2. The Classical Ideal
Classical period (479-323 B.C.E.)
– Victories in the Persian Wars produced
a new spirit of optimism and unity in
Greece
– AKA: Golden Age of Greece – Reached
high point in Athens during last half of
5th
century
• unparalleled richness in artistic &
intellectual achievement
3. The Classical Ideal
Contributions of “pioneers” – first
in their fields
– Laid the foundations for later
acheivements
– Diverse subjects: drama, medicine,
math, painting, sculpture, government
Late Classical Period (404-323
B.C.E.)
– Writers and artists explored ideas and
styles from previous century in
difference ways
4. The Classical Ideal
Greek cultural life no longer
dominated by Athens
– A single center no longer governed
artistic developments
– Individual artists followed their own
personal visions
The Greeks’ conquerors spread
Greek ideas throughout the ancient
world and down in time to the
present
– First Macedonians, then Romans
5. The Classical Ideal
Central principle of Classical Ideal:
existence can be ordered and
controlled
Aim of life should be a perfect
balance: everything in due
proportion and nothing in excess
– “Nothing too much”
Value of human potential,
capability
– Individuals can achieve order by
understanding human actions and
6. The Classical Ideal
Parthenon honors human
achievement and Athens as much as
to honor goddess Athena
Athenians existed in a world of
tension and violence
– Tragic inability to put into practice
their own noble ideas and live in
peace with other Greeks
– Led to Peloponnesian War
– Greek search for order is significant
9. Athens
Political and cultural center of
Greece during first half of Classical
period
– Most powerful people in the Greek
world
Exemplar of human achievement
– Decisive role in the defeat of Persians
(479 B.C.E. )
10. Athens
Democratic Government –proved
effective and stable
– First established in late 6th
century
– Male citizens were required to
participate in government
• Ecclesia – General Assembly
• Boule – directing council of the ecclesia
• Magistracies – individual
• Also eligible to serve on juries
11. Athens
Delian League – defensive
organization of Greek city-states
– Guard against future outside attacks
– Money collected was kept on the
politically neutral island, Delos
– Suspicions arose that Athens was
looking to strengthen its own power
rather than protect all of Greece
– Funds were moved to Athens, and
some was used to pay for Athenian
building projects, including the
Parthenon
12. Athens
– Peloponnesian War (431- 404 B.C.E.)
• League members warred against the
Athenians (Thebes, Sparta, Corinth)
– Spartans led an alliance against Athens
to check “imperialistic designs”
Thucydides – wrote History of the
Peloponnesian War
– Describes course of the war
• Accurate and impartial
– Not meant to entertain, but to search
out truth (analyze motives, reactions)
– Died before its completion, 411 B.C.E.
13. Athens
Pericles – Athenian leader
– Hero of History of Peloponnesian War
– Aristocrat by birth, he began his career
after transfer of Delian League funds to
Athens
– Unofficially assumed leadership of
Athenian democracy by 443 B.C.E.
– Constructed Acropolis during few
remaining years of peace
• Made the glory of Athens visible
14. Athens
– Pericles died in 429 B.C.E.
– No successor could be found who was
capable of winning respect and
support
404 B.C.E. – Athens surrendered
unconditionally to Spartans and their
allies.
15.
16. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Tragic drama evolved from
dithyrambs of preceding century
Theater = was a religious ritual
– Evolved from choral hymns sung in
honor of the god Dionysus
– Theaters were regarded as sacred
ground; participation in religious ritual
Surviving plays were performed at
one of two annual festival sacred to
Dionysus before an audience of the
entire city’s population.
17.
18. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Authors submitted 4 plays to be
performed consecutively on a
single day:
3 Tragedies (trilogy) + Satyr Play
– Satyr play – lighthearted play; comedy
– Plots – often drawn from mythology
• Dealt with relationship between human
and divine
– Actors and props
• Wore masks, elaborate costumes, and
raised shoes
Plays were judged and a winner
named
19. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
– Function of Chorus
• Forms a group centrally involved in the
action (in early plays)
• Represents the point of view of the
spectator (more often in Sophocles’
plays)
• Divided action into separate episodes by
singing lyric odes
Surviving texts of the plays
represent only a small part of the
total experience of the original
performances
– Music, action, choreography missing
20. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Athenian Tragic Dramatists –
differing world views of the authors
illustrate changing fate of 5th
-century
Athens
Aeschylus
• Earliest of the playwrights (525-456 B.C.E.)
