Ancient Greek Art

• Frescoes


  • The painting of color pigments on wet lime plaster without a binding agent
  • When the paint is absorbed by the plaster, it is fixed and protected from fading
  • Depict scenes from everyday life
  • Frescoes are fragile and often get destroyed when removed from their original sites
• Minoan Frescoes


  • Dolphin Fresco (from Knossos, Crete, 1700-1450 BCE)
  • Bull-leaping Fresco (from Knossos, Crete, 1450-1400 BCE)
  • Griffin Fresco (from Knossos, 1700-1450 BCE)
• Pottery


  • Achieved prominence from 1000 BCE to 400 BCE
  • Vases were meant to be used in everyday life
  • There were painters partnering with potters in creating vases
• Types of Greek pottery

  • Amphorae for storing wine
  • Large kraters for mixing wine with water
  • Jugs for pouring wine
  • Kylixes or stemmed cups with horizontal handles for drinking
  • Hydra with three handles for holding water
  • Skyphoi or deep bowls
  • Lekythoi jars for holding oils and perfumes
• Specific Greek pottery examples

  • Terracotta oinochoe, c. 900 BCE
  • Geometric style krater, Attica, 800 BCE
  • Proto-Corinthian aryballos, 650 BCE
• Sculpture


  • Greek art of classical antiquity is believed to be a mixture of Egyptian, Syrian, Minoan (Crete), Mycenaean and Persian cultures
  • Greek sculptors learned both stone carving and bronze-casting from the Egyptians and Syrians
  • Sculpture was developed by the Ionians and Dorians
• Periods of Greek sculpture

  • Archaic Period (c.650-500 BCE)
  • Classical Period (c.500-323 BCE)
  • Hellenistic Period (c.323-27 BCE)
• Archaic Period sculpture


  • Archaic free-standing figures have the solid mass and frontal stance of Egyptian models, but their forms are more dynamic
  • The three most common statues were the standing nude youth (kouros, plural kouroi), the standing draped girl (kore, plural korai), and the seated woman
• Archaic Period sculptures


  • Kleobis and Biton (610-580 BCE)
  • The Moschophoros (c. 570)
  • The Anavysos Kouros (c. 525)
• Classical Period sculpture


  • Incorporated more diverse figure types and bodily poses as well as a sharp increase in technical dexterity, resulting in far more naturalistic and realistic sculptures
• Classical Period sculptures


  • Aphrodite of Knidos (c. 350 BCE)
  • Discobolus (460-50 BCE)
  • The Artemision Bronze (c. 460 BCE)
  • Zeus at Olympia (c. 435 BCE)
• Hellenistic Period sculpture


  • Many artistic subjects appear significantly more dramatized than before and for the first time emotive facial expressions featured in monumental sculpture
  • Embraced adverse themes such as suffering, old age, and death
• Hellenistic Period sculptures


  • Winged Victory of Samothrace (220-190 BCE)
  • Aphrodite, Pan and Eros (c. 100)
  • Venus de Milo (Aphrodite of Melos) (c. 100)
  • Laocoon and his Sons (42-20 BCE)
• Architecture


  • Greek architects provided some of the finest and most distinctive buildings in the entire Ancient World
  • Characterized by simplicity, proportion, perspective, and harmony
• Doric Order


  • Earliest of the three Classical orders of architecture
  • Transition from wood to stone
  • Characterized by a plain, unadorned column capital and a column that rests directly on the stylobate of the temple without a base
  • The Doric entablature includes a frieze composed of trigylphs (vertical plaques with three divisions) and metopes (square spaces for either painted or sculpted decoration)
  • The columns are fluted and are of sturdy, if not stocky, proportions
• Ionic Order


  • Originated in Ionia, a coastal region of central Anatolia (present-day Turkey) where a number of ancient Greek settlements were located
  • Volutes (scroll-like ornaments) characterize the Ionic capital and a base supports the column
  • Notable for its graceful proportions, giving a more slender and elegant profile than the Doric order
• Corinthian Order


  • Originated from the Greek city-state of Corinth where the sculptor Callimachus drew a set of acanthus leaves surrounding a votive basket
  • The defining element of the Corinthian order is its elaborate, carved capital, which incorporates even more vegetal elements than the Ionic order does
• Greek architectural examples


  • Parthenon
  • Recreation of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
  • Theatre of Delphi
  • Theatre of Epidaurus
• Theatre


  • Dionysus, the god of wine, had a cult following – the cult of Dionysus
  • Dionysus is associated with darkness, with the loss of boundaries around the self experienced in a crowd
  • Athens' democratic government sponsored the cult of Dionysus and established festivals in tribute
• 5th century Greek theatre was integrated to civic/religious discourse. Festivals included processions, sacrifices, celebrations, feasting and choral laments.
• Dionysian festivals


  • Rural Dionysia
  • Lenaia
  • Anthesteria
  • City Dionysia
• Some say that competitions on tragedies originated in 534 BCE. Thespis was the first winner, who was also considered the first actor. Others claim that the City Dionysia was established in 503-501 BCE.
• Performers, Masks, Costumes and Music

  • All performers were male
  • Thespis was the first actor. Aeschylus added the second actor while Sophocles introduced the third actor
  • Masks were essential part of Greek theatre. Tragic masks had formalized, expressionless faces. Comic masks presented caricatures, grotesques, or animal heads
  • Costumes for tragedy included a tunic or sometimes a long/short cloak. Costumes for comedy were based on everyday wear and included a phallus
  • A double pipe, aulos, was integral in the music of Greek theatre. Another essential instrument was the harp
• Plays and Playwrights


  • Only 44 plays survived from the Greek classical period. These were written by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes
  • Greek tragedies did not end with a terrible event. Some end on an affirmative note. Many address the history and character of Athens
  • The only extant comedies were those of Aristophanes characterized as bawdy, obscene, fantastical, or absurd
  • Criticized politicians, militarists, oracle mongers and similar figures of power
  • In The Clouds, he ridiculed Socrates. In The Frogs, he ridiculed Euripides and Dionysus
• Aristotle's Poetics


  • First systematic treatise on drama developed between 336-331 BCE from the winners of the City Dionysia
  • Plot
  • Character
  • Thought
  • Diction
  • Music
  • Spectacle
  • Mimesis – imitation or representation of action and characters
  • Hubris – excessive pride
  • Hamartia – tragic flaw
  • Anagnorisis – recognition
  • Peripeteia – reversal of fate
  • Catharsis – purgation of emotions