humanities

1. Chapter Two:
Early Greece
Cultures and Values, 6th
Ed.
Cunningham and Reich

2. Early Greece
 Around 1000 B.C.E., the change from
the Bronze Age to the Iron Age
occurred throughout the
Mediterranean area.
 Athens was a Mycenaean city before Iron
Age began; became intellectual center
of Classical Greece in 5th
century
 Early Greece was birthplace of Western
culture

4. History of Early Greece
 The Heroic Age – the early iron age
(c. 1050 – 750 B.C.E.)
 Slow development of culture; limited
contact with other Mediterranean
peoples
 First great works of literature were
created; iliad, odyssey
 These works have heroic themes
 Visual art of the period used
Geometric style

5. History of Early Greece
 The Age of Colonization, (c. 750-600
B.C.E.)
 Explored lands to the east and west
 New ideas and artistic styles brought
to Greece by travelers and merchants
 The Archaic Period, (c. 600-480
B.C.E.)
 Foreign influences absorbed; paved the
way for the Classical period
 Victorious in the Persian Wars (490-479
B.C.E.)

6. Homer and the Heroic
Age
During the Mycenaean period most of
Greece had been united under a
single influence
Greece split into independent regions
 Corresponded to geographically
separated areas created by mountain
ranges and high hills
 Controlling urban center developed in
each area
 Athens: Attica; Thebes: Boeotia; Sparta:
Laconia

7. Homer and the Heroic
Age
 Polis – city-state; the central urban
community
 Significance of the Polis - Focal
point for all political, religious,
social, and artistic activities

8. Homer and the Heroic
Age
 Citizens were more loyal to their
Polis than to fellow Greeks in other
communities
 Each of the leading cities developed its
own artistic style
 Led to rivals between cities
 Fierce competition and bitter and
destructive rivalries

9. Homer and the Heroic
Age
 Religion, Mythology and Folklore
 Religion played an important part in
Greek life
 Demonstrated in art and literature
 No central body of teaching or
information
 Varying versions of the same story
existed
 Gods and goddesses were often
confused and self-contradictory

10. Homer and the Heroic
Age
 Zeus
 President of the immortals and father of
gods and humans
 represented moral code, imposed justice
and supervised punishment; however, he
was involved in love affairs and
seductions
 Individual cities had their own
mythological traditions
 Poets and artists chose the versions
that best suited their purposes

11. [Image 2.1]
Zeus (Poseidon?)

12. Homer and the Heroic
Age
 Greeks used religion to illuminate
their own lives, rather than to
give them divine guidance
 I.E., Apollo- logic & order, power of
the mind; Dionysus – emotions
 Worshiping both, Greeks
acknowledged dual existence in
human nature
 No Greek god represents supreme
good

13. Homer and the Heroic
Age
 No Greek God represents supreme
evil
 Deities explained both natural
phenomena & psychological
characteristics in themselves
 Also used gods to enhance glory of
the polis (cult of Athena at Athens)
 Human morality required human, rather
than divine, solutions
 Greeks turned to art & literature, rather
than prayer, to discover the solutions

14. The Iliad & The Odyssey
 “the Homeric question”
 Greeks saw Iliad and Odyssey as
universal in their significance
 Homer is generally regarded as not
only the first figure in Western
literary tradition, but one of the
greatest
 Little is known about Homer; problems
and theories connected to Homeric
epics and their creator fall under this
label – “Homeric Question”

15. The Iliad & The Odyssey
 Ancient Greeks weren’t sure who
composed the Iliad and Odyssey
 When and where did writer live?
 One person responsible for both?
 Many cities claimed to be his birthplace

16. The Iliad & The Odyssey
 Oral Tradition
 Epics were composed before the
introduction of writing in Greece
 Stories were passed down by word of
mouth
 Use of epithets, and elaborate similes
 Chief characters are given epithets
(standardized descriptive adjectives)
 i.e., Achilles is “swift-footed”; odysseus is
“cunning
 Similes between heroic world of warfare
and everyday life; more easily understood

17. The Iliad & The Odyssey
 Iliad
 Universal theme of Human Responsibility
 somber, taut, direct tone
 Easier to understand and explain
 Subject: anger of Achilles and its
consequences
 “We must be prepared for the results of our
own actions and realize that when we act
wrongly we will cause suffering for
ourselves and those we love” (36)
 Greek morality – Standards by which
human life will be judged are set by
fellow humans

