Ancient Greek Culture

introduction

Ancient Greek culture covers over a thousand years of history, from the earliest
civilizations in the area to the cultures that became the Ancient Greeks. Following a
Greek Dark Age, Greece once more flourished and developed into the ancient
culture that we recognize today .

Classical Greece: Map of Ancient Greece.

Greek culture is based on a series of shared values that connected independent city-
states throughout the region, and expanded as far north as Mount Olympus. Greek
society was insular, and loyalties were focused around one’s polis (city-state).
Greeks considered themselves civilized and considered outsiders to be barbaric.

It was a period of political, philosophical, artistic, and scientific

achievements that formed a legacy with unparalleled influence on
Western civilization.
While Greek daily life and loyalty was centered on one’s polis, the Greeks did create
leagues, which vied for control of the peninsula, and were able to unite together
against a common threat (such as the Persians).

Greek culture is focused on their government, art, architecture, philosophy, and

sport. Athens was intensely proud of its creation of democracy, and citizens from all
poleis (city-states) took part in civic duties. Cities commissioned artists and
architects to honor their gods and beautify their cities.

Greek philosophers, mathematicians, and thinkers are still honored in society today.
As a religious people, the Greeks worshipped a number of gods through sacrifices,
rituals, and festivals.

Bronze Age and Proto-Greek Civilizations

Cycladic Civilization

During the Bronze Age, several distinct cultures developed around the Aegean. The
Cycladic civilization, around the Cyclades Islands, thrived from 3,000 to 2,000 BCE.
Little is known about the Cycladic civilization because they left no written records.
Their material culture is mainly excavated from grave sites, which reveal that the
people produced unique, geometric marble figures.
Minoan Civilization

The Minoan civilization stretches from 3700 BCE until 1200 BCE, and thrived during
their Neopalatial period (from 1700 to 1400 BCE), with the large-scale building of
communal palaces. Numerous archives have been discovered at Minoan sites;
however their language, Linear A , has yet to be deciphered. The culture was
centered on trade and production, and the Minoans were great seafarers on the
Mediterranean Sea.

Mycenaean Civilization

A proto-Greek culture known as the Mycenaeans developed and flourished on the

mainland, eventually conquering the Aegean Islands and Crete, where the Minoan
civilization was centered. The Mycenaeans developed a fractious, war-like culture
that was centered on the authority of a single ruler. Their culture eventually
collapsed, but many of their citadel sites were occupied through the Greek Dark Age
and rebuilt into Greek city-states.

The Dark Age

From around 1200 BCE, the palace centers and outlying settlements of the
Mycenaeans’ culture began to be abandoned or destroyed. By 1050 BCE, the
recognizable features of Mycenaean culture had disappeared.

Many explanations attribute the fall of the Mycenaean civilization and the collapse of
the Bronze Age to climatic or environmental catastrophe, combined with an invasion
by the Dorians or by the Sea Peoples, or to the widespread availability of edged
weapons of iron, but no single explanation fits the available archaeological evidence.

This two- to three-century span of history is also known as the Homeric Age. It is
believed that the Homeric epics The Iliad and The Odyssey were first recited around
this time.

The Geometric and Orientalizing Periods

The Geometric period (c. 900–700 BCE), which derives its name from the
proliferation of geometric designs and rendering of figures in art, witnessed the
emergence of a new culture on the Greek mainland. The culture’s change in
language, its adaptation of the Phoenician alphabet, and its new funerary practices
and material culture suggest the ethnic population changed from the mainland’s
previous inhabitants, the Mycenaeans.

During this time, the new culture was centered on the people and independent
poleis, which divided the land into regional populations. This period witnessed a
growth in population and the revival of trade.

The Orientalizing period (c. 700–600 BCE) is named for the cultural exchanges the
Greeks had with Eastern, or Oriental civilizations. During this time, international trade
began to flourish. Art from this period reflects contact with locations such as Egypt,
Syria, Assyria, Phoenicia, and Israel.

Archaic Greece

Greece’s Archaic period lasted from 600 to 480 BCE, in which the Greek culture
expanded. The population in Greece began to rise and the Greeks began to colonize
along the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The poleis at this time
were typically ruled by a single ruler who commanded the city by force.

For the city of Athens, this led to the creation of democracy. Several city-states
emerged as major powers, including Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes. These
poleis were often warring with each other, and formed coalitions to gain power and
allies. The Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE marked the end of the Archaic
period.

Classical Greece

The era of Classical Greece began in 480 BCE with the sacking of Athens by the
Persians. The Persian invasion of Greece, first lead by Darius I and then by his son
Xerxes, united Greece against a common enemy.

With the defeat of the Persian threat, Athens became the most powerful polis until
the start of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BCE. These wars continued on and off
until 400 BCE. While marred by war, the Classical period saw the height of Greek
culture and the creation of some of Greece’s most famous art and architecture.

However, peace and stability in Greece was not achieved until it was conquered and
united by Macedonia under the leadership of Philip II and Alexander the Great in the
mid-third century BCE.

Hellenistic Greece

The Hellenistic period began with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, and
ended with the Roman victory at the Battle of Actium in 30 BCE. Greece poleis spent
this time under the hegemony of foreign rulers, first the Macedons and then the
Romans, starting in 146 BCE.

New centers of Hellenic culture flourished through Greece and on foreign soil,
including the cities of Pergamon, Antioch, and Alexandria—the capitals of the
Attalids, Seleucids, and Ptolemies.

The Ancient Greek Gods and Their Temples

Greek religion played a central and daily role in the life of ancient Greeks, and group worship
was centered on the temple and cult sites.
Greek religious traditions encompassed a large pantheon of gods, complex mythologies,
rituals, and cult practices. Greece was a polytheistic society, and looked to its gods and
mythology to explain natural mysteries as well as current events. Religious festivals and
ceremonies were held throughout the year, and animal sacrifice and votive offerings were
popular ways to appease and worship the gods. Religious life, rituals, and practices were
one of the unifying aspects of Greece across regions and poleis (cities, or city-states , such
as Athens and Sparta).

Greek Gods

Greek gods were immortal beings who possessed human-like qualities and were
represented as completely human in visual art. They were moral and immoral, petty
and just, and often vain. The gods were invoked to intervene and assist in matters
large, small, private and public.

City-states claimed individual gods and goddess as their patrons . Temples and
sanctuaries to the gods were built in every city. Many cities became cult sites due to
their connection with a god or goddess and specific myths. For instance, the city of
Delphi was known for its oracle and sanctuary of Apollo, because Apollo was
believed to have killed a dragon that inhabited Delphi.

The history of the Greek pantheon begins with the primordial deities Gaia (Mother
Earth) and Uranus (Father Sky), who were the parents of the first of twelve giants
known as Titans. Among these Titans were six males and six females.

 The males were named Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Crius, Iapetus, and
Kronos.
 The females were named Themis, Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, and
Rhea.

Kronos eventually overthrew Uranus and ruled during a mythological Golden Age.
Over time, he and Rhea had twelve children who would become the Olympian gods.
However, Kronos heard a prophecy that his son would overthrow him, as he did to
Uranus. In an effort to avert fate, he ordered Rhea to allow him to devour each of the
children upon their birth.
Themis: One of the first 12 Titans, Themis was the personification of divine law, as opposed to human
ordinance.

The Olympian Gods

Best known among the pantheon are the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses who
resided on Mt. Olympus in northern Greece. Zeus, the youngest son of Rhea and
Kronos, was hidden from his father, instead of being swallowed. Once he became a
man, he challenged his father’s rule, forcing Kronos to regurgitate the rest of his
swallowed children. These children were Zeus’s siblings, and together they
overthrew Kronos, making Zeus the father of gods and men.

Violence and power struggles were common in Greek mythology, and the Greeks
used their mythologies to explain their lives around them, from the change in
seasons to why the Persians were able to sack Athens.

The traditional pantheon of Greek gods includes

 Zeus, the king of gods and the ruler of the sky,

 Zeus’ two brothers, Poseidon (who ruled over the sea) and Hades (who ruled
the underworld).
 Zeus’s sister and wife, Hera, the goddess of marriage, who is frequently
jealous and vindictive of Zeus’s other lovers.
  Their sisters Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, and Demeter, the goddess of
grain and culture .
 Zeus’s children:
 Athena (goddess of warfare and wisdom).
 Hermes (a messenger god and god of commerce).
 the twins Apollo (god of the sun, music, and prophecy) and Artemis (goddess
of the hunt and of wild animals).
 Dionysos (god of wine and theatre).
 Aphrodite (goddess of beauty and love), who was married to Hephaestus
(deformed god of the forge).
 Ares (god of war and lover of Aphrodite) are also part of the traditional
pantheon.
 Hephaestus was in some mythologies the son of Zeus while in others the
fatherless son of Hera.

Hermes and the Infant Dionysos by Praxiteles: Here, Hermes cares for the now motherless Dionysos.
Originally, Hermes held a bunch of grapes, with which he teased the infant god of wine. c. 4th century BCE.

Heroes

Heroes, who were often demigods , were also important characters in Greek
mythology. The two most important heroes are Perseus and Hercules.
Perseus

Perseus is known for defeating the Gorgon, Medusa. He slew her with help from the
gods: Athena gave him armor and a reflective shield, and Hermes provided Perseus
with winged sandals so he could fly.

Hercules

Hercules was a strong but unkind man, a drunkard who conducted huge misdeeds
and social faux pas. Hercules was sent on twelve labors to atone for his sins as
punishment for his misdeeds. These deeds, and several other stories, were often
depicted in art, on ceramic pots, or on temple metopes . The most famous of his
deeds include slaying both the Nemean Lion and the Hydra, capturing Cerberus (the
dog of the underworld), and obtaining the apples of the Hesperides.

Theseus

A third hero, Theseus, was an Athenian hero known for slaying King Minos’s
Minotaur . Other major heros in Greek mythology include the warriors and
participants of the Trojan War, such as Achilles, Ajax, Odysseus, Agamemnon,
Paris, Hector, and Helen.

Hero cults were another popular form of Greek worship that involved the honoring of
the dead, specifically the dead heroes of the Trojan War. The sites of hero worship
were usually old Bronze Age sites or tombs that the ancient Greeks recognized as
important or sacred, which they then connected to their own legends and stories.

Great Greek philosophers.

1. Socrates (c. 469-399 BCE)

2. Plato (c. 428-348 BCE)
3. Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)
Hercules and Cerberus : Hercules bringing Cerberus back to King Eurystheus. Black figure hydra. c. 525
BCE.

Sacred Spaces

Greek worship was centered on the temple. The temple was considered the home of
the god, and a cult statue of the god would be erected in the central room, or the
naos. Temples generally followed the same basic rectangular plan, although a round
temple, known as a tholos , were used at some sites in starting in the Classical
period.

Temples were oriented east to face the rising sun. Patrons would leave offerings for
the gods, such as small votives, large statues, libations or costly goods. Due to the
wealth dedicated to the gods, the temples often became treasuries that held and
preserved the wealth of the city. Greek temples would be extensively decorated, and
their construction was a long and costly endeavor.

Rituals and animal sacrifices in honor of the god or goddess would take place
outside, in front of the temple. Rituals often included a large number of people, and
sacrifice was a messy business that was best done outdoors. The development and
decoration of temples is a primary focus in the study of Greek art and culture.
Sacrificial scene: Scene of a sacrifice. Attic red-figure bell krater. Circa 430–420 BCE. Athens, Greece.

Pottery in the Greek Geometric Period

The Geometric period in Greek art is distinguished by a reliance on geometric

shapes to create human and animal figures as well as abstract décor.
Key Points

 The Geometric period marked the end of Greece’s Dark Age and lasted from
900 to 700 BCE.
 The Geometric period derives its name from the dominance of geometric
motifs in vase painting. Monumental kraters and amphorae were made and
decorated as grave markers. These vessels are characteristic of Geometric
vase painting during this period.
 The most famous vessels from this period uses a technique called horror vacui
, in which every space of the surface is filled with imagery .

Key Terms

 horror vacui: From the Latin, fear of empty space, it is a style of painting
where the entire surface of a space is filled with patterns and figures.
 amphora: A two-handled jar with a narrow neck that was used in ancient times
to store or carry wine or oils.
 krater: An ancient Greek vessel for mixing water and wine.

Geometric Pottery

In the eleventh century BCE, the citadel centers of the Mycenaeans were abandoned
and Greece fell into a period with little cultural or social progression. Signs of
civilization including literacy, writing, and trade were lost and the population on
mainland Greece plummeted.

During the Proto-Geometric period (1050–900 BCE), painting on ceramics began to

re-emerge. These vessels were only decorated with abstract geometric shapes
adopted from Mycenaean pottery. Ceramicists began using the fast wheel to create
vessels, which allowed for new monumental heights.
Proto-Geometric amphora: Proto-Geometric amphora, c. 975–950 BCE.
In the Geometric period that followed, figures once more became present on the
vessel. The period lasted from 900 to 700 BCE and marked the end of the Greek
Dark Ages. A new Greek culture emerged during this time. The population grew,
trade began once more, and the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet for writing.

