresco

  • Durable because the pigment is part of the wall

  • It must be done quickly without mistakes

• Homer

  • Author of the Iliad and the Odyssey

  • One of the greatest literary artists in the world

• Iliad

  • Epic poem about the Trojan War

• Minotaur

  • Half-man, half-bull monster that was kept in a labyrinth on the island of Crete

  • Child of Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos, and a snow-white bull sent to Minos by Poseidon

  • Minos demanded the Athens send seven young men and seven young women into the Labyrinth every nine years to be eaten by the Minotaur

• Theseus

  • Killed the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae

  • Escaped the Labyrinth with a ball of thread given to him by Ariadne

• Troy

  • Setting for the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliads and Odyssey

• Trojan War

  • Legendary conflict in Greek mythology between the Greeks and the city of Troy

  • One of the most important events in Greek history

  • Begun when Paris, the prince of Troy, abducted Helen, the queen of Sparta, and took her back to Troy.

  • Ended when the Greeks pretended to withdraw, leaving a large wooden horse outside the gates of Troy.

• Greek Polis

  • City-state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding countryside

  • Surrounded by walls for protection

  • Public spaces

    • Temples and government buildings

  • Self-sufficient territory with its own laws, traditions, and organization.

• Psyche

  • “Psyche” → “Soul”

    • Could also mean butterfly and butterfly represents the soul

  • In Greek mythology, Psyche was a mortal woman who became the goddess of the soul and the beloved of Eros, the god of love.

  • Endured many trials set by Aphrodite, the goddess of love and Eros’ mother, who was jealous of Psyche’s beauty.

  • Zeus granted Psyche immortality and sanctioner her marriage to Eros

• Krater

  • A large, open-mouthed vessel used in ancient Greece to mix wine and water at symposiums.

  • Made of metal or pottery

  • Often painted or decorated

  • Usually placed in the center of the room at a symposium

  • Sometimes used as grave markers

  • Found in burial sites as containers of ashes

  • “Krater” → “to mix”

• Slip

  • Liquid clay mixture

    • A mix of clay and water

    • Similar in consistency to thick cream

    • The ratio of water to clay was not fixed

      • Consistency could be adjusted depending on the intended use

  • It could be used for a variety of purposes

    • Adhesive: attach appendages to the body of a vessel

    • Decoration: decorate the surface of a vessel

    • Pottery: glazing, painting, and dipping

      • Black-figure: painted in black slip on a red clay background

        Red-figure: outlined with black slip on a red clay background

      • White-ground: light slip applied to the background to make vases appear more valuable

        • Often used as votives and grave vessels

    • Relief lines: form raised lines that outline forms

    • Wash: create a wash effect for hair, fur, and anatomy

• Kouros/Kore

  • Male youth, especially of noble rank.

  • Statue of a nude young man standing with his left foot forward and arms at his sides

  • Grave monuments and dedications to the gods in sanctuaries

  • Meant to represent the idea of youth rather than any one individual

  • Originated under Egyptian influence

  • Typically made from marble, but could also be made from limestone, wood, bronze, ivory, and terracotta.

  • Often decorated with applied pigments

  • Female counterpart: korai/kore

    • Wear richly painted robes and accessories made of expensive metals

    • Not nude

• Archaic smile

  • Shallow, enigmatic smiles appear on the faces of Greek statues.

  • Exact meaning unknown

    • Symbol of youthful vitality and ideal health and well-being

    • Mark of aristocratic status

    • Result of technical difficulty in fitting the curved shape of the moment

    • Deliberate artistic choice with symbolic reasons

    • Most likely just a way to show the statue has life

• Open Form

  • Has a dynamic relationship with the space around it

  • Often closer in shape to the figures they represent, making them more lifelike

• Closed Form

  • More structurally robust and resistant to wear or breakage

• The Canon of Proportions

  • Set of mathematical ratios and measurements used to create an idealized representation of the human body

  • Based on the idea that the human body should be in harmony, with a balance between its different parts.

  • Believed that the mathematical ratios of the canon were a manifestation of divine proportions in the universe

  • Used in both sculpture and architecture to create esthetic perfection and convey an idealized beauty

• Pythagoras

  • Made important developments in mathematics, astronomy, and the theory of music.

• Peplos Kore

  • Greek statue of a young woman

    • Might depict a goddess like Artemis or Athena

      • Due to her unique clothing and possible accessories

  • Example of the transition to more naturalistic forms in monumental sculpture and the evolution of artistic styles of the time

  • Not completely straight

    • Face is leaned slightly to the side

  • Long curls fall over her shoulders

    • Ribbon fastens them behind her

• Symmetria

  • Harmony of an object’s parts or the good proportions between them

  • “Syn” → “Together” or “Common”

  • “Metron” → “Measure”

  • Used to describe the proportions of buildings and sculptures

  • Sculptors used mathematical ratios and grids

• Meander

  • Decorative patterns symbolize eternity, infinity, and unity.