18. The Iliad & The Odyssey
 In the Iliad, the Gods watch the
action and comment on it and
sometimes enforce the rules, but
they do not affect the course of
history
 Humans may say things happen
“according to the will of the gods,” yet
the gods claim no such power

19. The Iliad & The Odyssey
 Odyssey
 Theme: Return of the Epic Hero
 Filled with adventures and fairytale-
type elements
 Ends happily
 The Iliad and the Odyssey formed
the basis of education and culture
throughout Greek and Roman
world

20. Art and Society
 Painted Vases – major source of
info. about artistic developments
 Pots were decorated with abstract
geometric designs
 No attempt at vividness and realism
 Protogeometric (1000-900 B.C.E.)
 Simple bold designs
 Concentric circles, semi-circles (fig. 2.2)
 Geometric (900-700 B.C.E.)
 Circles and semicircles replaced by Linear
designs, zigzags, triangles, diamonds, the
meander (maze pattern)
 Use of human Forms (~800 B.C.E.)

21. Protogeometric
Amphora

22. Dipylon Amphora

23. Art and Society
 Early depictions of humans are
highly stylized
 Influenced Western art and use of
human form as primary subject of art.
 Painted in silhouette, combines front
and side views
 Head and legs on profile, upper half of the
body seen from the front (fig. 2.3)

24. Age of Colonization
 During the Heroic Age, Poleis were
ruled by small group of aristocrats
who concentrated wealth and
power in their own hands

25. Age of Colonization
 Prosperity of City-States grew –
ruling class become concerned
with image of the city-states
 Ruling classes became patrons of the
arts and military leaders
 International festivals were held –
athletes and poets competed,
represented city
 Olympia, Delphi, other sacred cities

26. Age of Colonization
 Trade with other Greeks and Near
East peoples increased
 Economic success became important
factor in growth of polis
 Individual cities began to mint their
own coins
 Political Power remained with
aristocracy
 Frustrated the urban population

27. Age of Colonization
 Accumulation of wealth + Over-
Population = Colonization
 Greeks went abroad to makes
fortunes or increase them in 8th
and
7th
centuries
 Greek cities established in Italy, Sicily,
Egypt, Asia Minor
 Colonizers brought with them mother-
city’s culture and intercity rivalries
 Most significant wave of
colonization – eastward on Asia
Minor’s coast.

28. Age of Colonization
 Trade and Cultural Exposure
 Greeks in Asia Minor established trade
contacts with people in the ancient
near east, including Persians and
Phoenicians
 Orientalizing - Impact of Trade with
Near East peoples
 Oriental ideas and artistic styles were seen
by the colonizers and carried home by
traders
 Eastern artifacts, ivories, jewelry,
metalwork sent to mother cities

29. Visual Arts
at Corinth and Athens
 Hostility between Athens and Corinth
grew (2 richest cities)
 Later developed into Peloponnesian War
 Differences in Orientalizing pottery
 Corinthian Art
 Miniature style that used a variety of
Eastern motifs
 Sphinxes, winged human figures, floral design
 Arranged in bands & covered the entire
surface
 white, yellow, and purple often used to

30. Visual Arts
at Corinth and Athens
 Bold and striking effect
 Commercially Successful
 Small size, well made, lively figures,
recognizable style (fig. 2.4)
 Exported throughout Greece, Italy,
Egypt, and Near East

31. Visual Arts
at Corinth and Athens
 Athenian Art
 Potters were slower to discard effects
of Geometric period
 Vases are large; attempts to depict
humans and animals are often clumsy
 Illustrated events from mythology or
daily life (more than just decoration)
 Trade Rivalry – Grew as Athens
began to take over increasing share
of the market: Corinth vs. Athens

32. Visual Arts
at Corinth and Athens
Athenian Vase Corinthian Vase

33. The Beginnings of
Greek Sculpture
 Near Eastern and Egyptian
influences on sculpture and
architecture are more consistent
and easier to trace than pottery
 Greeks settled in Egypt (c. 7th
century
B.C.E.)
 Early stone sculptures Resemble
Egyptian cult statues and were placed in
grandiose temples

34. The Beginnings of
Greek Sculpture
 Consistent Repeated subjects:
 Kore – standing female (fig. 2.6)
 Clad in drapery
 Kouros – standing male (fig. 2.7)
 Nudity marks a break with Egyptian
tradition
 Stance (standing position) based on
Egyptian models
 One foot forward (usually left), arms by
side, hands are clenched, wig-like hair