Unlike the Mycenaeans, this culture was more focused on the people of the polis ,
which is reflected in the art of this period. The period gets its name from the reliance
on geometric shapes and patterns in its art, and even their use in depicting both
human and animal figures.

Athens

The city of Athens became the center for pottery production. A potter’s quarter in the
section of the city known as the Kerameikos was located on either side of the
Dipylon Gate, one of the city’s west gates. The potters lived and work inside the gate
in the city, while outside the gate, along the road, was a large cemetery.

In the Geometric period, monumental-sized kraters and amphorae up to six feet tall
were used as grave markers for the burials just outside the gate. Kraters marked
male graves, while amphorae marked female graves.

The Dipylon Master, an unknown painter whose hand is recognized on many

different vessels, displays the great expertise required for decorating these funerary
markers. The vessels were first thrown a wheel, an important technological
development at the time, before painting began. Both the Diplyon Krater and Dipylon
Amphora demonstrate the main characteristics of painting during this time.

For one, the entire vessel is decorated in a style known as horror vacui, a style in
which the entire surface of the medium is filled with imagery. A decorative meander
is on the lip of the krater and on many registers of the amphora. This geometric motif
is constructed from a single, continuous line in a repeated shape or motif.

The main scene is depicted on the widest part of the pot’s body. These scenes relate
to the funerary aspect of the pot and may depict mourners, a prothesis (a ritual of
laying the body out and mourning), or even funerary games and processions.

On the Dipylon Krater, two registers depict a processional scene, an ekphora, (the
transportation of the body to the cemetery) and the prothesis. The dead man of the
prothesis scene is seen on the upper register. He is laid out on a bier and mourners,
distinguished by their hands tearing at their hair, surround the body. Above the body
is a shroud, which the artist depicts above and not over the body in order to allow the
viewer to see the entirety of the scene.

On the register below, chariots and soldiers form a funerary procession. The soldiers
are identified by their uniquely shaped shields. The Dipylon Amphora depicts just a
prothesis in a wide a register around the pot.

In both vessels, men and women are distinguished by protruding triangles on their
chest or waist to represent breasts or a penis. Every empty space in these scenes is
filled with geometric shapes—M’s, diamonds, starbursts—demonstrating the
Geometric painter’s horror vacui.

Geometric amphora: Geometric amphora, from the Dipylon Cemetery, Athens, Greece, c. 740 BCE.
Geometric krater: Geometric krater. From the Dipylon Cemetery, Athens, Greece, c. 740 BCE.
Sculpture in the Greek Geometric Period

Although derived from geometric shapes, the Ancient Greek sculptures of the
Geometric period show some artistic observation of nature.

Key Points

 Geometric sculptures are primarily small scale and made of bronze , terra cotta
, or ivory . The bronze figures were produced using the lost-wax method of
casting .
 The human and animal figures produced during this period have geometric
features, although the legs on humans appear relatively naturalistic.
 Geometric bronzes were typically left as votive offerings at shrines and
sanctuaries , such as those at Delphi and Olympia.
 Horses came to symbolize wealth due to the high costs of their upkeep.

Key Terms

 votive: An type of offering deposited within a religious site without the purpose
of display or retrieval.

The ancient Greek sculptures of the Geometric period , although derived from
geometric shapes, bear evidence of an artistic observation of nature in some
circumstances. Small-scale sculptures, usually made of bronze, terra cotta, or ivory,
were commonly produced during this time. Bronzes were made using the lost-wax
technique, probably introduced from Syria, and were often left as votive offerings at
sanctuaries such as Delphi and Olympia.

Human Figures

The human figures are made of a triangle as a torso that supports a bulbous head
with a triangular chin and nose. Their arms are cylindrical, and only their legs have a
slightly more naturalistic shape. These attributes can be seen in a small sculpture of
a seated man drinking from a cup that displays the typical modeling figures as
simple, linear forms that enclose open space . Especially noteworthy are his
elongated arms that mirror the dimensions of his legs.
Seated Male Figure: This is made of bronze and created around 750–700 BCE. Note how the statue’s
elongated arms mirror the dimensions of his legs.

A relatively naturalistic rendering of human legs is also evident in Man and Centaur,
also known as Heracles and Nessos (c. 750–730 BCE). Without the equine back and
hind legs, the centaur portion of the sculpture is a shorter man with human legs.

Like the seated man above, the two figures feature elongated arms, with the right
arm of the centaur forming one continuous line with the left arm of the man. While
the seated man appears to be clean shaven, the figures in Man and Centaur wear
beards, which usually symbolized maturity. The hollow eye sockets of the figure of
the man probably once held inlay for a more realistic appearance.
Man and Centaur (Heracles and Nessos) : This bronze statue was made around 750–730 BCE.

Animal Figures

Animals, including bulls, deer, horses, and birds, were also based in geometry.
Horse figurines were commonly used as offerings to the gods. The animals
themselves became symbols of wealth and status due to the high cost of keeping
them. Equine bodies may be described as rectangles pinched in the middle with
rectangular legs and tail and are similar in shape to deer or bulls.

The heads of these mammals are more distinctive, as the horse’s neck arches ,
while the bull and deer have cylindrical faces distinguished by horns or ears. While
the animals and people are based in basic geometric shapes, the artists clearly
observed their subjects in order to highlight these distinguishing characters.
Geometric Horse statuette: This bronze statue from Olympia, Greece, circa 700 BCE.

Vase Painting in the Orientalizing Period

During the Orientalizing period, Greek art evolved to feature a blend of Near Eastern
and Egyptian stylistic conventions.

Key Points

 The Orientalizing period lasted from 700 to 600 BCE in Greece. During this
time, trade with foreign cultures from Asia Minor, Egypt, and the Ancient Near
East allowed for new artistic conventions to influence and be incorporated into
Greek art.
 The Corinthians developed the technique of black-figure painting. Corinthian
black-figure vases in the Orientalizing period are distinguishable by the
inclusion of exotic and mythical animals. This style quickly spread throughout
Greece, and artists later developed uniquely Greek images.
 Proto-Attic pottery refers to vases produced in Athens and the surrounding
areas. This style is distinguished by the use of orange clay, the presence of
 simple human forms , and the first depictions of mythological scenes in vase
painting.

Key Terms

 black figure painting: A style of antique Greek vase painting where the
figures are painted onto the pot with a slip that, when fired, turns black. The
outlines and details of the figures are incised before firing. Additional red and
white pigments may also be added to the pot.
 Proto-Attic: A term applied to Orientalizing pottery from Athens and its
environs.

The Orientalizing Period

The Orientalizing Period followed the Geometric period and lasted for about a
century, from 700 to 600 BCE. This period was distinguished by international
influences—from the Ancient Near East, Egypt, and Asia Minor—each of which
contributed a distinctive Eastern style to Greek art.

The close contact between cultures developed from increasing trade and even
colonization. Motifs , creatures, and styles were borrowed from other cultures by the
Greeks, who transformed them into a unique Greek–Eastern mix of style and motifs.

Corinthian Pottery

During the Orientalizing period in Corinth human figures were rarely seen on vases.
Animals such as lions, griffins, sphinxes , and sirens were depicted instead.

Palmettes and lotus blossoms were used instead of geometric patterns to fill empty
space , although on some vessels negative space became more prominent. This
oriental black figure style originated in the city of Corinth, spread to Athens, and was
exported throughout Greece.
Corinthian black figure jug: Corinthian black figure jug with animal frieze, circa 580 BCE.

Black Figure Painting

The Corinthians developed the technique of black figure painting during this period.
Black figure pottery was carefully constructed and fired three different times to
produce the unique red and black colors on each vase.

The black color came from a slip painted onto the vessel, after which incised lines
were drawn on to outline and detail the figures. Additionally, red and white pigments
could be added for more color or to differentiate details.

The unpainted portions of the vase would remain the original red-orange color of the
pot. The full effect of this style of painting would not have been seen until after the
vase emerged from its firings in the kiln . As the style spread, the subject matter
changed from strictly Near Eastern animals to scenes from Greek mythology and
everyday life.

Proto-Attic Pottery

Pottery produced during the Orientalizing period across the Isthmus of Corinth in
Athens is known as Proto-Attic. In this region, floral and animal motifs are common,
but the human figure appears in the work of the most prominent painters such as the
Analatos Painter, the Mesogeia Painter, and the Polyphemos Painter.

The Proto-Attic style marked the first depictions of discernibly Greek religious and
mythological themes in vase painting. The bodies of men and animals were depicted
in silhouette, though their heads were drawn in outline. Women were drawn
completely in outline. Proto-Attic vases are usually distinguished by their orange
clay, which is available in the Athens area.
The Polyphemos Painter, The Blinding of Polyphemos, c. 600 BCE: This detail from a Proto-Attic
amphora shows the outline and silhouette-based forms in which the human body was depicted at the time,
as well as the orange clay available to Attic ceramicists.

Sculpture in the Greek Orientalizing Period

Sculpture produced during the Orientalizing period shares stylistic attributes with
sculpture produced in Egypt and the Near East.

Key Points

 Sculpture during this time was influenced by Egyptian and Near Eastern artistic
conventions. Rigid, plank-like bodies, as well as its reliance on pattern to depict
texture , characterized Greek sculpture in the Orientalizing period.
 The Daedalic style , named for the mythical inventor Daedalus, refers the use
of patterning and geometric shapes (reminiscent of the Geometric period )
during the seventh century BCE.
  The differences between the Lady of Auxerre and the Mantiklos Apollo
demonstrate the early establishment of traditional social expectations of the
sexes in ancient Greek culture .

Key Terms

 kore: A sculpture of a young woman from pre-Classical Greece.

 Daedalic: A style of sculpture during the Greek Orientalizing period noted for
its use of patterns to create texture, as well as its reliance on geometric shapes
and stiff, rigid bodily postures.

The Orientalizing Period lasted for about a century, from 700 to 600 BCE. This
period was distinguished by international influences, from the Ancient Near East,
Egypt, and Asia Minor, each of which contributed a distinctive Eastern style to Greek
art. The close contact between cultures developed from increasing trade and even
colonization.

Styles were borrowed from other cultures by the Greeks who transformed them into
a unique Greek-Eastern mix of style and motifs . Male and female sculptures
produced during this time share interesting similarities, but also bear differences that
inform the viewer about society’s expectations of men and women.

The Lady of Auxerre

A small limestone statue of a kore (maiden), known as the Lady of Auxerre (650–625
BCE), from Crete demonstrates the style of early Greek figural sculptures. This style
is known as Daedalic sculpture, named for the mythical creator of King Minos’s
labyrinth , Daedalus. The style combines Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian motifs.
The Lady of Auxerre, circa 650–625 BCE: This small limestone statue is possibly from Crete.

The Lady of Auxerre is stocky and plank-like. Her waist is narrow and cinched, like
the waists seen in Minoan art. She is disproportionate, with long rigid legs and a
short torso. A dress encompasses nearly her entire body—it tethers her legs
together and restricts her potential for movement. The rigidity of the body recalls
pharaonic portraiture from Ancient Egypt .

Her head is distinguished with large facial features, a low brow, and stylized hair.
The hair appears to be braided, and falls down in rigid rows divided by horizontal
bands. This style recalls a Near Eastern use of patterns to depict texture and
decoration.

Her face and hair are reminiscent of the Geometric period. The face forms an
inverted triangle wedged between the triangles formed be the hair that frames her
face. Traces of paint tell us that this statue would have originally be painted with
black hair and a dress of red and blue with a yellow belt.

The Mantiklos Apollo

There are no inscriptions on sculpture before the appearance of the bronze

Mantiklos Apollo (early seventh century BCE) found in Thebes. The figure, named
for the individual who left it as an offering , is that of a standing man with a rigid and
somewhat Daedalic form.

His legs bear the inscription, “Mantiklos offered me as a tithe to Apollo of the silver
bow; do you, Phoibos [Apollo], give some pleasing favor in return.” The inscription is
a declaration of the statuette to Apollo, followed by a request for favors in return.

Apart from the novelty of recording its own purpose, this sculpture adapts the
formulae of later Orientalized sculptures, as seen in the shorter more triangular face
and slightly advancing left leg. This is sometimes seen as anticipating the greater
expressive freedom of the later seventh century BCE. As such, the Mantiklos figure
is referred to in some quarters as proto-Daedalic.
Mantiklos Apollo: Bronze Early 7th century BCE. Thebes. The side view shows the separation of the
figure’s arm from his chest and his slightly advancing left leg.

