Ch. 1.2 The Civilization of the Greeks Classical Greece 800 BCE – 338 BCE.
Chapter 3. Classical Period: 479-404 BCE Begins with the defeat of the Persians led by Xerxes ...
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Transcript of Chapter 3. Classical Period: 479-404 BCE Begins with the defeat of the Persians led by Xerxes ...
Chapter 3
Classical Period: 479-404 BCE Begins with the defeat of the Persians led by Xerxes
Late Classical Period: 404-323 BCE Ends with the death of Alexander the Great
Optimism and Unity – victories in the Persian Wars Limitless possibilities Self-confidence Inspiration to our culture
Golden Age of Greece Unparalleled in artistic and intellectual
achievement
Athenians lived in a world of tension and violence Could not live in peace with the other
Greeks, despite their quest for noble ideals Led to war with the rest of Greece in 431
BCE and to the fall of Athens in 404 BCE
Humans can achieve order by understanding why people act as they do and by understanding the motives for their own actions The Classical Ideal = quest for reason and
order Human order can triumph over the chaos of the
natural world Quest for a balanced society
Creating balance = staying within reasonable limits Aim of life should be perfect balance: everything in due
proportion, nothing in excess Hubris = haughtiness, pride, arrogance
Loss of contact with reality, overestimation of one’s own capabilities
Greatest crime in Greek society (only crime) People guilty of hubris generally shamed or humiliated
their victims for personal pleasure or gratification Generally, those guilty of hubris eventually pay the
price
Political and cultural center of Greece Democracy
All male citizens required to participate in government
Ecclesia (general assembly) Boule (directing counsel) Individual magistracies Serve on juries
But Athenians may have had a bit too much pride themselves…
Organization of Greek city-states Defensive: guard against future attacks
Treasury kept on Delos (politically neutral island)
Suspicions arose Athens was using Delian League to form an
empire of subjects Transferring money to Athens to help
build….
Athenian League vs. Spartan Allies 431 BCE – 404 BCE Trying to control Athens from getting out of
hand After a poorly planned attack on Sicily,
Athens surrendered
Great historian; author of History of the Peloponnesian War Detailed description of events Accurate and impartial (even though he was an
Athenian) Attempted to understand human
emotions/behaviors so that history wouldn’t repeat itself
Hoped that future generations would understand why the war occurred, allowing them to better understand themselves
Universal principle of human behavior (emphasis on reason, not on anecdotes)
Theaters = sacred ground Religious experience/ritual
Serious and dignified Masks, elaborate costumes Music Beautiful choreography Outdoor performance
Aeschylus, Sophocles,Euripides
Evolved from choral hymns sung in honor of Dionysus
Festivals of Dionysus Each author submitted
4 plays 3 tragedies (trilogy)
Single story or different stories with common theme
1 light-headed (satyr) Mythological figure:
man with animal ears/tail
Plays judged with prizes awarded to the winning author
Deep awareness of human weakness Dangers of power Belief that good will triumph in the end
The process of being able to recognize what is right is painful
Humans must suffer to learn of their errors
Dramas were bloody and violent Most famous: Oresteia trilogy
Most prosperous/successful 123 plays, only 7 survived
Explored and developed individual characters Combined tragic consequences of individual
mistakes with belief in the collective dignity of humanity
Major theme: Choice between good and evil is never clear or easy, sometimes impossible Destiny/fate, hands of the gods Respect the forces we cannot see
Most religious of the dramatists Most famous: Oedipus the King
The story: Doomed to kill father, marry
mother Impacted ideas of Freud (Oedipus
Complex) Aspects of our existence are
beyond our understanding Cannot avoid our destiny
Downfall of a tragic hero is a result of a flaw (hamartia) Understanding the helplessness of
humanity Warning against self-reliance
(hubris) Weaknesses of Oedipus’s
character overcame his good points and destroyed him
Most widely read, realistic view Closest to our times: exposing social, political,
religious injustices Disillusioned by war-torn years
Characters pushed to the limits Hatred for war, senseless misery
Gods not worthy of respect/worship Sympathy and understanding of women
Challenged basic premises of contemporary Athenian society
Most famous: Bacchae
Aristophanes (comic poet) Futility of war Combined political satire with fantasy
The Birds: men join with birds to form a society, cut off the gods, Zeus hands over authority to the birds
Lysistrata: women withhold sex until peace is negotiated;play ends with Atheniansand Spartans dancing together in peace
Socrates – one of the most important figures in Greek history Wrote nothing! Most of what we know of him came from the
writing of Plato Problems of human behavior/morality Dialogues – how much is really Socrates?