  • Common in pottery and architectural friezes

  • Band of short horizontal and vertical fillets that connect at right angles

• Cella

  • Inner shrine of an ancient Greek temple where a statue or cult image of the temple’s deity was housed

  • Center of the temple

  • Might contain a table for votive offerings

  • No gatherings or sacrifices

    • Took place outside the building

  • Simple rectangular room with an entrance at one end

• Pericles

  • Created the Parthenon

• Delian League

  • Millitary alliance of Greek city-states to fight the Persian Empire and protect ionian Greeks

  • Athens led the league

  • Headquarters were on the island of Delos

    • Members met annually and treasury was kept

  • Collapsed during the Peloponnesian War when Athens became dominant and demanded payment from members

    • Athens lost the war

• Panathenaic Procession

  • Grand annual festival procession in ancient Athens that culminated the Panathenaia, a religious festival in honor of Athena

  • Began in the Kerameioks neighborhood and ended at the Acropolis

  • High priestess, temple treasurers, priests, priestesses, unmarried young women, magistrates, soldiers, athletes, representatives from other states, musicians, and herdsmen.

  • New peplos or robe for the cult statue of Athena Polias.

    • So large that it was carried on a ship’s mast

  • Large-scale sacrifice of over 100 cows and sheep on the altar of Athena

• Doric

  • First style of stone temple architecture in ancient Greece

  • Stouter than those of the Ionic or Corinthian orders

    • Fluted shafts and often placed close together without bases

  • Simple and pain with a rounded section at the bottom and a square at the top

  • Frieze composed of triglyphs and metopes

• Ionic

  • Second style of stone temple architecture in ancient Greece

  • More slender and more ornate than the masculine Doric style

  • Scroll-shaped ornaments on the capital which sits at the top of the column shaft

• Corinthian

  • Most elaborate of all Greek column architecture

  • Bell-shaped capitals with two rows of acanthus leaves and scrolls

  • Thin and fluted

    • More slender than ionic columns

• Column

  • Fundamental architectural feature that served both practical and artistic purposes

  • Supported the weight of roofs, allowing the Greeks to build larger temples.

  • Decorative element and a symbol of power, agelessness, and democracy.

  • Limestone, tufa, or marble

  • Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian

• Frieze

  • Decorative band of panel that was located in the middle of an entablature, the section of a building that rests on the top of a column

  • Display images and scenes related to Greek culture and beliefs

  • Often carved or painted

  • Could depict scenes from mythology or daily life

• Pediment

  • Triangular gable that served both structural and decorative purposes

  • Decorated with sculptures or reliefs depicting mythological scenes

  • used to add grandness to entrances and provide a center point for symmetric designs

• Metopes

  • Rectangular architectural elements that filled the space between triglyphs in the frieze of a Doric temple

  • Decorated with painted or sculptural reliefs

  • Depicted mythical scenes

    • Allusions to the Greeks’ recent real-life victories over the Persians

• Triglyphs

  • Visual design element in the Doric order of temple architecture that represented the wooden beams used in prehistoric buildings

  • “Thrice-grooved”

  • Rectangular block with two vertical grooves, or glyphs, and two chamfers, or half grooves, at the sides.

  • Thought to be a representation of the wooden beam ends of primitive huts

  • May have channeled rainwater

  • Aligned over and between each column

• Entasis

  • Architectural device used in ancient Greece to create a subtle curve in columns, spires, and other upright elements to correct the optical illusion that straight lines appear to taper or curve.

  • Used to make larger structures appear straight and counteract the illusion that straight lines appear to taper in the middle

• Acropolis

  • Natural strongholds constructed on rocky, elevated ground

• Centauromachy

  • Mythological battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs that symbolized the triumph of civilization over barbarism

  • Centaurs attacked the Lapiths in an attempt to abduct the Lapith women

  • Lapiths won the battle with the help of Theseus

• Chryselephantine

  • Type of figural sculpture in which the flesh was made of ivory and the drapery of gold

• Wet Drapery

  • Style that depicts clothing that clings to the body in a way that suggests it’s wet

  • Used to reveal the body’s shape and details while keeping the figure modest

• Contrapposto

  • A sculptural technique that depicted the human figure in a more natural pose, with most of the weight on one leg.

    • Shoulders, hips, and head tilt create a natural-looking twist in the torso.

  • “Contrapposto” → “Counterpose”

  • A crucial development in the history of Western art

  • Allowed artists to realistically portray the human body

• Persian Wars

  • Series of conflicts between the Persia and Greece

  • Significant impact on the survival of Greek culture and the establishment of democracy in Athens

• Peloponnesian War

  • Conflict between Athens and Sparta

  • Fought to determine which city-state would dominate the Greek world

  • Sparta won

• Alexander the Great

  • Ancient Macedonian ruler who established on the largest empires in the ancient world

  • Known for his military genius and diplomatic skills

• Macedonia

  • Small kingdom in northern Greece

  • Became more powerful under the leadership of King Philip II, who united the southern Greek city-states with the north.

    • His son, Alexander the Great, expanded the empire to Asia and India

• Repatriation

  • Process of returning the cultural objects, such as art and artifacts, to their country of origin.

  • Ancient or looted objects or the remains of ancestors

  • Sculptures were removed from temple walls in Greece in the early 1800s by Lord Elgin and sold to the British government

    • British Museum currently displays them