Similarities of the Statues

Despite the separation of several decades and over 200 miles, the Mantiklos Apollo
and the Lady of Auxerre share interesting similarities, including their long plaited
hair, cinched waist, stylized smile, and hand raised to the chest—all of which recall
ancient Egyptian sculpture. Although the right arm of the Mantiklos Apollo is missing,
the position of its shoulder implies a possible position similar to that of the left arm of
the Lady of Auxerre, straight at its side.

However, we can already see striking differences that will remain the standard in
Greek art for centuries. The male body, as a public entity entitled to citizenship, is
depicted nude and free to move. This freedom of movement is seen not only in the
legs of the Apollo figure but also in the separation of his hand from his chest.
On the other hand, the female body, as a private entity without individual rights, is
clothed and denied movement. While the Mantiklos Apollo holds his hand parallel to
his chest, the Lady of Auxerre places her hand directly on hers, maintaining the
closed form expected of a respectable woman.

Temple A at Prinias

Temple A at Prinias (c. 650–600 BCE) on the island of Crete is the oldest known
Greek temple decorated with sculpture. Its plan was similar to the anta design with a
third column in the center in front of the doorway. One step spanning the width of the
facade led to the pronaos . The columns were very simple, rectangular (as opposed
to cylindrical) blocks with very thin bases and capitals . Unlike Minoan columns, the
shafts of the columns of Temple A did not taper; rather, their width remained
constant for the entire length.

On the entablature , the frieze of the facade consisted of a series of reliefs depicting
a procession of riders on horseback with little variation. The scale of the horses
dwarfs that of their riders. Each horse stands in profile, while each rider faces the
viewer with his sword raised and his shield seemingly connecting his head to his
legs.

Although their shields cover most of their bodies, the seemingly bare state of their
legs implies that the riders might be nude, as was typical for the male body in art.
Each rider has a stylized nose, eyes, and eyebrows and wears a helmet. Like free-
standing sculptures of the time, the hairstyle of the riders is plaited in a somewhat
Egyptian style .

A meander runs atop the reliefs. The current cracked condition of the frieze is a likely
indicator that it was assembled in a piecemeal fashion, as opposed to being carved
as a singular entablature. Atop the entablature sat sculptures of two winged female
creatures resembling the sphinx or the lamassu of the ancient Assyrian and
Babylonian cultures .

Temple A portico frieze: Made of marble and originally from Prinias, Crete, c. 650–600 BCE.

Behind the facade of Temple A sat a doorway with an intricately designed lintel . Its
frieze consisted of six stylized panthers standing in high relief . This motif is typical of
northern Syria.
Unlike the horses on the façade frieze, each group of three panthers face each other
with their heads turned toward the viewer. Between each group sits a plain
rectangular recess, probably to mark the location of the central column that
supported the lintel.

Atop the frieze sit two stylized female sculptures in the round who face each other.
One figure places her hands flatly on her lap, while the other holds her hands in a
position to accommodate a cup or similar object. It is believed that these figures
represent goddesses, although the identities of those goddesses remain disputed.

Each sits in profile on a plain backless bench. The face of each figure has almond-
shaped eyes and stylized eyebrows similar to those on Egyptian sculptures. Their
hair is plaited and falls to either side of their shoulders.

Like the free-standing sculptures of the Orientalizing period, each figure on the lintel
of Temple A wears Egyptian-style headgear with geometric patterns and cloaks atop
their geometrically patterned dresses, which are cinched at the waist. While their feet
protrude from beneath their long skirts, the blocks that define the lower parts of their
bodies provide no acknowledgement of the body beneath the clothing.

Lintel from Temple A: Made of marble and originally from Prinias, Crete, c. 650–600 BCE.
The Archaic Period

Key Points

 Delphi was an essential city and sanctuary site for the Greeks. Not only was
the city the main cult site for Apollo, it was also the home of the Delphic Oracle
and the Panhellenic games, known as the Python Games, which honored
Apollo’s slaying of the Python.
 The site is known for its numerous treasuries . These treasuries were built by
various poleis to house their city-states ‘ offerings and votives to Apollo. The
treasuries were small, single-room structures that were decorated to
commemorate the deeds of the city.
 The Siphian Treasury was built in an Ionic style in 530 BCE with caryatids
instead of columns . The continuous frieze and pediments are high reliefs
carved in the Archaic style. The figures on the pediment appear more stiff and
rigid than the figures on the frieze, who are engaged in battle.
 The Athenian Treasury was built between 510 and 490 BCE to honor Athenian
military power against the Persians. The structure is Doric and while only
fragments of the metopes survive, these fragments display the emergence of
the naturalism that is found in Archaic sculpture.

Key Terms

 peristyle: An external colonnade surrounding the perimeter of a temple.

 stylobate: The level of a temple platform on which its columns stand.
 triglyph: Three vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical
architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them.
 tripod: A three-legged stand or mount.
 treasury: A place where state or royal money and valuables are stored.
 gigantomachy: The battle fought between the Titans and the Olympian gods
for supremacy of the cosmos.
 columns in antis: The upright posts located between two pillars or piers on
either side of a doorway or entrance to a Greek temple.
 metope: A rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two
triglyphs in a Doric frieze.
 Panhellenic: Relating to all of Greece or all of the Greeks.

Delphi

The ancient site of Delphi, located in central Greece on the slope of Mt. Parnassus,
was known for its Sanctuary of Apollo, the Delphic Oracle, and the Pythian Games.
Delphi was home to the dragon Python who protected the navel of the earth.

Apollo slew the Python, establishing his presence at the site. The Panhellenic
Pythian games that were held every four years, along with musical compositions ,
commemorated Apollo’s victory over the beast.

Not only was the site the main place of worship for the god Apollo, it was also the
home of an oracle. The oracle was a sibyl or priestess known as a Pythia.
According to myth, when Apollo slew the Python, the creature’s body fell into a
fissure and began decomposing. The oracle would place her tripod seat over the
fissure, inhale the fumes, and then would be possessed by Apollo, allowing him to
speak through her.

The Delphic Oracle was an essential part of Greek life and was consulted for matters
public and private, small and large, and so had commanding power over the lives of
the Greeks. The oracle’s prophecies were usually unintelligible and would be
translated into poetic meter by priests.

Treasuries

The treasuries were built by different poleis to honor the oracle, thank her for her
advice, and commemorate military victories. These small, temple-like structures held
the votives and offerings made to Apollo as well as a small proportion of the spoils
won from battle from each polis . Because the buildings held a wealth of materials
and goods, they are known as treasuries. These buildings were single-room
naosoi (plural of naos) fronted by two columns in antis and decorated in either the
Doric or Ionic style.

Siphnian Treasury

The Siphnian Treasury was built for the polis of Siphnos, a city-state that occupied a
Cycladic island. The Siphnians had large gold and silver mines, from which they
profited enormously, and they used the profits to erect their treasury at Delphi.

The treasury housed their gold and silver gifts to the gods. The Siphian Treasury
was the first structure built entirely from marble when it was erected in 530 BCE and
was elaborately decorated.

The two columns in the antis were not typical columns but caryatids, support
columns that took the shape of women. A continuous Ionic frieze that wrapped
around the top of the treasury beneath the pediment depicted scenes from Greek
mythology, including a gigantomachy on the north side, the Judgment of Paris on the
west side, and gods watching the sack of Troy by the Greeks on the south and east
sides.

The east pediment recounts the story of Herakles stealing Apollo’s tripod, which
visually connects the pediment and the treasury to the oracle site at the Temple of
Apollo.
Herakles and Apollo: Herakles stealing the tripod of Apollo. From the east pediment of the Siphnian
Treasury. Marble. c. 530 BCE. Siphnian Treasury, Delphi, Greece.
Gigantomachy: A gigantomachy scene from the north frieze of the Siphnian Treasury. Marble. c. 530
BCE. Siphnian Treasury, Delphi, Greece.

The figures are carved in an Archaic style and in high relief, and they are almost, but
not entirely, freed from the wall of the frieze. While the figures appear to be in
motion, with wide stances and arms open wide for battle, the majority of them stand
with both feet flat on ground . This inhibits the sense of motion given by the rest of
their bodies.

The pedimental figures are especially rigid and linear, although the figures are no
longer scaled to fit into the small corners of the pediment. When looking at these
figures, from the front they appear to appropriately model the body, while from the
side the figures appear block-like, emphasizing the fact that they were carved from
stone.

Architectural elements and temple sculptures

Doric Order

The style of Greek temples is divided into three different and distinct orders, the
earliest of which is the Doric order. These temples had columns that rested directly
on the stylobate without a base. Their shafts were fluted with twenty parallel grooves
that tapered to a sharp point.
The capitals of Doric columns had a simple, unadorned square abacus and a flared
echinus that was often short and squashed. Doric columns are also noted for the
presence of entasis , or bulges in the middle of the column shaft. This was perhaps
a way to create an optical illusion or to emphasize the weight of the entablature
above, held up by the columns.

Doric and Ionic order: This drawing illustrates the stylistic differences between the Doric and Ionic order.

The Doric entablature was also unique to this style of temples. The frieze was
decorated with alternating panels of triglyphs and metopes. The triglyphs were
decorative panels with three grooves or glyphs that gave the panel its name. The
stone triglyphs mimicked the head of wooden beams used in earlier temples.
Between the triglyphs were the metopes.

Decorative Spaces

Sculptors used the metope spaces to depict mythological occurrences, often with
historical or cultural links to the site on which the temple stood.
Herakles fights the Cretan Bull: This is one of the metopes from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It is one
of the Twelve Labors depicted on the temple.

On the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (constructed between 470BC and 456BC), the
choice to sculpt the Twelve Labors of Herakles was in direct correlation with the
site’s Olympic Games and the spirit of triumph in physical challenge. Most sculptors
attempted to use the limited and angular space of metopes to show distinct moments
that filled the shape, but not all were successful in doing so.

Another space used for decoration was the pediment at each end of the temple. Due
to the larger space afforded by these sections, the sculptors often chose to depict
larger and more eventful scenes.
The sculptures from the pediments on the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina: These scenes show fight
scenes between Greeks and Trojans, such as those described in Homer’s Iliad.
The shape of the pediment made it difficult to arrange figures in a coherent and
cohesive scene, so the sculptors placed the most prominent ones in the apex (the
highest point of the triangle). All of these decorative sculptures would be painted in
bright colors and recognizable to onlookers.

Key Points

 Dedicatory male kouroi figures were originally based on Egyptian statues and
over the Archaic period these figures developed more naturalistic nude bodies.
The athletic body was an ideal form for a young Greek male and is comparable
to the ideal body of the god Apollo.
 Instead of focusing on the body, female korai statues were clothed and
throughout the Archaic period artists spent more time elaborating on the
detailed folds and drapery of a woman’s clothing. This reflected the Greek
ideals for women, who were supposed to be fully clothed, modest, and
demure.
 To add an additional naturalistic element to the body, the typical Archaic smile
was added to both male and female statues. While today the smile seems
false, to the ancient Greeks it added a level of realism.
 Pedimental sculpture in the Archaic period was often scaled to fit into the
space of the pediment and served an apotropaic instead of a decorative
function.
 Pedimental sculptures from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina show a gradual
move toward the naturalism of the Classical style that followed the Archaic.

Key Terms

 Archaic smile: A stylized expression used in sculpture from 600 to 480 BCE to
suggest a sense of lifelikeness in the subject.
 peplos: An Ancient Greek garment, worn by women, made of a tubular piece
of cloth that is folded back upon itself halfway down, until the top of the tube is
worn around the waist, and the bottom covers the legs down to the ankles; the
open top is then worn over the shoulders, and draped, in folds, down to the
waist.
 apotropaic: Intended to ward off evil.
  kouros: A sculpture of a naked youth in Ancient Greece; the male equivalent
of a kore.
 kore: An Ancient Greek statue of a woman, portrayed standing, usually
clothed, painted in bright colors, and having an elaborate hairstyle.
 chiton: A loose, woolen tunic, worn by both men and women in Ancient
Greece.

Sculpture in the Archaic Period

Archaic: 600 to 480 BCE

During this time, the Greeks were heavily influenced by the
proportions of Egyptian art. For instance, looking at the Kouros
sculpture below you can see that the form is very rigid. The arms are
on it’s sides with his hands in fist form and thumbs coming out.
Even looking at this, you can see the almond shaped eyes, hair that
goes back, a torso that’s slightly smaller than the chest, and the left
foot in front. Compare this sculpture to the sculpture of King
Menkaura and queen.
Kouros from Attica, Greece, 600 BCE
Sculpture in the Archaic Period developed rapidly from its early influences, becoming
more natural and showing a developing understanding of the body, specifically the
musculature and the skin. Close examination of the style’s development allows for
precise dating.