Took no money, founded no school Walked about Athens to talk and argue,
tested traditional ideas through a series of questions
“Following the argument wherever it led”
Acquired many enemies People don’t like to be proven wrong! 399 BCE – put on trial for impiety and
leading youth to question authority Refused to escape because of the strength of
his morality and his respect for the law Put to death by
drinking hemlock
Construction of an “Ideal Society”
Founder of The Academy Devoted to education
and research Forerunner of universities
Focus on mathematics, law, political theory Produced experts for the service of the state
Theory of Forms In a higher dimension of existence, there are perfect
forms Phenomena around us are pale reflections
Challenge to think about how our lives should be organized
Plato’s most gifted student Started competitive school (Lyceum)
Agreed to disagree (rival philosophy) Severed ties with Plato Lectured students in the morning Educated public in the afternoon
Main focus: forms are present in the world around us, no alternate perfect reality
Wrote on every serious study of the time
Classified and categorized life forms
According to Aristotle, the downfall of the tragic hero is his undetected “tragic flaw”
Audience experiences catharsis through various emotional and intellectual connections with the tragic hero Catharsis = cleansing of the soul
Aristotle’s work is basis for Christian theology Official philosophical position of Roman
Catholic Church St. Thomas Aquinas’s synthesis of Aristotelian
philosophy and Christian doctrine
Art – Early Greece
Strong Egyptian influence Few subjects repeated
over and over again Kore – Standing
female figure, clad in drapery
Kouros – Standing male figure, nude Flat planes, rigid
stances, archaic smile
Early Classical works Interest in Realism Showing a figure in
motion Fully rounded Careful study of
human anatomy Ex. Kritios Boy
Natural expression Realistic movement of
hips and stomach muscles
Myron Striving to create a
new standard of human beauty
Principles of proportion, symmetry, and balance
Ex. Discus Thrower Combined realistic
treatment of action with an idealized portrayal of the athlete
Late fifth century BCE During the
Peloponnesian War Individual more
important than ideal Emotional responses
of ordinary people to life/death
Death/mourning increasingly common subjects Ex. Grave stele of Crito
and Timarista
Citadel of Athens
Temple to Athena “parthenos” = virgin = goddess Athena
Classical ideals = proportion,theme of order Supreme expression
Represents the supremacy of Athens, but is also its downfall
Sculptures removed from Parthenon British ambassador
to Constantinople, Lord Elgin
Beginning of the 19th century
Now housed in the British Museum, London
Ex. Three Goddesses
Caryatid – female statues used to support a roof
Form vs. Function Blurring lines of
traditional distinctions between architecture and sculpture Structure vs.
decoration
323 BCE – 146 BCE Death of Alexander the Great to the Roman
Conquest Generals could not name a successor
Divided Macedonian Empire Four most important kingdoms – Syria, Egypt,
Pergamum, Macedonia Continued to spread Greek culture
“to Hellenize” – to spread Greek influence Combined Greek intellectual ideas and artistic
styles with native Eastern ones
CLASSICAL ART HELLENISTIC ART
Realistic figures Calm faces, little emotion Order Restrained Clarity Balance Work produced for state =
religious and political themes
Temples Religious sanctuaries
Realistic portraits Emotional, expressive Freedom Confusion, contrast Light vs. dark Work produced for
individuals = lavish decorations
Responsible to individuals, not humanity or gods
Marketplaces, theaters, technical buildings
CLASSICAL ART HELLENISTIC ART
Wealthy city of Hellenistic Asia
Alter of Zeus – chief religious shrine Decorated with
drama and violence of the battle between the gods and the giants
Intense gestures and facial expressions
Ex. Athena Slaying the Giant
Freestanding sculpture Intended to impress a
wide public Trojan priest, Laocoön,
punished by the gods for his attempt to warn his people against allowing the Trojan horse to enter their gates
Apollo sent two sea serpents to strangle him and his two sons as punishment
Hellenistic kingdoms did not work together Caused their fall
Roman began to take them over individually Ended with Corinth in 146 BCE
Greece made into Roman province Greek art and culture dominated much of
Roman cultural life and was passed on into Western tradition