37. The Beginnings of
Greek Sculpture
 Greek sculptures abandoned
abstract for Increasing Realism,
Naturalism in 6th
century B.C.E.
 Careful study of human anatomy
 Reproduce the human form in a way that was
true to nature
 Early stone figures represented stylized
human form
 Greek spirit of independence, inquiry,
and curiosity asserted itself
 Representation of Life and vigor

38. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 Change in Archaic art reflected
social changes
 Hereditary aristocrats began losing
their status/power
 Solon’s Legal Reformations
 Athenian legislator and poet
 Reformed legal system (594 B.C.E.);
divided the citizens into 4 classes
 Members of all four classes could take
part in Assembly debates and sit in law
courts

39. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 New class of rich merchant traders
began to dominate
 Gained power by playing on discontent
of the oppressed lower classes
 Were called tyrants (This word did not
have the negative connotations it has
today.)
 Many tyrants were patrons of the arts

40. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 Artistic Developments
 Flat planes and rigid stances of kouroi
changed to more fully rounded figures
 More careful study of human anatomy
 Statues displayed life and vigor
 Exceptions to traditional male stance
(fig. 2.9): Calf-Bearer
 from Athenian Acropolis
 Conveys unity between man and beast
 Freestanding Figures, korai (plural of
Kore)

41. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 Finest female figures of the period
also come from the Acropolis
 Persians broke the figures when they
sacked Athens in 480 B.C.E., and the
Athenians then buried the statues when
they returned to their city after
defeating the persians.

44. [Image 2.9]
Calf-Bearer

45. [Image 2.10]
Peplos Kore

46. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 High & Low Relief Carvings began to
appear
 Large-scale statues to decorate temples
 Carved stone slabs
 Sculptors used the technique of relief
carving

47. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 Relief carvings
 Figures do not stand freely
 Carved into a block of stone
 NOT VISIBLE FROM ALL ANGLES
 high relief – figures project from the
background (fig. 2.11), 3-dimensionality
 Temple sculpture was usually in high-relief
 Low relief - Carving preserves the flat
surface of the stone (fig. 2.12)
 The “Archaic Smile”
 Result of technical inexperience?
 Reflection of sense of certainty &
optimism?
 Began to fade by end of 6th
century B.C.E.

48. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 Kritios Boy and the Archaic Smile
 Marks a turning point between the late
Archaic world and the early Classical
period.
 Figure doesn’t look or “walk” straight
ahead
 Head and upper body turn slightly; weight
shifts from one leg to the other
 Shows a figure in motion

49. [Image 2.13]
Kritios Boy

50. Kritios Boy
Stele of Aristion
Low Relief Carving
High Relief
Carving

51. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 Vase Painting
 Made great progress in the refinement
of earlier orientalizing technique
known as black figure
 Black figure – Orientalizing technique
used in mid-6th
century
 Combine superb craftsmanship and immense
power of expression
 (fig. 2.14 – The Suicide of Ajax))

52. Sculpture and Painting in the
Archaic Period
 Red-figure – developed at the end of 6th
century
 shows figures in the red color of the clay
 Details filled in with a brush
 Developed techniques of foreshortening,
perspective, and three-dimensionality (fig.
2.15 – Euphronios Vase)
 By end of Archaic period, most artists used
Red-Figure style

53. Black Figure – The Suicide of Ajax

54. [Image 2.15]
Euphronios, painter, Euxitheos,
potter, red-figure calyx krater

55. Architecture:
The Doric Order
 In architecture, the period was
marked by construction of several
major temples in the doric order:
 Temple of Hera at Olympia, Temple of
Apollo at Corinth, Doric temples at
Paestum (dedicated to goddess Hera)
 Inspired by Egyptian Models
 Simple dignity
 Doric columns have no base; rise
directly from the floor
 Columns taper toward the top and have
20 flutes(vertical grooves)

56. Architecture:
The Doric Order
 Capital – forms the head of each
column
 Consists of two sections:
 Echinus: spreading convex disc
 Abacus: square block above Echinus
 Entablature (upper part of
temple/column) has 3 sections:
 Architrave (lowest section; plain
band of rectangular blocks)
 Frieze (middle section): consists of
metopes and triglyphs

57. Architecture:
The Doric Order
 Metope: rectangular panels that alternate
with triglyphs
 Triglyphs: panel carved into 3 vertical
bands
 Cornice (top section); projecting upper
part
 Pediment: long extended triangle
formed from cornice sections; often
filled with sculptural decoration
(see figs. 2.16 & 2.17)