Most statues were commissioned as memorials and votive offerings or as grave

markers, replacing the vast amphora (two-handled, narrow-necked jars used for wine
and oils) and kraters (wide-mouthed vessels) of the previous periods, yet still
typically painted in vivid colors.

Kouroi

Kouroi statues (singular, kouros ), depicting idealized, nude male youths, were first
seen during this period. Carved in the round , often from marble, kouroi are thought
to be associated with Apollo; many were found at his shrines and some even depict
him. Emulating the statues of Egyptian pharaohs, the figure strides forward on flat
feet, arms held stiffly at its side with fists clenched. However, there are some
importance differences: kouroi are nude, mostly without identifying attributes and are
free-standing.

Early kouroi figures share similarities with Geometric and Orientalizing sculpture,
despite their larger scale. For instance, their hair is stylized and patterned, either
held back with a headband or under a cap. The New York Kouros strikes a rigid
stance and his facial features are blank and expressionless. The body is slightly
molded and the musculature is reliant on incised lines .
New York Kouros, c. 600 BCE: New York Kouros. Marble. Origin unknown.

As kouroi figures developed, they began to lose their Egyptian rigidity and became
increasingly naturalistic. The kouros figure of Kroisos, an Athenian youth killed in
battle, still depicts a young man with an idealized body. This time though, the body’s
form shows realistic modeling.

The muscles of the legs, abdomen, chest and arms appear to actually exist and
seem to function and work together. Kroisos’s hair, while still stylized, falls naturally
over his neck and onto his back, unlike that of the New York Kouros, which falls
down stiffly and in a single sheet. The reddish appearance of his hair reminds the
viewer that these sculptures were once painted.
Kroisos, c. 530 BCE: Kroisos, from the Anavysos Group. Marble. Greece.

Archaic Smile

Kroisos’s face also appears more naturalistic when compared to the earlier New
York Kouros. His cheeks are round and his chin bulbous; however, his smile seems
out of place. This is typical of this period and is known as the Archaic smile. It
appears to have been added to infuse the sculpture with a sense of being alive and
to add a sense of realism.

Kore
A kore (plural korai) sculpture depicts a female youth. Whereas kouroi depict athletic,
nude young men, the female korai are fully-clothed, in the idealized image of
decorous women. Unlike men—whose bodies were perceived as public, belonging to
the state—women’s bodies were deemed private and belonged to their fathers (if
unmarried) or husbands.

However, they also have Archaic smiles, with arms either at their sides or with an
arm extended, holding an offering. The figures are stiff and retain more block-like
characteristics than their male counterparts. Their hair is also stylized, depicted in
long strands or braids that cascade down the back or over the shoulder.

The Peplos Kore (c. 530 BCE) depicts a young woman wearing a peplos, a heavy
wool garment that drapes over the whole body, obscuring most of it. A slight
indentation between the legs, a division between her torso and legs, and the
protrusion of her breasts merely hint at the form of the body underneath.

Remnants of paint on her dress tell us that it was painted yellow with details in blue
and red that may have included images of animals. The presence of animals on her
dress may indicate that she is the image of a goddess, perhaps Artemis, but she
may also just be a nameless maiden.

Later korai figures also show stylistic development, although the bodies are still
overshadowed by their clothing. The example of a Kore (520–510 BCE) from the
Athenian Acropolis shows a bit more shape in the body, such as defined hips instead
of a dramatic belted waistline, although the primary focus of the kore is on the
clothing and the drapery. This kore figure wears a chiton (a woolen tunic), a himation
(a lightweight undergarment), and a mantle (a cloak). Her facial features are still
generic and blank, and she has an Archaic smile. Even with the finer clothes and
additional adornments such as jewelry, the figure depicts the idealized Greek female,
fully clothed and demure.
Acropolis Kore, c. 520–510 BCE: Wearing a chiton and himation. Marble. Athens, Greece.
Pedimental Sculpture: The Temple of Artemis at Corfu

This sculpture, initially designed to fit into the space of the pediment, underwent
dramatic changes during the Archaic period, seen later at Aegina. The west
pediment at the Temple of Artemis at Corfu depicts not the goddess of the hunt, but
the Gorgon Medusa with her children; Pegasus, a winged horse; and Chrysaor, a
giant wielding a golden sword surrounded by heraldic lions.

Medusa faces outwards in a challenging position, believed to be apotropaic (warding

off evil). Additional scenes include Zeus fighting a Titan, and the slaying of Priam,
the king of Troy, by Neoptolemos. These figures are scaled down in order to fit into
the shrinking space provided in the pediment.

Pediment of the Temple of Artemis at Corfu, c. 600–580 BCE: Sculpture and reconstruction of the west
pediment. Limestone. Corfu, Greece.

Pedimental Sculpture: The Temple of Aphaia at Aegina

Sculpted approximately one century later, the pedimental sculptures on the Temple
of Aphaia at Aegina gradually grew more naturalistic than their predecessors at
Corfu. The dying warrior on the west pediment (c. 490 BCE) is a prime example of
Archaic sculpture. The male warrior is depicted nude, with a muscular body that
shows the Greeks’ understanding of the musculature of the human body. His hair
remains stylized with round, geometric curls and textured patterns.
However, despite the naturalistic characteristics of the body, the body does not seem
to react to its environment or circumstances. The warrior props himself up with an
arm, and his whole body is tense, despite the fact that he has been struck by an
arrow in his chest. His face, with its Archaic smile, and his posture conflict with the
reality that he is dying.

Dying Warrior, c. 490 BCE: Marble, west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina.

Aegina: Transition between Styles

The dying warrior on the east pediment (c. 480 BCE) marks a transition to the new
Classical style. Although he bears a slight Archaic smile, this warrior actually reacts
to his circumstances. Nearly every part of him appears to be dying.

Instead of propping himself up on an arm, his body responds to the gravity pulling on
his dying body, hanging from his shield and attempting to support himself with his
other arm. He also attempts to hold himself up with his legs, but one leg has fallen
over the pediment’s edge and protrudes into the viewer’s space. His muscles are
contracted and limp, depending on which ones they are, and they seem to strain
under the weight of the man as he dies.
Dying Warrior, c. 480 BCE: Marble, East Pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina.

.
Comparison between Greek and Egyptian proportions

Naturalism and idealism

To understand the reconciliation or meshing of ideas of philosophy and
attitudes in the period when Greek art emerged from idealism to
naturalism, one need only focus on the years 500 – 400 BCE. During
this period Greece experienced a dramatic and vibrant change, not only
in the arts, philosophy and politics but also in the everyday effect on
people from disparate backgrounds. It is the sculptors of this period that
we can look back on now who documented quite distinctly the changes
and development of the attitudes of the people. Whether the sculptures
reflected the mood and understanding of the people or vice versa one
can only surmise. But we do know that the ancient Greeks were the first
people to have an understanding in the worth of the individual man.

When the known earth was mostly dominated by absolute monarchies,

the Greeks developed the belief that man was not a slave of a despot or
a deity, but an individual. They sought to be themselves under the
Delphic principle, “Know Thyself”. The reason why this short period of
one hundred years had such a huge effect on the dawn of mankind’s
thinking we must look at the difference between the artworks that arose
from the disparate islands and harsh mainland of Greece, environments
that encouraged individual growth, and the artworks found in the
monarchic cities of the vast plains of grain in Asia Minor.

“The Calf Bearer” (560 BCE) differs from those of earlier Greek and
Egyptian sculptures in that he is smiling. From this time onwards the
Archaic Greek sculptures always wore a smile, possibly to show a
human element in their existence. Even though the Calf Bearer comes
from the Archaic period, there is a certain Classicism in parts of the
sculpture in its simplicity and beauty of line. Here lies a marriage
between the Archaic and Classical periods of Greece and the beginning
of naturalism.

By examining in detail the sculptures of the western pediment of the

Temple of Aphaia 500-490BCE and “The Dying Warrior” of the same
time, we see a rigidness and firmness in the form of the sculpture, not
unlike the works of latter Ancient Egypt. This idealized work, in most
cases, was to represent the gods of different eras. Then in a
development which happened at an amazing rate the form of the
sculpture changed. It was no longer stiff, rigid and formidable but had
begun to loosen and roll with emotion and softness. One sees this in the
contrast of the two “Dying Warriors”, west pediment (500-490BCE ) and
east pediment (490-480BCE), and also in “Athena, Herakles and Atlas
with the Apples of Hesperides” from the same temple (470-456BCE).
These latter sculptures have a naturalistic form which clearly shows that
realism had taken hold.

Whilst our marble warriors were dying in 480BCE, the Persian Wars had
given Greece the victory it needed to leap forward culturally. Up to this
point the Greeks had praised the gods for their achievements. Now,
following their victory over the Persians, they had more faith in man and
man’s ability than ever before. Their confidence was stronger than ever.
“The world is full of wonders,” sang Sophocles, “but nothing is more
wonderful than man.”At this time the mood in Greece was moving from
idealism to naturalism, even more so as their faith in the power of the
gods was waning and realism was appearing at the edge of the
sculptor’s hand. The stiff ‘kouros’ pose of the Archaic period was
rejected and the ideals that were to characterize Classical Greece in the
fifth century were imbued.

Another form to differentiate from the ‘kouros’ pose is typified in the

“Kritios Boy” from the Athenian Acropolis (480BCE). He is still a standing
frontal youth but now his weight has shifted onto one leg in the pose we
now call ‘contrapposto’. To the sculptor the body was now one of flesh
and bones rather than the stiff puppet of earlier periods. On the
pediments of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (470-456BCE) there is a
lifelike expression in every single face. The people are now individuals.
An example is the “The Seer” in which the artist renders old age, and
different figures were shown in their different social statuses. The
Archaic tradition is still seen, but naturalistic and idealistic trends are
breaking through.

By the middle of the fifth century Athens had become a cauldron for
thinkers and artists. Pericles, the politician, was surrounded by great
minds such as Phidias the sculptor, Anaxagoras the
philosopher/physicist, and the architect Ictinus. With the completion of
the Parthenon (447-432BCE), Greek culture erupted with music, dance,
theatre, painting, pottery, sculpture, architecture, philosophy and the
sciences all blossoming. Idealism and a fascination with rational inquiry
pervaded. Philosophers such as Pythagoras searched for evidence of a
divine and rational plan for the cosmos. The Greeks’ attitude towards
their gods waned but their desire for idealism still grew. Phidias carved
the pediments of the Parthenon with the stories of the old gods, although
now they appeared in naturalistic form celebrating the works of man.
Naturalistic science was maturing with skeptical rationalism. The natural
was evolving from the supernatural. These gods of Phideas’ were real
men and women, human and individual. The idealized mortal is near-
divine, self-sufficient and above ordinary passions.

But this period of positive, creative idealized energy did not last long as
the philosophers began to unravel the rug from under the peoples’ feet,
which left them negative and insecure. The Sophists eventually took the
intellectual lead, with Protagoras stating, “Man is the measure of all
things.” Then Critias suggested that the gods were invented to instill fear
into those who would otherwise act in an evil manner. The Sophists
spread in Athens a radical skepticism which ate away at Athenian
positivism and bred cynicism. The more conservative sensibilities of the
foundation of the traditional Hellenic values were being dangerously
eroded while reason and skill had less than an impeccable reputation.
The Sophists took naturalism to a dangerous extreme and, as they
created a financial guild for themselves, there was no longer truth in their
argument. Rather, it was the skill to convince the audience they were
right by their style and not by the matter of fact.

Thus entered Socrates 469-399BCE. In Socrates’ later years, he

established himself on the streets of Athens as an orator, questioning
any member of the public who cared to partake in a debate on seeking
truth. Socrates would gather large audiences during his exercise of
questioning although, unlike the Sophists, he requested no fee for his
effort. His only motivation was in the seeking of truth. Chaerephon, a
friend of Socrates, went to Delphi and asked the priestess who was the
wisest of men and she answered that there was none more than
Socrates. Socrates took the oracle’s statement to mean that he or any
other man was not wise at all but only the gods were wise. After an
argument with a politician the man walked off, leaving Socrates to state
to his audience:

Well I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that
neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks he knows
something that he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious
of my ignorance. At any rate it seems I am the wiser to this small
extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know.
Socrates philosophy was the reconciliation of idealism and naturalism; a
balance of rationalism and tradition. He felt that man believing himself to
be like the gods had overreached himself in his arrogance, bringing
years of disastrous war with Sparta. When, finally, he had antagonized
the authorities by his encouragement of critical skepticism, he was
considered a dangerous influence to youth and sentenced to death in
399BCE. Fortunately for western civilization it was Plato 429-347BCE
who documented and extended the teachings of Socrates.

Within these one hundred years between 500-400BCE the reconciliation

of idealism and naturalism occurred. The next century was to
increasingly see the naturalistic, realistic sculpture of the Hellenistic
Period such as the “Cnidian Aphrodite” 340BCE by Praxiteles, the
abstract idealism of Plato combined with the naturalistic philosophy, and
science of Aristotle, who said: “We must be immortal as far as we can.”

