Transcript Chapter 6 - HCC Learning Web

Chapter 6
The Rise of the Greek City-States
War and Victory
Greece’s Dark Ages
• Period between the fall of Mycenae (about 1100 BCE)
until the rise of the Greek city-states in the 9th
century BCE
• A long period of cultural decline begun, according to
legend, by invasion from the iron-weapon possessing
Dorians, a tribe from the North
• During this period, the Greeks lived in small rural
communities that often warred with each other
Ceramics during the Dark Ages
• By the tenth century BCE, elaborate ceramic
manufacturies had been established on the outskirts
of Athens at Kerameikos cemetery (hence the origin
of the word “ceramics”
• Invented a faster potter’s wheel and new kilns
• Pots favor abstract geometric designs, sophisticated
and complex when one considers the Greek genius
for mathematics
Amphora (Two-Handled Vase)
Kerameikos Cemetery, Athens
Height 21 ¾”
10th Century BCE
Height 28 ½”
875-850 BCE
Rise of the City-States
• Gradually, communities began to organize themselves
and to exercise authority over their own geographical
regions
• Population largely dedicated to agriculture and
agricultural values—a life of hard, honest work and
self-reliance
• Due to colonization, eventually there were as many
as 1,500 Greek city-states scattered around the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea, including the large
colonies in Italy
The City-States of Ancient Greece
The Polis
• The polis, or city-state, became the focal point of
cultural life
• Typically consisted of an urban center often
surrounding some sort of natural citadel, called an
acropolis (“the top of the city”). At the foot of the
acropolis was the agora, a large open area that served
as public meeting place, marketplace, and civic center
• Greek poleis (pl. of polis) distinguished by their
isolation from one another and their fierce
independence
Sacred Sanctuaries
• As early as the 8th century BCE, rival city-states created
sanctuaries, sacred religious sites, where they could come
together to share music, religion, poetry, and athletics
• Delphi—home to the Sanctuary of Apollo, an especially
important site. The Greeks believed that through a deep
crack in the ground Apollo spoke through the medium of a
woman called the Pythia
• These sanctuaries inspired the city-states, in the spirit of
competition, to create the first monumental architecture
since Mycenaean times
Model of a Temple, Found in the Sanctuary of
Hera, Argos
Mid-eighth century BCE
The Classical Orders
• Classical Greek architecture is composed of three
vertical elements—the platform, the column, and
the entablature—which comprise its elevation
• The relationship of these three units is referred to
as the elevation, of which there are three orders:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
The Classical Orders
The Doric , the heaviest of the columns, is sturdy and simple. The Ionic is lighter and
more elegant in detail. Last to be developed, the Corinthian, is smaller yet and the
most elaborate. It would become a favorite of the Romans
Doric Columns at the Temple of Hera I
Pasteum, Italy
ca. 560 BCE
Olympia and the Olympic Games
• The Greeks believed in agonizesthai—“to contend for the
prize”--in most aspects of their lives—their pottery, their
playwrights, their architecture, their athletes, and their
city-states. They were a people driven by competition
• They date the beginning of their history to 776 BCE, the
first formal Panhellenic athletic competition held at a
sanctuary dedicated to Hera and Zeus at Olympia
• In these contests, held every four years, winning was all.
There were no second or third prizes
Detail of a Black-Figure Amphora
Terra cotta, 24 ½”
ca. 530 BCE
• Euphiletos painter
• The first contest of the
first Olympic Games
was a 200-yard dash
• Greek athletes
competed nude. In
fact, our word
gymnasium derives
from the Greek word
gymnos, “naked”
Archaic Style
• Art produced from 600 to 480 BCE
• Much influence from Egyptian and possibly even
Sumerian art
• Movement from idealized to naturalistic
Male Sculpture and
the Cult of the Body
• The physically fit male not only won accolades in athletic
competitions, but he also represented the conditioning
and strength of the military forces of a particular polis
• The male body was also celebrated in a widespread
genre of sculpture known as the kouros (pl. kouroi),
“young man”
• They could be found in sanctuaries and cemeteries, most
often serving as votive offerings to the gods or as
commemorative grave markers
New York Kouros
Marble, 6’4”
ca. 600 BCE
New York Kouros
• Serves same funerary function as Egyptian sculpture
• In the Egyptian manner, the young man’s arms drop stiffly
to his side and his fists are clenched. Both heels remain
unnaturally cemented to the ground
• Facial features—wide, oval eyes, sharply delineated brow,
carefully knotted hair—recall the Sumerian votive statues
• Earliest known life-size standing sculpture of a male in
Greek art
Menkaure with a Queen
New York Kouros
ca. 2460 BCE
ca. 600 BCE
Tell Asmar
New York Kouros
Anavysos Kouros
• Within 60 years the kouroi became distinguished by
naturalism, the artist’s desire to represent the
human body as it appears in nature
• Musculature suggests a representation of a real
person
• Close-lipped expression came to be known as an
“Archaic smile”
Anavysos Kouros
Marble, 6’4”
ca. 525 BCE
Female Sculpture—The Kore
• Kore (pl. korai)—”maiden”
• Likely a votive offering to Athena, the protector of
Athens
• Clothed (no nude females in Archaic Greek art)
• Just as the kouroi, the korai became more naturalistic
Peplos Kore
Polychromed marble, 47 ½”
ca. 530 BCE
Cast Reproduction of the Peplos Kore
• Named for her garment, a
peplos, a rectangle of
wool folded at the neck,
pinned at the shoulder,
and belted
• Originally painted
• Arm, probably bearing a
gift, was a separate piece
Kore, from Chios (?)
Polychromed marble, 21”
ca. 520 BCE
• Wearing a chiton, a
linen garment that
clings more closely
to the body and is
gathered to create
pleats and folds
• Remarkable for the
amount of original
paint on it
Athenian Pottery
• Extremely high quality clay available in Athens,
which turned a deep orange color when fired
• By the middle of the sixth century BCE, Athens
had become a major center of pottery making
• Moving away from the earlier geometric designs,
many of the pots from the Archaic Period depict
gods and heroes
Red-Figure Vases
• Artists used special “slips,” mixtures of clay and
water, which they painted over the background
around the figures
• Vase fired in three stages
• Areas painted with the slip turned black, while the
figures emerged red
Death of Sarpedon
Red-figure decoration on a calyx krater, 18”
ca. 515 BCE
Black-Figure Vases
• The reverse of the red-figure variety
• Figures painted with the slip, so after firing they
remain black against an unslipped red background
Women at a Fountain House
Black-figure decoration on a hydra vase, 20 7/8”
ca. 520-510 BCE
This hydria, or water jug, shows women carrying similar jugs as they chat at a fountain
house, a scene from everyday life