59. [Image 2.16]
Basilica at Paestum

60. Architecture:
The Ionic Order
 Ornate, fanciful; more graceful
and elaborate than doric order
 Columns rise from a tiered
base/24 flutes
 Flutes are separated by narrow
vertical bands
 Capital
 has volutes (pair of spirals)

61. Architecture:
The Ionic Order
 3-D Architraves – not flat, but is
composed of 3 projecting bands
 Running Frieze replaces Doric
order of metopes and triglyphs
 Doric order suggests simple
dignity: weight and
massiveness
 Ionic order covey sense of

64. Music and Dance
in Early Greece
 Music played a vital role in Greek
life
 Less than a dozen fragments of Greek
music have survived (earliest from late
5th
century)
 Notation difficult to understand
 Unable to recreate authentic performances
 Music was of divine origin
 Gods invented musical instruments
 Doctrine of Ethos (Musical Theory)
 Music affected human behavior

65. Music and Dance
in Early Greece
 Greek music was composed using a
series of distinct modes, or scale
types
 Dorian Mode – expressed firm,
powerful, even warlike feelings
 Phrygian Mode – produced passionate,
sensual emotions

66. Music and Dance
in Early Greece
 Instrumentation
 Cithera – 7-string lyre, accompanied
vocal music on ceremonial occassions,
(fig. 2.18)
 Aulos – double reed instrument, similar
to modern oboe, used by singers to
accompany their songs (fig. 2.19)
 Music=Primarily vocal
 Instrumental music developed around
the beginning of the archaic period
 Some lyrics have survived
 Choral odes in honor of various gods

67. Music and Dance
in Early Greece
 Paean – solemn invocation to the gods
 I.E., Apollo and Artemis were thanked for
delivery from misfortune
 Dithyramb – choral hymn sung in honor
of Dionysus at public ceremonies
 Significance of Narratives
 Music and Dance – telling a story was
important
 Knowledge of dance is limited to visual
evidence (fig. 2.20)

69. Literature and Philosophy
 Hesiod, writer from 8th
century
 Theogony – poetic account of the origins of
the world
 Works and Days – long poem about the
disadvantages in being a poor, oppressed (and
depressed) farmer in Boeotia
 Lyric verse vs. Heroic verse
 Development of lyric poetry was a sign of the
times
 More personal and relatable
 Heroic verse was intended for ruling class of
aristocratic society
 Lyric verse is concerned with the poet’s own
feelings, emotions, and opinions

70. Literature and Philosophy
 Sappho – first woman to leave a
literary record that reflects
personal experiences
 Her poems have survived in fragmentary
form
 Wife, mother, poet, and teacher
 Group of younger women surrounded her
and learned
 Apart from her poetry, we know nothing
about Sappho
 Details of her life are much disputed
 Her works are personal and full of emotion

71. Literature and Philosophy
 Philosophy: “love of wisdom”; in Western
culture it’s logic, metaphysics, ethics, etc.
 Philosophers turned away from religious
teachings used the power of human reason
to discover how world works and came
into being
 Presocratics – lived and died before the
time of Socrates
 They have little else in common
 United in use of logic and theoretical reasoning
 Materialists – sought to explain all
phenomena in terms of one or more
elements
 I.E., water alone underlay the changing
world of nature

72. Literature and Philosophy
 Pythagoreanism – Pythagoras of Samos
 Founded a school of his own
 Believed in transmigration* of souls and
kinship of all living things
 Scientific contribution was math; numerical
relationship of musical harmony
 Octave – span of eight notes
 *the passage of a soul after death into another
body

73. Literature and Philosophy
 Dualists – 2 separate universes:
 world around us: subject to constant
change
 Ideal world: perfect and unchanging;
Realized only through intellect
 Atomists – the ultimate, unchangeable
reality consisted of atoms (small
“indivisible” particles) and the void
(nothingness)

74. Literature and Philosophy
 Herodotus (Father of History)
 History of the Persian wars – 9 books
 Detailed account of end of Archaic Period
 Greek cities of Asia Minor rebelled against Persian
rulers; Persian King Darius checked the revolt, then
attacked mainland Greek cities. IN 490 B.C.E.,
Athenians defeated Darius’ forces. Later, Xerxes
(Darius’ son) led an expedition against Sparta, whom
they defeated, and then Athens. The Athenians
eventually defeated the Persian army.
 First historical writer; great storyteller
 Writing was based on philosophical and
theological belief: Right over Might; the
Persians’ hubris led to their defeat