Ceramics in the Greek Archaic Period

Archaic black- and red-figure painting began to depict more naturalistic bodies by
conveying form and movement.

Key Points

 Black-figure painting was used throughout the Archaic period before

diminishing under the popularity of red-figure painting.
 Exekias is considered one of the most talented and influential black-figure
painters due to his ability to convey emotion, use intricate lines , and create
scenes that trusted the viewer to comprehend the scene.
 Red-figure painting was developed in 530 BCE by the Andokides Painter, a
style that allows for more naturalism in the body due to the use of a brush.
 The first red-figure paintings were produced on bilingual vases, depicting one
scene on each side, one in black figure and the other in red figure.
  The painters Euthyides and Euphronios were two of the most talented Archaic
red-figure painters, with their vessels depict space , movement, and
naturalism.

Key Terms

 burin: A chisel with a sharp point, used for engraving; an engraver.

 slip: A thin, slippery mix of clay and water.
 red-figure: One of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting,
based on the figural depictions in red color on a black background.
 black-figure: A style of Greek vase painting that is distinguished by silhouette-
like figures on a red background.

Pottery Decoration Overview

The Archaic period saw a shift in styles of pottery decoration, from the repeating
patterns of the Geometric period , through the Eastern-influenced Orientalizing style,
to the more naturalistic black- and red-figure techniques. During this time, figures
became more dynamic and defined by more organic—as opposed to geometric—
elements.

Black-Figure Painting

Black-figure painting, which derives its name from the black figures painted on red
backgrounds, was developed by the Corinthians in the seventh century BCE and
became popular throughout the Greek world during the Archaic period. As painters
became more confident working in the medium , human figures began to appear on
vases and painters and potters began signing their creations.

The François Vase

One of the most famous early Athenian black-figure pots is a large volute krater by
the potter Ergotimos and the painter Kleitias, known as the François Vase. The
krater, named for the man who discovered it in the nineteenth century, depicts 270
figures on the six registers that wrap around the krater.

Unlike the monumental vases of the Geometric period, this krater stands at 66 cm
(2.17 feet) tall. The surface depicts various mythological scenes with many figures
labeled by name. On one side of the krater’s neck are scenes from the Calydonian
Boar hunt, in which several men and a powerful woman named Atalanta hunted and
killed a monstrous boar sent by Artemis to terrorize the region of Calydon after the
king offended her.

The other side depicts Theseus, who slayed the Minotaur , with Athenian youths and
his wife Ariadne. Other registers depict scenes of the Trojan War and Peleus with his
son Achilles. The detail and skill demonstrate new styles of Archaic vase painting,
shifting away from past centuries’ animal motifs and geometric patterns.
Instead of filling negative space with patterns and geometric designs, Kleitias leaves
areas empty. The people and horses are depicted differently than Oriental and
Geometric prototypes. Bodies are more accurately rendered and less dependent on
geometric shapes, although profile views dominate, and sharp lines provide texture
for musculature and clothing. While many figures still stand flat-footed, the limbs of
people, horses, and centaurs show movement and are dramatic compositions within
the confines of the style.

Francois Vase: Made by Kleitias and Ergotimos. The François Vase is an Athenian black-figure volute
krater, c. 570 BCE, Chiusi, Italy.

Exekias

Exekias, considered the most prominent black-figure painter of his time, worked
between 545 and 530 BCE in Athens. He is regarded by art historians as an artistic
visionary whose masterful use of incision and psychologically sensitive compositions
mark him as one of the greatest of all Attic vase painters. His vessels display
attention to detail and precise, intricate lines.

Exekias is also well-known for reinterpreting mythologies. Instead of providing the

entire story, as Kleitias did on the François Vase, he paints single scenes and relies
on the viewer to interpret and understand the narrative.
One example is an amphora that depicts the Greek warriors Achilles and Ajax
playing dice. Both men are decorated with fine incised details, showing elaborate
textile patterns and almost every hair in place. As they wait for the next battle with
the Trojans, their game foreshadows their fates. Inscribed text allows the two figures
to speak: “Achilles has rolled a four, while Ajax rolled a three.” Both men will die
during the the Trojan War, but Achilles dies a hero while Ajax is consistently
considered second best, eventually committing suicide.

Achilles and Ajax: By Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Dice Game. Athenian Black-figure amphora, c.
540–530 BCE. Vulci, Italy.

Red-Figure Painting

Red-figure painting developed in Athens in 530 BCE and remained popular into the
Classical period. The technique is similar to black-figure painting but with key
differences.

Instead of painting a figure with black slip and using a burin to scrape away the slip
to create details, red-figure painting has the background painted black and the
figures left the red color of the terra cotta . Black slip was painted with a brush to add
detail.

Brushes could achieve more fluid lines than a burin, so details were better rendered
and figures became livelier than the black-figure silhouettes. The black slip could
also be diluted with water to create shades for modeling bodies or clothing. Overall,
the technique allowed vase painters to create compositions that rendered the body
more naturally.
Bilingual Painting

Bilingual vase painting became popular with the advent of red-figure painting.
Bilingual vases were painted with a single scene on each side of the vessel, usually
the same scene rendered twice. One side depicts the scene in black-figure and the
other side depicts the scene in red-figure.

The Andokides Painter is credited as the inventor of red-figure style and its early
production on bilingual vases. Several of his bilingual amphorae mimic some of
Exekias’s most famous subjects, such as Achilles and Ajax playing dice. These
similarities lead many scholars to conclude that he was Exekias’s student.

A score of vases with black figures, whose attribution is disputed by some

researchers, show that the Andokides painter gradually attained greater control and
virtuosity in the technique. Earlier examples appear a little stiff. Later, the artist
exploits the benefits inherent in the technique and utilizes a range of colors from red
to dark brown.

The Andokides painter marked the arrival of the red-figure style that was later used
by many artists. The painter’s most favored subject matter was a wide range of
mythological scenes that depicted the gods and heroes. Heracles was his favorite
character.

Herakles and Athena: Herakles and Athena. Red-figure side of a bilingual amphora, c. 520–510 BCE,
Vulci, Italy.
Herakles and Athena: Herakles and Athena. Black-figure side of a bilingual amphora, c. 520–510 BCE,
Vulci, Italy.

Additional Red-Figure Painters

Additional red-figure painting can be seen in the work of the rivals Euthymides and
Euphronios. Euthymides is known as a pioneer of red-figure painting.

His vessels depict people in movement and he attempted perspective by showing

figures with foreshortened limbs. The Revelers Vase is an amphora that depicts
three drunk men dancing. While the figures do not overlap, the bodies are in shown
in profile, three-quarter view, and from behind.

Breaking the traditional rigidity of contemporary Archaic statues and paintings, the
revelers are in dynamic postures. The two outer figures stand in active stances, with
their legs and hands in motion. The middle figure is in a twisted position, with his
back to the viewer and his head looking over his left shoulder. The use of
foreshortening , although rudimentary, gives the entire composition a more natural
and believable feel. It is perhaps the use of this relatively untried technique that led
Euthymides to write on his vase, “As never Euphronios [could do!]” as a taunt to his
contemporary and rival.
Euthymides. Revelers Vase: Red-figure amphora, c. 510 BCE.

The painter Euphronios is also recognized for his dramatic and complex
compositions. He used diluted clay slip to create a range of shades to color his
figures, making them appear energetic and present in three-dimensional space.

A scene of Herakles and Antaios wrestling conveys the bodies of both men with
previously unseen naturalism. The men’s bodies bend and twist and their limbs
overlap, disappear and reappear, which helps achieve both naturalism as well as a
sense of space.
Herakles and Antaios: Euphronios. Herakles Wrestling Antaios. Athenian Red-figure calyx krater. (C. 510
BCE. Cervetri, Italy. )

The Early Classical Period

Marble Sculpture and Architecture in the Greek Early Classical Period

Early Classical Greek marble sculptures and temple decorations display new
conventions to depict the body and severe style facial expressions.

 The sculpture found on the pediment and metopes at the Temple of Zeus at
Olympia represent the style of relief and pedimental sculptural during the Early
Classical period.
 The Severe style is an Early Classical style of sculpting where the body is
depicted naturalistically and the face remains blank and expressionless. This
style notes the artist’s understanding of the body’s musculature, while
maintaining a screen between art and reality with the stoic face.
 Contrapposto is a weight shift depicted in the body that rotates the waist, hips,
chest, shoulders, and sometimes even the neck and head of the figure. It
increases that naturalism in the body since it correctly mimics the inner
workings of human musculature.
 Kritios Boy is an early example of contrapposto and Severe style. This marble
statue depicts a nude male youth, muscular and well built, with an air of
naturalism that dissolves when examining his Severe style face.
 Polykleitos, an artist and art theorist, developed a canon for the creation of the
perfect male body based on mathematical proportions. His Doryphoros (Spear
Bearer) is believed to be a sculptural representation of his treatise. The figure
stands in contrapposto, with a Severe-style face.
Key Terms

 Severe style: The dominant idiom of Greek sculpture in the period from 490 to
450 BCE. It marks the breakdown of the canonical forms of Archaic art and the
transition to the greatly expanded vocabulary and expression of the classical
movement of the late 5th century.
 Perserchutt: A German term meaning Persian debris or rubble, that refers to
the location of ritually buried architectural and votive sculptures that were
destroyed following the sack of Athens by the Persians. The area was first
excavated by the Germans in the late 19th century.
 hexastyle: Describes a building with six columns in the front and back and 13
down each side.

Temple of Zeus at Olympia

The Temple of Zeus at Olympia is a colossal ruined temple in the center of the
Greek capital Athens that was dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. Its plan
is similar to that of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina.

The pedimental figures are depicted in the developing Classical style with naturalistic
yet overly muscular bodies. Most of the figures are shown with the expressionless
faces of the Severe style.

The figures on the east pediment await the start of a chariot race, and the whole
composition is still and static . A seer, however, watches it in horror as he foresees

the death of Oenomaus. This level of emotion would never be present in Archaic
statues and it breaks the Early Classical Severe style, allowing the viewer to sense
the forbidding events about to happen.
Seer from the east pediment of the Temple of Zeus, marble, c. 470–455 BCE, Olympia, Greece: The
level of emotion on the seer’s face would never be present in Archaic statues and it breaks the Early
Classical Severe style, allowing the viewer to sense the forbidding events about to happen.

Unlike the static composition of the eastern pediment, the Centauromachy on the
western pediment depicts movement that radiates out from its center. The centaurs,
fighting men, and abducted women struggle and fight against each other, creating
tension in another example of an early portrayal of emotion. Most figures are
depicted in the Severe style. However, some, including a centaur, have facial
features that reflect their wrath and anger.
Centauromachy, c. 460 BCE: West pediment, Temple of Zeus at Olympia.

The twelve metopes over the pronaos and opisthodomos depict scenes from the
twelve labors of Herakles. Like the development in pedimental sculpture, the reliefs
on the metopes display the Early Classical understanding of the body. Herakles’
body is strong and idealized, yet it has a level of naturalism and plasticity that
increases the liveliness of the reliefs.

The scenes depict varying types of compositions. Some are static with two or three
figures standing rigidly, while others, such as Herakles and the Cretan Bull, convey a
sense of liveliness through their diagonal composition and overlapping bodies.
Herakles and the Cretan Bull, c. 460 BCE: This metope fragment depicts Herakles in a more dynamic
and emotive pose. It is from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.
Athena and Herakles depicting the Stymphalian Birds, c. 460 BCE: This metope fragment depicts
Herakles with relatively calm body language. From the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.

Kritios Boy

A slightly smaller-than-life statue known as the Kritios Boy was dedicated to Athena
by an athlete and found in the Perserchutt of the Athenian Acropolis. Its title derives
from a famous artist to whom the sculpture was once attributed.

The marble statue is a prime example of the Early Classical sculptural style and
demonstrates the shift away from the stiff style seen in Archaic kouroi. The torso
depicts an understanding of the body and plasticity of the muscles and skin that
allows the statue to come to life.

Part of this illusion is created by a stance known as contrapposto. This describes a

person with his or her weight shifted onto one leg, which creates a shift in the hips,
chest, and shoulders to create a stance that is more dramatic and naturalistic than a
stiff, frontal pose. This contrapposto position animates the figure through the
relationship of tense and relaxed limbs.

However, the face of the Kritios Boy is expressionless, which contradicts the
naturalism seen in his body. This is known as the Severe style. The blank
expressions allow the sculpture to appear less naturalistic, which creates a screen
between the art and the viewer. This differs from the use of the Archaic smile (now
gone), which was added to sculpture to increase their naturalism. However, the now
empty eye sockets once held inlaid stone to give the sculpture a lifelike appearance.
Kritios Boy, marble, c. 480 BCE, Acropolis, Athens, Greece: This marble statue is a prime example of
the Early Classical sculptural style and demonstrates the shift away from the style seen in Archaic kouroi.