– Works show:
• Optimistic philosophy/themes
• Deep awareness of human weakness
• Dangers of power
• In the end, right will triumph
• Process of being able to recognize what is
right is painful
21. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Aeschylus
– Orestia trilogy: Agamemnon, The
Libation Bearers, The Eumenides
• Won 1st
prize in festival of 458 B.C.E. at
Athens
• Subject of the trilogy: Growth of
civilization represented by the gradual
transition from primitive law (vendetta
-blood for blood) to rational society of
civilized human beings
22. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Agamemnon – King Agamemnon led
Greeks to victory at Troy and returns
home to Argos. He killed (sacrificed) his
daughter Iphigenia to have an easy
passage through a war campaign. His
wife, Clytemnestra and her lover,
Aegisthus murder him when he returns.
– She murders him for two reasons:
• 1. Vengeance for her daughter’s death
• 2. Replace Agamemnon with Aegisthus
23. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Libation Bearers – Orestes,
Agamemnon’s exiled son, returns to
Argos to avenge his father’s death by
killing his mother.
– Primitive law of vendetta requires him
to act even though this act will
transfer guilt to him
– The Furies drive him mad and force
him from his home
24. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
The Eumenides – (The Kindly
Ones)
– Violence can only be brought to an
end by the power of reason and
persuasion
Orestes comes to Athens and stands
trial for the murder of his mother. Athena
presides over the trial. The Furies
demand condemnation, but Apollo
defends Orestes and he is acquitted. The
series of murders is brought to an end.
25. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Sophocles (496-406 B.C.E.)
– Most prosperous and successful of
the three major dramatists
– Plays express less positive vision of
life than that of Aeschylus
– Explores and develops individual
characters rather than expound on a
point of view
– Combines an awareness of tragic
consequences of individual mistakes
with a belief in the collective ability
and dignity of the human race
26. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Wrote Antigone, & Oedipus the
King
Antigone - Antigone’s brother,
Polynices attacks his home city of
Thebes and is killed. His uncle Creon,
king of Thebes, forbids anyone to give
him proper burial. Antigone disobeys,
claiming that her religious and family
obligations are more important than the
state. Antigone, Antigone’s fiancee
(Creon’s son), and Creon’s wife all
commit suicide.
27. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Antigone
– Creon’s stubbornness and bad
judgement result in tragedy for him
and Antigone
– Sophocles emphasizes how much lies
outside human control; destiny or
gods control what happens
– We should respect and revere forces
we cannot see or understand
– Makes him the most traditional
religious tragedian
28. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Oedipus the King – Oedipus is
doomed or fated before his birth to marry
his mother and kill his father. He attempts
to avoid his fate, and finally discovers
that he has failed.
– Aristotle says that the downfall of a
tragic figure is the result of hamartia
(character flaw)
– Oedipus’ pride and stubbornness is his
flaw.
– Flaws in character overcome his good
points and destroy him.
29. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
Euripides (484-406 B.C.E.)
– Expresses weariness and disillusion
of war-torn years at the end of the fifth
century
– Concern for realism, and rationality
– Determination to expose social,
political, and religious injustices
– Did not regard the gods as worthy of
respect and worship
• Charged with impiety
30. Drama Festivals of Dionysus
– Exhibits profound sympathy and
understanding for the problems of
women who live in male-dominated
society
– Deepest hatred reserved for war and its
senseless misery
– The Suppliant Women – Mothers beg
Theseus, ruler of Athens, to recover the
bodies of 7 chiefs killed in war
• Reminded of the grief of wives and mothers ,
and war that was happening
– Works Expressed wide range of
emotions
32. Aristophanes (450-385 B.C.E.)
Athenian comic poet
– Greatest comic poet of 5th
century B.C.E.
Combines political satire and
fantasy
– The Birds – Two Athenians leave to find
a better place to live. Join with birds
and build Cloudcuckooland in midair.
Cuts off communication between gods
and humans. Zeus hands over authority
to the birds.
33. Aristophanes (450-385 B.C.E.)
– Lysistrata – deals with how to prevent
war
– Women refused to make love with their
husbands until peace was negotiated
between Athens and Sparta. Women also
seized the Acropolis. Men made peace.
34. The Fall of Athens
Athens was removed as dominating
force in Greece and no successor
arose among Athens’ rivals after
Peloponnesian War.
– Skirmishes between Sparta, Thebes,
Athens, Corinth, and Argo
Philip of Macedon (359 B.C.E. )
– Fills the need for a leader; caused
balance in power to northern kingdom,
Macedon
• Macedon exerted unifying influence despite
opposition from Athens and Sparta
35. The Fall of Athens
– Macedonian Empire
• 338 B.C.E., Battle of Chaeronaea
• Philip defeated Athenian and Theban forces
and unified all the cities of Greece, with the
exception of Sparta
• League of Corinth
– Philip was assassinated in 336 B.C.E.
