Chapter 8.4: Ancient Greece

Mano Sotelo; Mariana Carreras; Gloria Helin Moore

Chapter 8.4: Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks lived in many lands around the Mediterranean Sea, from Turkey to the south of France. They had close contact with other peoples, such as the Egyptians, Syrians, and Persians. The Greeks lived in separate city-states, but shared the same language and religious beliefs.

Archaic Period

Two of the most distinctive forms of free-standing sculpture to emerge during the Archaic period of Greek art (about 600-480 B.C.E.) were statues of youths (kouroi) and maidens (korai).

Kouros (the singular form) is a term used to describe a type of statue of a male figure produced in marble during the Archaic period of Greek art. Such statues can be colossal (that is, larger than life) or less than life-size. They all have a conventional pose, where the head and body can be divided equally by a central line, and the legs are parted with the weight placed equally front and back. The male figures, usually in the form of naked young men, acted both as grave markers and as votive offerings, the latter perhaps intended to be representations of the dedicator. The female figures served similar functions, but differed from their male counterparts in that they were elaborately draped.

Black figured amphora (wine jar) depicting Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea with a spear to her throat. — Figure 1. Exekias, 6th cent. B.C, Neck-Handled Amphora: Obverse: Achilles killing Penthesilea, c.530 B.C. (British Museum; Image source: University of California, San Diego, via Artstor. Used with permission, for education use only).

The mouth is invariably fixed in a smile, which is probably a symbolic expression of the arete (“excellence”) of the person represented. It used to be thought that all kouroi were representations of the god Apollo. However, although some may be representations of gods or heroes, many were simply grave markers. The kouros was not intended as a realistic portrait of the deceased, but an idealized representation of values and virtues to which the dead laid claim: youthful beauty, athleticism, and aristocratic bearing, among others.

Statue of nude male Apollo. — Figure 2. The Strangford Apollo, c. 500-490 B.C.E., 101 cm high, perhaps from Cyclades, Aegean Sea (Image source: © Trustees of the British Museum. Used with permission, for education use only).

Image and Video

Image of sculpture of a nude young boy, both hands in fists and firm stance. — Figure 3. Anavysos Kouros, 6th century B.C.E. (National Museum of Archaeology, Greece; Image source: Erich Lessing/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. via Artsy. Used with permission, for education use only).

Anavysos Kouros (4:59)

Classical Period

By around 500 B.C.E. “rule by the people,” or democracy, had emerged in the city of Athens. Following the defeat of a Persian invasion in 480-479 B.C.E., mainland Greece and Athens, in particular, entered into a golden age. In drama and philosophy, literature, art and architecture, Athens was second to none. The city’s empire stretched from the western Mediterranean to the Black Sea, creating enormous wealth. This paid for one of the biggest public building projects ever seen in Greece, which included the Parthenon.

Ancient Greece also played a vital role in the early history of coinage. As well as making some of the world’s earliest coins, the ancient Greeks were the first to use them extensively in trade.

Image and Video

Image of a view of the Parthenon, view of the doric columns and view of scaffoldings in its interior. — Figure 4. Parthenon, Built between 448 and 438 BC at the site of the Archaic hekatompedon. (Athens, Greece; Image source: Shmuel Magal, Sites and Photos via Artstor. Used with permission, for education use only).

The Parthenon (Acropolis) (16:04)

Hellenistic Period

Following the death of Alexander and the division of his empire, the Hellenistic period (323-31 B.C.E.) saw Greek power and culture extended across the Middle East and as far as the Indus Valley. When Rome absorbed the Greek world into its vast empire, Greek ideas, art and culture greatly influenced the Romans.

Alexander was always shown clean-shaven, which was an innovation: all previous portraits of Greek statesmen or rulers had beards. This royal fashion lasted for almost five hundred years and almost all of the Hellenistic kings and Roman emperors until Hadrian were portrayed beardless.