Transcript Classical_Greece_and_the_Hellenistic_Period

Classical Greece and the
Hellenistic Period
The Classical Ideal
Classical period (479-323 B.C.E.)
Search for order and control
– “Nothing too much”
Value of human potential, capability
Athens
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Exemplar of human achievement by 490 – 480 BCE
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Athens destroyed by Persians (480 BCE)
Persians attacked mainland, and Athens destroyed
Persians defeated in battle of Marathon. An emissary ran 26.2 miles to tell the
Greeks the Persians had arrived. Marathon
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Defeat of Persians (479 B.C.E. ). Athens not rebuilt at first.
Plague at Athens.
Democratic Government
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Delian League – Headed by Athens, sparked by Persian Wars. Sparta included among
other city states.
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Ecclesia, boule, magistracies
Peloponnesian War (431- 404 B.C.E.) – Athens against Sparta
Pericles – example of statesperson. Rebuild Athens, patron of the arts.
Great orator. Parthenon on the Acropolis – the hill over Athens.
Parthenon – 92 metopes , Doric order, free-standing scultuptures.
Other works in the Acropolis
Peloponnesian Wars
 Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BCE)
Consisted of warring city-states War. After the Persian Wars
Athens had become even wealthier. Other city-states- mad
at Athens. Thebes, Sparta and Corinth fought against
Athens. Sparta won. Sparta set up the Tyrant rulers –
reactionary merchant rulers.
 Athens recovered from war and from disease, reinstated
democracy– 403 BCE.
 Socrates condemned to death in Athens (403).
Considered too friendly with the Tyrants Socrates was
thought of as a “sophist.” He denied it, but accepted his
death. Famous trial
 Sophists – Philosophers with only encyclopedic
knowledge, not deep knowledge, who got paid for their
teachings, which could be superficial. Taught students
the art of their special rhetoric, which involved “twisting”
the truth, if necessary, in order to persuade.
Pericles
Drama Festivals of Dionysus
 Theater = religious ritual
 3 Tragedies + Satyr Play
– Plots
– Actors and props
– Function of Chorus – to tell the story, to say
outloud the thoughts of the actors.
 Athenian Tragic Dramatists
– Aeschylus
– Sophocles
– Euripides
[Image 3.5]
The ancient theater at Delphi
Amphitheater at Delphi
Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.E. )
Optimistic philosophy / themes
Orestia Trilogy (458 B.C.E. )
– Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers,
The Eumenides
– Growth of civilization through reason
and order
Sophocles (496-406 B.C.E. )
Friend of Pericles
Consequences of human error
Most traditionally religious in theme
Antigone, Oedipus the King
Greek dramatist most represented
today.
Euripides (484-406 B.C.E. )
Realistic, rational
– Social, political, religious injustice
– Concern for psychological truth
– Human being at its worst.
Suppliant Women, Helen, Iphigenia
in Taurus, Bacchae
Aristophanes (450-385 B.C.E.)
Athenian comic poet
Political satire + fantasy
– The Birds
– Lysistrata
The Fall of Athens
Philip of Macedon (359 B.C.E. )
– Macedonian Empire
League of Corinth
Alexander the Great
Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Socrates
– Fate of the individual
– Questioning traditional values
– The Socratic problem
Xenophon
– Apology, Symposium, Memorabilia
Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Plato
– Disciple of Socrates
• Apology, Crito, Phaedo
– The Academy
– The Allegory of the Cave
– Political theory / ideal society
• Theory of Forms
• Inspired by chaos of 4th c. Greek politics
Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Aristotle
– Pupil of Plato
– The Lyceum
– Platonist vs. Aristotelian
– Metaphysics, Physics, Rhetoric,
Poetics
– “Master of those who know.”
Music
in the Classical Period
Popularity of instrumental music
Doctrine of Ethos
– Plato
– Aristotle
Pythagorean principals
– Octaves, fourths, tetrachords, modes
Rhythmic instrumentation
Musical notation
Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Sculpture and Vase Painting
 Naturalism, realism
– Myron’s Discus Thrower
 New standard of human beauty
– Proportion, symmetry, balance
– Polykleitos of Argos, The Canon
 Focus on individual
– Emotional responses
– Death and mourning
Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Architecture
Temple of Zeus at Olympia
– Post-Persian War (470-456 B.C.E.)
– Proportion and interrelationships
– Divine justice
Fifth Century B.C.E.: Architecture
The Acropolis
Pericles’ building program
– Delian League funds
– Phidias (449 B.C.E.)
Parthenon
– Proportion, balance
– Ideal beauty in realistic terms
Erechtheum
– Porch of the Maidens (caryatids)
The Parthenon
[Image 3.19]
Porch of the Maidens
•The Porch of the Maidens - Six Caryatids Architectural support
•Contrapposto
Obvious Group, Different
The Greek Principle
Of: Unity and Variety
Drapery, almost appears wet!
Erechtheion in
The Acropolis
Fourth Century B.C.E.:
The Visual Arts
Realism and emotion
– Fate of the individual (Plato)
Praxiteles
– Female body = object of beauty
Scopas
– Emotion and intensity
Lysippus
– Portraiture, scale
Apoxyomenos by Lysippos 330 BCE
Mobility
Contrapposto
Proportion!
No Archaic smile
Free-standing
Sanctuary of Athena
Delphi
The Hellenistic Period
Begins with Alexander the Great’s death in 323 BCE
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Macedonia defeated the Greeks in 359 BCE
Phillip II – father of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE)
Crushed Thebes and sold population into slavery
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Syria, Egypt, Pergamum, Macedonia
Alexandria in Egypt
Failed to conquer present-day Pakistan, met by elephants
Mix of Eastern and Western Culture
Spread of Greek influence
 Artistic freedom vs. Classical order
 New patrons = new artistic roles
 Altar of Zeus at Pergamum
– Laocoön
 Return to Classic principles
Nike of Samothrace – 8’
Marble aka – Winged
Victory-200 BCE
The statue shows a mastery of form
and movement which has impressed
critics and artists since its discovery. It
is particularly admired for its
naturalism and for the fine rendering of
the draped garments. It is considered
one of the Louvre's greatest treasures,
and it is today displayed in the most
dramatic fashion, at the head of the
sweeping Daru staircase. The loss of
the head and arms, while regrettable in
a sense, is held by many to enhance
the statue's depiction of the
supernatural.
Laocoön
Philosophy-Socrates-Plato-Aristotle
Architectural Orders
Mythology – Sirens, Muses
Sculpture – From Kouros to Proportions
Contrapposto
Recording of History
Logic
Pythagoras – number theory, music
Zeno – paradoxes – “hare and the tortoise”
Music Rules – Music of the Spheres
Democracy
The Olympics
Drama/Comedy
Galen – the Father of Medicine
Euclid – Creator of Geometry
Philosophy-Socrates-Plato-Aristotle
Eratosthenes – prime numbers
Archimedes - “pi”