36. The Fall of Athens
Alexander the Great – Philip’s son
– Carried out the plans of his father after
his assassination
– Enlarged the empire and destroyed
the Persian empire
– Spent 10 years (333 – 323 B.C.E) in
series of campaigns across Asia,
destroying the Persian Empire and
reaching as far as India
• Died in 323 B.C.E.
37. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Socrates
In 399 B.C.E., he was found guilty of
impiety and leading youth to question
authority; he was executed
Socratic Ideas could not be killed:
– Fate of the individual
– Questioning traditional values
Socrates wrote nothing, and did not
start a school
– We know about his ideas from the
writing of his disciples
38. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Taught in public places and private
gatherings; questioning & testing
ideas
– Unlike sophists (professional
philosophers), he did not take money
for teaching or start a school
Gained young followers and
acquired enemies because he
challenged established morality
39. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
After his trial and sentencing, his
friends urged him to escape from
prison.
– Strength of his own morality and
reverence for the laws stopped him.
– He was put to death by ingesting
hemlock (poison)
Xenophon – Greek historian
– Writes account of life and teachings of
Socrates
– Apology, Symposium, Memorabilia
40. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Plato - philosopher
– Wrote Dialogues – claim to record the
teaching of Socrates
– Socratic Problem of Dialogues –
questions how much of the work is
historical truth vs. Plato’s own
ideas/inventions.
• Early works preserve Socrates’ views and
methods, but later works may use
Socrates as the spokesman for Plato’s
ideas
41. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Plato
– Deeply impressed by Socrates’ life and
death
• Present at his trial
– Disciple of Socrates
• Apology – describes Socrates’ last days
• Crito – explanation for why Socrates
refused to escape from prison
• Phaedo – last days discussing death and
immortality with friends
• Plato left Athens and traveled after
Socrates’ death
42. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
– Returned to Athens in 387 B.C.E.
– Established the Academy – first
permanent institution in Western
civilization devoted to education and
research
• Forerunner of universities
43. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
– Academy – Curriculum
• Mathematics, law, and political theory
• Purpose was to produce experts for the
service of the state
• Plato taught and died in Athens, 347 B.C.E.
– Work deals with political theory and
ideal society
• Theory of Forms – perfect forms in a higher
dimension of existence; phenomena in the
world is a pale reflection of the perfect
forms
– Careful breeding of children; censorship of
music and poetry, abolition of private property
44. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Plato’s works are intended not as a
set of instruction to be followed
literally, but as a challenge to think
seriously about how our lives
should be organized.
45. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Aristotle
– Gifted pupil of Plato, developed his
master’s doctrines, then looked at them
critically
– Founded the Lyceum – school founded
in competition with the Academy
• Cut ties with Plato and introduced rival
philosophy
– Platonist vs. Aristotelian
46. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
Lyceum – students came from
other parts of Greece to attend
courses and work on projects
– Mornings: Aristotle lectured to full-
time students
– Afternoons: students studied and
researched in library ; general lecture
for public
He wrote on every topic of serious
study at the time
–
47. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
– Metaphysics – most complex of
Aristotle’s works
• Deals with his dispute with Plato’s Theory
of Forms - forms were actually present in
the objects we see around us, not 2
realities
• Nature of God – “Thought thinking itself”
– Physics - elements that compose the
universe and the laws by which they
operate; physical world ruled by
supreme being
– Rhetoric – ideal model of oratory
48. Philosophy
in the Late Classical Period
– Poetics – ideal model of poetry and
definition of tragedy
• Formula for tragedy: Tragic hero must be
noble; possesses a tragic flaw that leads to
a bad end involving the reversal of fortune
or death
• Catharsis – The audience experiences a
“cleansing” of the soul through emotional
and intellectual relations with this tragic
figure
– “Master of those who know.” – great
creative and intellectual range
49. Music
in the Classical Period
Popularity of instrumental music
grew
– No longer mere accompaniment to
dramatic performances and poetry
Doctrine of Ethos – music had the
power to influence human behavior
– Study of music was vital in education
– Plato: participation in musical activities
molded character for better or worse
• Ban on certain kinds of music with the
“wrong” ethos
50. Music
in the Classical Period
Musical scale reflected the
proportions of the cosmos
– Music provided a link between the real
world and the abstract world of forms
51. Music
in the Classical Period
– Aristotle: music had more practical
value in the attainment of virtue
• Numerical relationships in music allowed
the musician to compose works that
imitated highest state of reason and virtue
Pythagorean principals
– Octaves – series of 8 notes
– Fourths – represents the space between
the lowest note and the fourth note up
the octave
– Combination of tetrachords (group of 4
53. Music
in the Classical Period
Harmony – “Joining together” – in
musical context Greeks used it to
describe various kinds of scales
Rhythmic instrumentation: tied to
words or dance steps
– Instruments like tambourines and
cymbals were used to mark the rhythm
Musical notation: probably
borrowed from the Phoenicians
54.
55. Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Sculpture and Vase Painting
Artists were concerned with ideas
of balance and order
Works reveal a new interest in
naturalism, realism
– Representing human body in motion
– Myron’s (Discobolus) Discus Thrower
(Fig. 3.6)
• None of his originals have survived, but
copies exist
– Combines realistic treatment of action
with idealized portrayal of the athlete
57. Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Sculpture and Vase Painting
Artists also tried to create a new
standard of human beauty
– Controlling human form according to
proportion, symmetry, and balance
– Riace Bronzes (Fig. 3.7) represent
warriors (precise subject is a mystery)
– Exemplify this new standard
59. Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Sculpture and Vase Painting
Polykleitos of Argos, The Canon
Devised a mathematical formula for
representing the perfect male body,
ideal canon of proportion
Ideal beauty consisted of a precise
relationship between the various parts
of the body
Doryphoros (Fig. 3.8)
Bronze statue that illustrated his
theory
Power of human intellect produced
ideal beauty
61. Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Sculpture and Vase Painting
In late 5th
century, artists began to
focus on individual rather than a
generalized ideal
– Shift occurred due to the
Peloponnesian War
– Artists began to depict emotional
responses of ordinary people to life and
death
– Death and mourning became common
subjects (Figs. 3.9 & 3.10)
• Scenes on oil flasks used for funerary
offerings
63. Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Architecture
Designers were concerned with
proportion and interrelationship of
various parts the make up the whole
structure
Temple of Zeus at Olympia (Fig. 3.11)
– First great artistic achievement after
Persian Wars
• Begun 470 B.C.E., Finished 456 B.C.E.
• Largest Doric temple on mainland Greece
– Illustrates proportion and
interrelationships
• Distances were equal and proportionate
• Theme of order
65. Fifth Century B.C.E.:
Architecture
Sculptures from Olympia express
conviction that justice will triumph
and gods will enforce it
Art of second half of 5th
century –
more concerned with human
achievement than divine will.
66. Fifth Century B.C.E.: Architecture
The AcropolisPericles’ building program for the
Acropolis – represents supreme
expression in visual terms of
Classical ideals
– Entire program was meant to
perpetuate the memory of Athens’
glorious achievements
• Site for Acropolis towers over the city and
had served as a center of Athenian life from
Mycenaean times
– Built with Delian League funds
– Phidias– work done under his direction
began in 449 B.C.E.
67. Fifth Century B.C.E.: Architecture
The AcropolisParthenon (Fig. 3.14) – first building
constructed
– Temple to Athena (Parthenos)
– Combines Doric columns with Ionic
features
• Ionic feature: continuous running frieze in
side the outer colonnade
• Doric feature: entasis of columns
– Perfection of the architectural
execution required mathematical
precision
• Tribute to Classical search for order
68. Fifth Century B.C.E.: Architecture
The Acropolis3 techniques of carving:
– Pediments – freestanding figures
– Frieze – Low relief carvings
– Metopes – High relief carvings;
illustrate mythological battles
• (Fig. 3.15, 3.16)
Realism is combined with
preoccupation with proportion and
balance
– Ideal beauty represented in realistic
terms
69.
70. Fifth Century B.C.E.: Architecture
The AcropolisPropylaea – entrance to the
Acropolis (Fig. 3.18)
– Begun in 437 B.C.E.