Polykleitos

Polykleitos was a well-known Greek sculptor and art theorist during the early- to mid-
fifth century BCE. He is most renowned for his treatise on the male nude, known as
the Canon, which describes the ideal, aesthetic body based on mathematical
proportions and Classical conventions such as contrapposto.

His Doryphoros, or Spear Bearer, is believed to be his representation of the Canon

in sculpted form . The statue depicts a young, well-built soldier holding a spear in his
left hand with a shield attached to his left wrist. Both military implements are now
lost. The figure has a Severe-style face and a contrapposto stance. In another
development away from the stiff and seemingly immobile Archaic style, the
Doryphoros’ left heel is raised off the ground , implying an ability to walk.
Doryphoros: Polykleitos’s Doryphoros, or Spear Bearer, is believed to be his representation of the Canon
in sculpted form. This is a Roman marble copy of a Greek bronze original, c. 450 BCE.
This sculpture demonstrates how the use of contrapposto creates an S-shaped
composition. The juxtaposition of a tension leg and tense arm and relaxed leg and
relaxed arm, both across the body from each other, creates an S through the body.

The dynamic power of this composition shape places elements—in this case the
figure’s limbs—in opposition to each other and emphasizes the tension this creates.
The statue, as a visualization of Polykletios’ canon, also depicts the Greek sense of
symmetria, the harmony of parts, seen here in the body’s proportions.

Bronze Sculpture in the Greek Early Classical Period

Classical: 480 – 323 BCE

During a time of Greek success and power, Polykleitos of Argos
decided that he would come up with a proportion for art (that was
reproducible) and it would create a sense of harmony. With this era,
there came the concept of contrapposto which aligned the left leg to
right arm and right leg to left arm, making the figure appear more
realistic. Also, during this period figures began to look more real.
Their torso and chest were more accurately aligned, the eyes went
from almond shaped to circular, the height became more accurate,
and there was a universally general face for most sculptures.
Everything appeared more symmetrical and aligned. This period
was the height of Greek art and the canon of proportions. This era
was most influential on Roman art and later Western art.
Roman copy of Marble Statue of the Diadoumenos
Surviving Greek bronze sculptures from the Early Classical period showcase the skill
of Greek artists in representing the body and expressing motion.

Key Points

 While bronze was a popular material for Greek sculptors, few Greek bronzes
exist today. We know a majority of famous sculptors and sculptures only
through marble Roman copies and the few bronzes that survived, often from
shipwrecks.
 Early Classical bronzes are sculpted in the lost wax method of casting . The
figures are created in the Severe style with naturalistic bodies and blank,
expressionless faces. The sculptures’ lightweight appearance is due to their
hollowness and contributes to their implied potential energy and movement.
 The Charioteer of Delphi, the Riace Warriors, and the Artemision Bronze all
display the sculpting characteristics of the Early Classical Severe style while
also demonstrating the characteristics of bronze sculpting, including the
lightness of the material and liveliness that could be achieved.

Key Terms

 strut: A support rod.

 contrapposto: The position of a figure whose hips and legs are twisted away
from the direction of the head and shoulders.
 lost wax: A method of casting in which a model of the sculpture is made from
wax. The model is used to make a mold. When the mold has set, the wax is
made to melt and is poured away, leaving the mold ready to be used to cast
the sculpture.

Greek Bronze Sculpture

Bronze was a popular sculpting material for the Greeks. Composed of a metal alloy
of copper and tin, it provides a strong and lightweight material for use in the ancient
world, especially in the creation of weapons and art. The Greeks used bronze
throughout their history.

Because bronze is a valuable material, throughout history bronze sculptures were

melted down to forge weapons and ammunition or to create new sculptures. The
Greek bronzes that we have today mainly survived because of shipwrecks, which
kept the material from being reused, and the sculptures have since been recovered
from the sea and restored.

The Greeks used bronze as a primary means of sculpting, but much of our
knowledge of Greek sculpture comes from Roman copies. The Romans were very
fond of Greek art, and collecting marble replicas of them was a sign of status,
wealth, and intelligence in the Roman world.

Roman copies worked in marble had a few differences from the original bronze.
Struts , or supports, were added to help buttress the weight of the marble as well as
the hanging limbs that did not need support when the statue was originally made in
the lighter and hollow bronze. The struts appeared either as rectangular blocks that
connect an arm to the torso or as tree stumps against the leg, which supports the
weight of the sculpture, as in this Roman copy of the Diadoumenos Atenas.

Diadoumenos Atenas (Roman copy): The extension connecting the tree trunk to the leg of the figure is
an example of a strut used in marble Roman copies of original Greek bronzes.

Lost Wax Technique

The lost wax technique, which is also known by its French name, cire perdue, is the
process that ancient Greeks used to create their bronze statues. The first step of the
process involves creating a full-scale clay model of the intended work of art. This
would be the core of the model.

Once completed, a mold is made of the clay core and an additional wax mold is also
created. The wax mold is then be placed between the clay core and the clay mold,
creating a pocket, and the wax is melted out of the mold, after which the gap is filled
with bronze. Once cooled, the exterior clay mold and interior clay coreis are carefully
removed and the bronze statue is finished.
The multiple pieces are welded together, imperfections smoothed, and any additional
elements, such as inlaid eyes and eyelashes, are then added. Because the clay
mold must be broken when removing the figure, the lost wax method can be used
only for making one-of-a-kind sculptures.

Charioteer of Delphi

The Charioteer of Delphi is an Early Classical bronze sculpture of a life-sized chariot

driver. An inscription at the base tells us that the statues were originally dedicated by
a man, named Polyzalus of Gela, to Apollo at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.

Polyzalus commissioned and dedicated the work in commemoration of his victorious

chariot race during the Pythian Games. The Charioteer is the only remaining part of
a large statue group that included the chariot, grooms, and horses.
Charioteer of Delphi: Charioteer of Delphi. Bronze. c. 475 BCE. Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi, Greece.
While the commissioner was a tyrant of the Greek colonial city of Gela on Sicily, the
statue is believed to have been made in Athens. It was made by the lost wax
technique in multiple sections and then assembled.

The Charioteer stands tall, his right arm stretched out to grasp reins; his left arm is
missing. He has a high waist, which probably looked more natural when he stood on
his chariot. However, despite the high waist, the figure has a high degree of
naturalism , on par with the marble sculptural developments of the Early Classical
style. The arms, face, and feet are rendered with high plasticity, and the inlaid eyes
and added copper of his lips and eyelashes all add a degree of naturalism.

When compared to Archaic sculptures, it appears very natural. However, as an Early

Classical sculpture, the Charioteer has yet to achieve the full Classical style. The
Archaic smile is gone, but his appears almost blank and expressionless, on par with
other sculptures produced in the Severe stye of the Early Classical period.

Riace Warriors

The Riace Warriors are a set of two nude, bronze sculptures of male warriors that
were recovered off the coast of Riace, Italy. They are a prime example of Early
Classical sculpture and the transition between Archaic to Classical sculpting styles.

The figures are nude, unlike the Charioteer. Their bodies are idealized and appear
dynamic, with freed limbs, a contrapposto shift in weight, and turned heads that
imply movement. The muscles are modeled with a high degree of plasticity, which
the bronze material amplifies through natural reflections of light. Additional elements,
such as copper for the lips and nipples, silver teeth, and eyes inlaid with glass and
bone, were added to the figures to increase their naturalism. Both figures originally
held a shield and spear, which are now lost. Warrior B wears a helmet, and it
appears that Warrior A once wore a wreath around his head.
Riace Warriors: Warrior A (right) and Warrior B (left). Bronze, c. 460–450 BCE, Riace, Italy.

Artemision Bronze

The Artemision Bronze represents either Zeus or Poseidon. Both gods were
represented with full beards to signify maturity. However, it is impossible to identify
the sculpture as one god or the other because it can either be a lightning bolt
(symbolic of Zeus) or a trident (symbolic of Poseidon) in his raised right hand.

The figure stands in heroic nude, as would be expected with a god, with his arms
outstretched, preparing to strike. The bronze is in the Severe style with an idealized,
muscular body and an expressionless face.

Like the Charioteer and the Riace Warriors, the Artemision Bronze once held inlaid
glass or stone in its now-vacant eye sockets to heighten its lifelikeness. The right
heel of the figure rises off the ground , which anticipates the motion the figure is
about to undertake.

The full potential of the god’s motion and energy, as well as the grace of the body, is
reflected in the modeling of the bronze.
Artemision Bronze: The Artemision Bronze figure depicts either Zeus or Poseidon, c. 460–450 BCE,
Cape Artemision, Greece.

Ceramics in the Greek Early Classical Period

The ceramic art from Early Classical Greece displays important compositional
developments and increased naturalism in the figures.

Key Points

 Red-figure painting continued during the Early Classical period. The changes
in the depiction of the body and in the drapery of the figures began to change,
reflecting the stylistic changes and increased naturalism seen in Classical
sculpture .
 The style of red-figure painting also diversified as painters began to depict
figures on multiple ground lines , show characters from a variety of
perspectives (including three-quarter view), and utilize more naturalism (as
seen by the work of the Niobid Painter).
  White-ground painting, developed in 500 BCE, became popular during the
Classical period. White-ground pottery was coated in a white slip before being
fired and painted, allowing for the use of polychromy .
 Early white-ground painting (Type I) resembled black-figure painting until it was
supplanted by the more familiar outline paintings. White-ground painting
became the primary style for lekythoi, vessels used to hold oils that had a
funerary context. Due to this context, many of the scenes painted on lekythoi
depicted scenes of funerary rites and rituals , or scenes that alluded to
impending death.

Key Terms

 lekythos: A type of ancient Greek pottery used for storing oil and previous
liquids. The body is narrow and has a single handle attached to the neck of the
vessel. They typically stood 10 to 20 inches tall, but when used as grave
markers could be much larger.
 polychromy: The art or practice of combining different colors, especially
brilliant ones, in an artistic way.
 white-ground: A style of ancient Greek vase painting in which figures appear
on a white background.

Classical Period Ceramics

The Classical period witnessed the continuation of red- and black-figure painting
techniques on ceramic objects. While artists continued to produce black-figure
paintings into the second century BCE, the technique became increasingly rare,
overtaken around 520 BCE by red-figure painting.

Attic red-figure vases were exported throughout Greece and beyond, and for a long
time dominated the market for fine ceramics. Only a few centers of pottery
production could compete with Athens in terms of its innovation, quality, and
production capacity.

Red-Figure Painting

Red-figure painting continued to flourish during the Early, High, and Late Classical
periods. The naturalism of the figures in Early Classical vase painting continued to
increase, as the figures became less stocky and less linear. Both the figures and
their drapery began to appear more plastic, and the scenes often depicted a single
moment within a mythical story or event. Furthermore, vase painting began to be
influenced by the changes occurring in both sculpture and the large-scale painting of
walls and panels.

The Mannerists

The Mannerists were a group of Attic red-figure painters known for their affected
(emotive) subject matter. They were active from about 480 BCE until near the end of
the fifth century BCE. Their main characteristic is that they maintained features of
black-figure vase painting in the red-figure technique.
Their figures seem elongated and have small heads, the garment folds fall stiff and
resemble stairs, and the images are framed with black-figure style ornamentations.
The range of motifs is also influenced by previous periods. The figures gesticulate as
if using a form of sign language—the hands often appear stiff and theatrical. We can
see typical Mannerist small heads and affected gestures in the Pan Painter’s
Herakles Fighting Busiris (c. 470 BCE).

Herakles Fighting Busiris: A mannerist red-figure by the Pan Painter, c. 470 BCE.

The Niobid Painter’s red-figure krater of Artemis and Apollo slaying the children of
Niobe, from 460 BCE, is believed to be a composition inspired by a panel painting.
The side of the vessel depicting Artemis and Apollo relates to the myth of the twin
god and goddess who slew Niobe’s fourteen children after she boasted that her
ability to birth children exceeded Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis.

This story alludes to ancient Greek admonitions against hubris, or extreme pride.
The scene is one of the first vase painting scenes to show the figures on different
ground lines. Apollo and Artemis stand in the center of the vessel as Niobe’s children
fall to ground around them. One child has even fallen behind a rock in the landscape.
On the other side of the vase is an image of gods and heroes, with Herakles at the
center. All the figures stand and sit on various ground lines. The figures on both
sides are depicted from multiple angles, including three-quarter view, and a profile
eye is used for the figures in profile, a first in Greek vase painting.

Herakles with Gods and Heroes: Painted by the Niobid Painter. The reverse side of the krater depicts
Artemis and Apollo slaying the children of Niobe. An Athenian red-figure calyx krater, c. 450 BCE, Orvieto,
Italy.
Artemis and Apollo Slaying the Children of Niobe: Painted by the Niobid Painter on an Athenian red-
figure calyx krater, c. 450 BCE, from Orvieto, Italy.

The Berlin Painter is another well-known Early Classical vase painter. His unique
style depicts figures, isolated from context, on a small ground line against a glossy
black background. His figures also start in the middle of the vase and extend onto
the vessel’s shoulder, stopping at the neck.

He pays particular attention to the details of the body and the drapery of each figure,
and allows both figure and drapery to express emotion, space , and movement. His
painting entitled Ganymede with a Hoop and Cock conveys a sense of dynamism by
arranging the body through a series of diagonal outlines, using contour lines to mark
the locations of muscles and tendons beneath the skin.
Ganymede with a Hoop and Cock: Painted by the Berlin Painter on an Attic red-figure bell krater, c. 500–
490 BCE.

White-Ground Painting

White-ground painting developed around 500 BCE and gained popularity during the
following century. The technique is based on the use of paints, instead of slip, to
create polychrome vessels.

The vessels were first coated in a white slip before various colors of paint were
added. The white background and firing techniques allowed for various colors to be
used, including blue, yellow, red, brown, and green. Because the style is less
durable than black- and red-figure painting, it was often used for votives and as
grave offerings .
The common outline paintings of the white-ground technique would not dominate the
style until approximately the mid-fifth century BCE. For the first 50 years of white-
ground painting, known as Type I, the imagery resembled conventional black-figure
painting, with the color of the background as the only difference. This depiction of
Herakles fighting Geryon provides an example of Type I white-ground painting.

Herakles Fighting Geryon: Herakles (in the center) attacks Geryon (on the far right). Eurytion lays
wounded at their feet. Athena (on the left) watches the scene. Attic white-ground black-figure lekythos.

White-ground painting is often seen on a lekythos , a vessel used to hold oils, which
were sometimes used for anointing the dead. Due to this funerary function, lekythoi
were also used as grave offerings. As such, many of the scenes painted on white-
ground lekythoi depict or allude to funerary scenes (such as funerary rites and
rituals) or images of warriors departing their wives for battle and death. While the
scene of Herakles fighting Geryon depicts a rather violent prelude to death, the
imagery on later lekythoi is somewhat more sedate.
Woman Attending a Tomb: Painted by the Thanatos Painter on an Attic white-ground lekythos, c. 440–
430 BCE.
The Achilles Painter, a pupil of the Berlin Painter and creator of both red-figure and
white-ground vessels, is one of the most well-known white ground painters. The
scenes he painted on his white-ground lekythoi are filled with pathos and sorrow,
often depicting women sitting in front of grave stelae or bidding their battle-bound
husbands farewell.

Muse with Lyre: Painted by the Achilles Painter on an Attic white-ground lekythos, c. 440–430 BCE.

Overall, in both white-ground and red-figure painting during the Early Classical
period, the form of the body was perfected by the artisans. Painted vessels were
now depicting figures on a two-dimensional plane, with the illusion of three-
dimensional space. These figures were rendered in that space naturally, in terms of
their movement and form.

Black-figure painting nearly disappeared in the Early Classical period and was
primarily reserved for objects made to seem old or to recall antique styles, such as
victory amphorae for the Panhellenic Games.

The High Classical Period

The Acropolis

The Athenian Acropolis is an ancient citadel in Athens containing the remains of

several ancient buildings, including the Parthenon.

Key points

 The Acropolis, dedicated to the goddess Athena, has played a significant role
in the city from the time that the area was first inhabited during the Neolithic
era. In recent centuries, its architecture has influenced the design of many
public buildings in the Western hemisphere.
 Immediately following the Persian war in the mid-fifth century BCE, the
Athenian general and statesman Pericles coordinated the construction of the
site’s most important buildings including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the
Erechtheion, and the temple of Athena Nike.
 The structures on the Acropolis incorporated the Cyclopean foundations of
older Mycenaean-era structures.
 In its heyday, the Parthenon featured a Doric facade and Ionic frieze interior,
while the Doric Propylaea—the gateway to the Acropolis and an art gallery in
the Classical era—lacked friezes and pedimental sculptures. The Ionic
Erechtheion, believed to have been dedicated to the legendary King
Erechtheus, features a porch supported by columnar caryatids . The Temple of
Athena Nike, which celebrates Athenian war victories, was built in the Ionic
order.
 The sculptures from each of these buildings depict scenes specific to their
historical and mythological significance to Athens.

Key Terms

 peripteral: Surrounded by a single row of columns.

 prostyle: Free-standing columns across the front of a building.
 entablature: The area of a temple facade that lies horizontally atop the
columns.
 elevation: A geometric projection of a building, or other object, on a plane
perpendicular to the horizon.
 Geometric period: An era of abstract and stylized motifs in ancient Greek
vase painting and sculpture. The period was centered in Athens and flourished
from 900 to 700 BCE.
  Pericles: A prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator, and the general
of Athens during the city’s Golden Age—specifically, the time between the
Persian and Peloponnesian wars.
 capital: The topmost part of a column.

The Athenian Acropolis

The study of Classical-era architecture is dominated by the study of the construction

of the Athenian Acropolis and the development of the Athenian agora . The Acropolis
is an ancient citadel located on a high, rocky outcrop above and at the center of the
city of Athens. It contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great
architectural and historic significance.

The word acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄ (akron, meaning edge or
extremity) and π (polis, meaning city). Although there are many other acropoleis in
Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known
as The Acropolis without qualification.

The Acropolis at Athens: The Acropolis has played an important role in the city of Athens from the time
the area was first inhabited.

The Acropolis has played a significant role in the city from the time that the area was
first inhabited during the Neolithic era. While there is evidence that the hill was
inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BCE, in the High Classical Period it
was Pericles (c. 495–429 BCE) who coordinated the construction of the site’s most
important buildings, including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion, and
the temple of Athena Nike.

The buildings on the Acropolis were constructed in the Doric and Ionic orders, with
dramatic reliefs adorning many of their pediments , friezes, and metopes .
In recent centuries, its architecture has influenced the design of many public
buildings in the Western hemisphere.

This building was built from limestone around 570 to 550 BCE and was a hundred feet long.
It has the original home of the olive-wood statue of Athena Polias, known as the Palladium,
that was believed to have come from Troy.

The sculpted reliefs on the Parthenon’s metopes are both decorative and symbolic,
and relate stories of the Greeks against the others. Each side depicts a different set
of battles.

1. Over the entrance on the east side is a Gigantomachy , depicting the

battle between the giants and the Olympian gods.
2. The west side depicts an Amazonomachy, showing a battle between the
Athenians and the Amazons.
3. The north side depicts scenes of the Greek sack of Troy at the end of
the Trojan War.
4. The south side depicts a Centauromachy, or a battle with centaurs. The
Centauromachy depicts the mythical battle between the Greek Lapiths
and the Centaurs that occurred during a Lapith wedding.

These scenes are the most preserved of the metopes and demonstrate how Phidias
mastered fitting episodic narrative into square spaces.
Centauromachy: A metope from the south side of the Parthenon, of a Lapith and a centaur. Acropolis,
Athens, Greece. c. 447–438 BCE.

The interior Ionic processional frieze wraps around the exterior walls of the naos.
While the frieze may depict a mythical or historical procession, many scholars
believe that it depicts a Panatheniac procession.

The Panathenaic procession occurred yearly through the city, leading from the
Dipylon Gate to the Acropolis and culminating in a ritual changing of the peplos worn
by the ancient olive-wood statue of Athena. The processional scene begins in the
southwest corner and wraps around the building in both directions before culminating
in the middle of the of the west wall.

It begins with images of horsemen preparing their mounts, followed by riders and
chariots, Athenian youth with sacrificial animals, elders and maidens, then the gods
before culminating at the central event. The central image depicts Athenian maidens
with textiles, replacing the old peplos with a new one.
Horsemen in the Processional Scene: An Ionic frieze from the interior of the Parthenon. Acropolis,
Athens, Greece. c. 447–438 BCE.

The east and west pediments depict scenes from the life of Athena and the east
pediment is better preserved than the west; fortunately, both were described by
ancient writers. The west pediment depicted the contest between Athena and
Poseidon for the patronage of Athens. At the center of the pediment stood Athena
and Poseidon, pulling away from each to create a strongly charged, dynamic
composition .

The east pediment depicted the birth of Athena. While the central image of Zeus,
Athena, and Haphaestus has been lost, the surrounding gods, in various states of
reaction, have survived.

Sculpture group from the east pediment of the Parthenon: While the central image of Zeus, Athena,
and Haphaestus has been lost, the surrounding gods, in various states of reaction, have survived (c. 447–
439 BCE).
Nike Adjusting Her Sandal: This statue is in the Temple of Athena Nike, c. 425–420 BCE. It is located in
the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
In this scene Nike is portrayed standing on one leg as she bends over a raised foot
and knee to adjust her sandal. Her body is depicted in the new High Classical style.
Unlike Archaic sculpture, this scene actually depicts Nike’s body. Her body and
muscles are clearly distinguished underneath her transparent yet heavy clothing.

This style, known as wet drapery , allows sculptors to depict the body of a woman
while still preserving the modesty of the female figure. Although Nike’s body is
visible, she remains fully clothed. This style is found elsewhere on the Acropolis,
such as on the caryatids and on the women in the Parthenon’s pediment.

Stelae in the Greek High Classical Period

Large, relief-carved stelae became the new funerary markers in Greece during the
High Classical period.

Key Points

 Funerary stelae were large and rectangular. They were often topped by
pediments that were often, although not always, supported by columns . Stelae
were originally painted and in some cases adorned with metal props such as
spears.
 The funerary stelae of Classical Greece are idealized portraits that attempt to
relate the character and social position of the dead through attributes depicted
on the grave marker. Examples include a warrior depicted in battle or a woman
adorning herself in jewelry.
 The reliefs on funerary stelae followed the stylistic characteristics of the
Classical period. The bodies of the men are well modeled and, if standing, they
often stand with contrapposto . Drapery is often portrayed in the wet-drapery
style , which allows for the form of the body to be shown.
 The funerary stelae of children often depict companion animals, such as doves
and other birds, which might have had symbolic connections with the afterlife.

Key Terms

 naiskos: A small temple made in the Classical order with columns or pillars
and pediment.
 Kerameikos: An area of Ancient Athens located northwest of the Acropolis on
either side of the Dipylon Gate. The location is known as the potter’s quarter.
 stele: A tall, slender stone monument, often with writing carved into its surface

Funerary Stelae

A stele (plural: stelae) is a large slab of stone or wood erected for commemorative
and funerary purposes. The stelae of ancient Greece replaced the funerary markers
of the Geometric kraters and amphorae, and the Archaic kouroi and korai of the
Classical period.

The stelae were wide and tall and were Classical-style portraits. While the figures
were still idealized, they were meant to represent specific individuals. Stelae were
inscribed with the name of the dead and often the names of the relatives. Most
stelae are rectangular and often topped with a pediment. Columns often, but not
always appear on each side, seemingly to support the pediment. Stelae in this faux-
architectural style assume the form of a funerary temple called a naiskos . An
inscription would be located on the pediment or below the image, in which case the
pediment was painted, plain, or decorated simply with geometric designs.

The figures depicted on Classical-era stelae are in the same style and manner seen
in Classical sculpture and on sculptural decoration of architecture, such as a
temple’s pediments and frieze . Stelae as grave markers became popular around
430 BCE, coinciding with the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. Each stele is
unique for its attempts to individualize and characterize the attributes and personality
of the dead.

Grave Stele of Hegeso

The Grave Stele of Hegeso from the Kerameikos Cemetery outside of Athens
depicts a seated woman. The stele dates to 400 BCE, and the woman fits the
stylistic representation of women at this time.

Hegeso sits on a chair with her feet resting on a footstool. She is elegantly dressed
in long, flowing drapery. A female attendant in simple dress stands before her
holding a small box, from which Hegeso chooses jewelry. The jewelry is now absent
because it was only a painted detail, as opposed to carved in relief.

Both women wear transparent clothing that clings to their body to relieve their
feminine form, although the clothing is more revealing on Hegeso than her servant.
This style, known as wet drapery , also appears on the Temple of Athena Nike in
Athens. Both figures are expressionless and emotionless.
Grave Stele of Hegeso: This stele is from the Kerameikos Cemetery outside of Athens and depicts a
seated woman with her servant before her. The stele dates to 400 BCE, and the woman fits the stylistic
representation of women at this time.
Grave Stele of an Athlete

The Grave Stele of an Athlete (early fourth century BCE), from the island of Delos,
depicts a male athlete receiving lekythos of oil from a male youth. The athlete’s body
is reminiscent of Polykleitos’s Doryphoros. It is athletic, and the muscles are defined
through modeling instead of lines .