– Both Doric and Ionic columns are used
Erechtheum – Ionic temple of
complex design, finished in 406
– Chief technical problem: Entrances on
different levels due to the uneven
ground level
– Commemorated a whole series of
religious events and honored several
different deities
72. Fifth Century B.C.E.: Architecture
The AcropolisHoused wooden statue of Athena; altars
to Poseidon and others
Elaborate and delicate temple decoration
Best known feature: Porch of the
Maidens or South Porch
Caryatids – female statues used in place of
columns) (Fig. 3.19)
Caryatids are an attempt to conceal the
structural functions of a column behind its
form
74. Fourth Century B.C.E.:
The Visual Arts
Idealism and heroic characters of
High Classical art were replaced
with interest in realism and emotion
– Greek fresco painting of the period has
been completely lost
– In sculpture, Roman copies of lost
originals, inform us
– Art is concerned with fate of the
individual soul (paralleled Plato’s ideas)
– More emotional facial expressions
• Mood of dreamy tenderness
76. Fourth Century B.C.E.:
The Visual Arts
Praxiteles
– Immense influence on his
contemporaries
– Gentle melancholy – style is well
illustrated in Hermes with Infant
Dionysus (3.21)
Aphrodite of Cyrene (3.22)
– Famous statue of nude Aphrodite
– Female body = object of beauty
– One of the first attempts in Western art
to introduce the element of sensuality
79. Fourth Century B.C.E.:
The Visual Arts
Scopas
– Emphasized emotion and intensity in
his artwork
• Pothos (Desire) (Fig. 3.23) – Roman copies
Lysippus
– Official portraitist of Alexander the
Great
– Focused on Individual characteristics,
proportion, large scale works, and
concern for realism (profoundly
affected later Hellenistic art
• Apoxyomenos (The Scraper) (Fig. 3.24)
83. Fourth Century B.C.E.:
The Visual Arts
Architecture: period of innovation
Sanctuaries at Delphi and Olympia
were expanded
New cities were laid out at Rhodes,
Cnidus, & Priene using Classical
principles of town planning
Invention of building forms new to
Greek architecture, including the
tholos (circular building)
84. Fourth Century B.C.E.:
The Visual Arts
– Tholos of the Sanctuary of Athena
Pronaia, Delphi(Fig. 3.25)
– Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; most
grandiose work of the century
End of Classical Greece
– Alexander died in the summer of 323
B.C.E.; the division of his empire into
separate independent kingdoms
spread Greek culture even more
widely.
• Even as far away as India (Gandharan)
87. The Hellenistic Period
Alexander’s generals’ inability to
agree on a successor led to the
division of Macedonian Empire
– 4 most important kingdoms that split
off: Syria, Egypt, Pergamum,
Macedonia (eventually all conquered
by Rome)
– Kingdoms spread of Greek influence
• Greek verb “to Hellenize”
Alexandria, Egypt, was the greatest
of all centers of Greek learning
88.
89. The Hellenistic Period
The Museum or Temple of the
Muses at Alexandria
– Planned by King Ptolemy
– Library contained everything of
importance written in Greek, up to
700,000 separate works
– Destroyed by fire when Julius Caesar
besieged the city in 47 B.C.E.
90. The Hellenistic Period
Hellenistic rulers of the new
kingdoms (Asia Minor and Syria)
forstered Greek art and literature as
one means of holding foreign
influence at bay.
– Libraries built at Pergamum and Syrian
capital of Antioch
– Philosophers were encouraged to visit
and lecture in the new centers
– Impression on more remote peoples:
• Gandharan – Buddhist monumental
structure that used Greek styles and
techniques
91. The Hellenistic Period
To maintain importance of Greek
culture (and fend off foreign
influence), rulers turned to visual
arts
– Inspired by Alexander’s spirit of
adventure and experiment, artists
began to discover new subjects and
invent new techniques
• Most powerful influence was the memory of
Alexander’s life
– Alexander the Great (Fig. 3.26)
93. The Hellenistic Period
Artistic freedom vs. Classical order
– Classical: clarity and balance; order;
calm and restrained
• Most of Classical work had been created
for the state
– New style (Hellenistic Art): emotional;
expressive; perpetual motion and
reality (i.e., riotous confusion)
– Development of realistic portraiture
94. The Hellenistic Period
New patrons = new artistic roles
– Rulers and wealthy businessmen
commissioned works for lavish
decoration for cities or to adorn
private palaces and villas
– Artists were accountable to patrons,
not gods or humanity
Architects began to design
marketplaces, theaters, scientific
and technical buildings
– Fig. 3.27 – Lighthouse at Alexandria
95.
96. The Hellenistic Period
Pergamum – wealthy city ruled by
dynasty of kings known as the
Attalids (founded in early 3rd
century)
– Layout of the city represents a
rejection of Classical concepts of
order and balance (Fig. 3.28)
Altar of Zeus at Pergamum
– Chief religious shrine erected by
Eumenes II
– (Fig. 3.29) – frieze decoration depicts
battle of gods and giants
98. The Hellenistic Period
– Altar represents the most complete
illustration of the principles and
practice of Hellenistic art
• Rich, elaborate, detailed,
Laocoön (fig. 3.30)– freestanding
piece of sculpture
100. The Hellenistic Period
Return to Classic principles by the
end of the Hellenistic period –
artists and public were weary of the
richness and elaboration of
Hellenistic style
Roman conquest brought an end to
Hellenistic Greece