He stands in a contrapposto pose with a cocked head, reaching for the flask held by
the young attendant. The youth’s age is defined not by his well-built body (which is
very similar to that of the athlete) but by his diminutive size.
Grave Stele of an Athlete: This stele show an athlete standing in a contrapposto pose with his head
cocked, reaching for the flask held by the young attendant. Circa 375 BCE, from Delos, Greece.

Painting in the Greek High Classical Period

Panel and tomb paintings from the High Classical Period depict natural figures with
high plasticity and dynamic compositions.
Key Points

 Few examples of panel, fresco , and wall painting survive due to their organic
materials. However, the examples that do survive from the Archaic , Classical ,
and Late Classical periods demonstrate the same development of the figure—
from stiff, rigid images to dynamic scenes of natural figures.
 The painter Apollodorus was considered one of the most talented painters in
the Classical period. He developed a technique to depict shadows and depth
known to the Greeks as skiagraphia, which is similar to the Renaissance use of
chiaroscuro .
 The Roman Alexander Mosaic is believed to be a copy of a large-scale Greek
fresco or panel painting from the late fourth century BCE. Its remarkable detail
and identifiable characteristics of Alexander the Great amidst a dynamic battle
point to the skill of Greek painters at the end of the Classical era.

Key Terms

 symposium: A drinking party, especially one with intellectual discussion, in

ancient Greece.
 chiaroscuro: An artistic technique popularized during the Renaissance,
referring to the use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion
of volume.

Classical Greece was a 200-year period in Greek culture that lasted from the fifth
through fourth centuries BCE. This Classical period, following the Archaic period and
succeeded by the Hellenistic period, had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire
and greatly influenced the foundations of the Western Civilization . Much of modern
Western politics and artistic thought, such as architecture, scientific thought,
literature, and philosophy, derives from this period of Greek history.

Panel Painting

Panel painting is the painting on flat panels of wood, either a large single piece or
several joined together. Because of their organic nature many panel paintings no
longer exist. Panel paintings were usually done in encaustic or tempera and were
displayed in the interior of public buildings, such as in the pinacoteca of the
Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis.

The earliest known panel paintings are the Pitsa Panels that date to the Archaic
period between 540 and 530 BCE; however, panel painting continued throughout the
Classical Period.

The painter Apollodorus was considered by the Greeks and Romans to be one of the
best painters of the Early Classical period, although none of his work survived. He is
credited for the use of creating shadows by a technique known as skiagraphia. The
technique layers crosshatching and contour liners to add perspective to the scene
and is similar to the Renaissance technique of chiaroscuro.
Pitsa Panels: These are the earliest known panel paintings, and date to the Archaic period between 540
and 530 BCE.

Tomb Painting

Tomb painting was another popular method of painting, which due to its fragile
nature has often not survived. However, a few examples do remain, including the
480 BCE Tomb of the Diver and the wall paintings from the royal Macedonian tombs
in Vergina that date to the mid-fourth century BCE. A comparison between the
paintings demonstrate how painting followed sculptural development in regards to
the rendering of the human body.

The Tomb of the Diver is from a small necropolis in Paestum, Italy, which was then
the Greek colony of Poseidonia, and dates from the beginning of the Classical
period. The tomb depicts a symposium scene on its walls and an image of diver on
the inside of the covering slab.

The images are painted in true fresco with a limestone mortar. The scene of the
diver is simple image with a small landscape of trees, water, and the diver’s platform.
The diver is nude and his body is simply defined through the use of line and color.
The bodies of the men at the symposium more accurately demonstrate an Archaic
reliance on line to model the form of the body and the draping of their clothing.
Tomb of the Diver: This is the symposium-scene fresco painted on the Tomb of the Diver.

Compared to the wall paintings from the tombs at Vergina, the Early Classical tomb
painting is static and rather Archaic. The frescos from Vergina depict figures in a full-
painted version of the High Classical style .

For example, there is an image believed to depict King Philip II on a chariot pulled by
two horses. The fresco is poorly preserved but one is able to see on Philip’s horse
the modeling of the animals produced by the color shading and a suggestion of
perspective when looking at the chariot. The artist relies on the shades and hues of
his paints to create depth and a life-like feeling in the painting.
Man on a Chariot: The frescos from Vergina depict figures in a full-painted version of the High Classical
style.

One of the quintessential wall paintings at Vergina is Hades Abducting Persephone.

The painted scene appears similar to the Late Classical sculptural style and the
dynamic, emotion-filled composition seems to predict the style of Hellenistic
sculpture.

The scene depicts Hades on his chariot, grasping on to Persephone’s nude torso as
the pair ride away. The colors are faded and faint, but the bright red drapery worn by
Persephone is still easily identifiable. Lines and shading emphasize its folds.

The style appears almost impressionistic, especially when examining Persephone’s

face and hair. Persephone and Hades create a tension filled chiastic composition, as
Hades races to the left, against the pull of Persephone’s outward, desperate reach to
the right.

Alexander Mosaic

The Alexander Mosaic is a Roman floor mosaic from approximately 100 BCE that
was excavated from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. The mosaic depicts the
Battle of Issus that occurred between the troops of Alexander the Great and King
Darius III of Persia. The mosaic is believed to be a copy of a large-scale panel
painting by Aristides of Thebes, or a fresco by the Philoxenos of Eretria from the late
fourth century BCE.

Alexander Mosaic (Battle of Issus): This is believed to be a copy of a fresco by Philoxenos of Eretria or a
panel painting by Aristides of Thebes (late fourth century BCE). Alexander is depicted in profile at the far
left. This is a Roman piece, from the House of the Faun in Pompeii during the late second or third century
BCE.

The mosaic is remarkable. It depicts a keen sense of detail, dramatically unfolds the
drama of the battle, and demonstrates the use of perspective and foreshortening .
The two main characters of the battle are easily distinguishable and this portrait of
Alexander may be one of his most recognizable. He wears a breastplate and an
aegis , and his hair is characteristically tousled. He rides into battle on his horse,
Bucephalo, leading his troops. Alexander’s gaze remains focused on Darius and he
appears calm and in control, despite the hectic battle happening around him.

Darius III, on the other hand, commands the battle in desperation from his chariot, as
his charioteer removes them from battle. His horses flee under the whip of the
charioteer and Darius leans outward, stretching out a hand having just thrown a
spear. His body position contradicts the motion of his chariot, creating tension
between himself and his flight.

Other details in the mosaic include the expressions of the soldiers and the horses,
such as a collapsed horse and his rider in the center of the battle, to a terrified fallen
Persian, whose expression is reflected on his shield.

The shading and play of light in the mosaic, reflects the use of light and shadow in
the original painting to create a realistic, three-dimensional space . Horses and
soldiers are shown in multiple perspectives from profile, to three quarter, to frontal,
and one horse even faces the audience with his rump. The careful shading within the
mosaic tesserae models the characters to give the figures mass and volume .
Sculpture in the Greek High Classical Period

High Classical sculpture demonstrates the shifting style in Greek sculptural work as
figures became more dynamic and less static.

Key Points

 After mastering the portrayal of naturalistic bodies from stone, Greek sculptors
began to experiment with new poses that expanded the repertoire of Greek art.
The sculptures of this later period are moving away from the Classical
characteristics they still maintain: idealism and the Severe style .
 Polykleitos is most well known for his Canon, depicted in the Doryphoros, but
is also known for his Diadumenos and Discophoros. These two, sculpted
athletes are also done in accordance to his canon and are depicted in
contrapposto with chiastic poses.
 Phidias was one of the most renowned sculptors his time. He oversaw the
sculptural program for the Athenian Acropolis and is also known for his giant
chryselephantine cult statues of Zeus and Athena Parthenos.
 Myron is a bronze sculptor of the High Classical period. His statues are known
for being imbued with potential energy. His Discobolos is poised to spring,
preparing to throw a discus. While still idealized, the figure appears to be
frozen in an action of intense movement.

Key Terms

 chryselephantine: Made of gold and ivory.

 aegis: An attribute of Zeus or Athena, usually represented as a goatskin
shield.

Polykleitos

Polykleitos was a famous Greek sculptor who worked in bronze. He was also an art
theorist who developed a canon of proportion (called the Canon) that is
demonstrated in his statue of Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) Many of Polykleitos’s
bronze statues from the Classical period, including the Doryphoros, survive only as
Roman copies executed in marble. Polykleitos, along with Phidias, is thought to have
created the style recognized as Classical Greek sculpture.

Another example of the Canon at work is seen in Polykleitos’s statue of

Diadumenos, a youth trying on a headband, and his statue Discophoros, a discus
bearer. Both Roman marble copies depict athletic, nude, male figures.

The bodies of the two figures are idealized. The nudity allows the harmony of parts,
or symmetria, to easily be seen and illustrates the principles discussed in the Canon.
The Canon focused on the proportion of parts of the body in relationship to each
other to create the ideal male form . Both statues demonstrate fine proportion, ideal
balance, and the definable parts of the body.
Discophoros: This is a Roman marble copy of the Greek bronze original by Polykleitos, c. 440 BCE.
Diadoumenos: This is a Roman marble copy of Greek bronze original by Polykleitos, circa 430 BCE.
The athletes are shown in contrapposto stances. The Discophoros shifts his weight
to his left leg. His hips and the slightly forward lean toward his right leg exaggerate
the weight shift. The figure is balanced on his left leg, which is drawn back, and the
rest of his body appropriately responds to this stance.

The Diadumenos also stands in contrapposto, although his movement seems more
forward and stable than that of the Discophoros. He ties on a band that identifies him
as a winner in an athletic contest. His raised arms add a new dynamic component to
the composition .

The Discophoros and Diadumenos, along with the Doryphoros, demonstrate the
flexibility of composition based on the Canon and the innate liveliness produced by
contrapposto postures. Despite the lively aspects and unique poses of the figures, all
three still retain the Severe style and expressionless face of early Greek sculpture.

Polykleitos not only worked in bronze but is also known for his chryselephantine cult
statue of Hera at Argos, which in ancient times was compared to Phidias’ colossal
chryselephantine cult statues.

Phidias

Phidias was the sculptor and artistic director of the Athenian Acropolis and oversaw
the sculptural program of all the Acropolis’ buildings. He was considered one of the
greatest sculptors of his time and he created monumental cult statues of gold and
ivory for city-states across Greece.

Phidias is well known for the Athena Parthenos, the colossal cult statue in the naos
of the Parthenon. While the statue has been lost, written accounts and reproductions
(miniatures and representations on coins and gems) provide us with an idea of how
the sculpture appeared.

It was made out of ivory, silver, and gold and had a wooden core support. Athena
stood crowned, wearing her helmet and aegis . Her shield stood upright at her left
side and her left hand rested on it while in her right hand she held a statue of Nike.
An artist’s reconstruction is housed in the Parthenon in Nashville.
Reconstruction of Phidias’s Athena Parthenos: This is housed in the Parthenon in Centennial Park,
Nashville, TN.

Before he created the statue of Athena Parthenos for Athens, Phidias was best
known for his chryselephantine statue of Zeus at Olympia, which was considered
one of the wonders of the world. The statue of Zeus at Olympia is said to have been
39 feet tall chryselephantine statue.
As with Athena Parthenos, not much is known for sure about how the statue looked,
although written accounts and marble and coinage copies provide possible ideas.
Besides being built on a colossal scale, reports indicate that the figure of Zeus was
seated and held a scepter and a statue of Nike. An eagle was perched either at his
side or on his scepter.

Besides being decorated with gold and ivory, the sculpture was further embellished
with ebony and previous stones. An artist’s conception of the colossal sculpture
resides in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Reconstruction of Phidias’s Zeus at Olympia: An artist’s conception of the colossal sculpture resides in
the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.ia.

Myron

The Athenian artist Myron also produced bronze sculptures during the mid-fifth
century BCE. His most famous work is of the Diskobolos, or discus thrower (not to
be confused with Polykletios’ discus bearer, Discophoros). The Diskobolos shows a
young, athletic male nude with a Severe-style face. His body holds a contrapposto
pose; one leg bears his weight, while the other is relaxed. A relaxed arm balances
his body and the other arm tenses, preparing to let go of the disc. The Diskobols
demonstrates a dynamic, chiastic composition that relies on diagonal lines to move
the eye about the sculpture.

Diskobols: This is a Roman marble copy of a Greek bronze original by Myron, c. 450 BCE.
This figure represents another new element in Classical sculpture—the illustration of
the potential for energy. His energy appears wound up, waiting for the figure to
release it. The statue depicts a swift and transitory moment and that is frozen at a
precise moment to exhibit the harmony, balance, and rhythm perfected by both the
athlete and the artist.