Art in Ancient Greece: Art History 101
Art in Ancient Greece: Art History 101
A brief history from 1200 BC to 146 BC
We left off in Europe last time with the Bronze Age Collapse of 1200 BC:
Since written records are few from the resulting Mediterranean dark ages, we don’t know much about what happened. A lot of early art and architecture also used wood, which decayed over time and little evidence remains.
The Greek Dark Ages
This lasted a little over 400 years. Archeological evidence focuses on pottery and bronze figurines, although many foundations of later Greek culture were laid here. This includes the polis (city-state), large temples, and Greek alphabet all coming into their own.
Art in this time period trended toward a new geometric style, perhaps influenced by Doric invaders, along with Egypt and the Near East.
Other than that, the most notable artistic works were oral poetry. Specifically, from Homer and Hesiod.
Homer is the most famous of all Greek poets, although details of his life are unclear, and we don’t even know if he was a real person. He could’ve been several people, since his resulting work is thought to stem from different stories which merged over time. In either case, we all know his legacy: the Iliad and the Odyssey, epic tales of Greek ideals and mythology surrounding the Trojan War and its aftermath. (Eratosthenes, a chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria, put the Trojan War at 1194-1184 BC.) The Athenian politician Pisistratus is said to be first to collect and organize Homer’s poems. (Also see: “Peisistratean recension” and “The Epic Cycle”)
Hesiod, in contrast, discussed common life/beliefs and was more of a realist. He was thought to be active between 750 and 650 BC, and may have lived at the same time as Homer. Hesiod is best known for Works and Days (basically a farmer’s almanac) and Theogony (the origins of the gods).
Archaic Greece
“Archaic Greece“ spans the years between the Greek Dark Ages and the biggest conflict of the time–the Greco-Persian Wars around 500 to 450 BC.
The “Dark Ages” ended with our first accepted date, the first Olympic Games of 776 BC. Greeks referenced winners, making dating easier from here on out, and measured time by Olympiads. Early records are less reliable but there isn’t any significant disagreement that the Olympics began in 800-700 BC, with other games following in 600-500 BC. The four Panhellenic Games (Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian) also influenced the arts. Athletes entered artistic competitions as well as physical. Most people don’t know this.
The most ambitious young men in Greece made it their goal to win as many games as they could, and if possible, hold the crown for all four Panhellenic Games. Winners didn’t receive much of a prize at the games themselves–just a garland–but they could be awarded fame and fortune in their hometowns. A city might allow an Olympic winner to eat at the public dining halls for free, or have statues of him, for example.
Today we know the Olympics for athletic skill, but in ancient times they were important for cultural development as well. There’s a theory that Greek sculpture and art evolved from its geometric style partly because artists attended the Panhellenic Games; they could study the human form in every pose imaginable, and competition between artists led them to increasingly elaborate works to win prizes.
There are stories of beauty contests too, since the Greeks prized beauty so highly. There was the kallisteia for women and euandria (or euexia) for men. These were potentially inspired by the legendary Judgment of Paris. Contests were especially prominent in Elis, Tenedos, and the island of Lesbos.
Lesbos is famous today for the poet Sappho (630-570 BC). Greeks widely praised her work, and declared her “the tenth muse,” although unfortunately few examples have survived. Also unfortunate is that she’s now best known for the modern words “sapphic” and “lesbian.” Nobody knows if she was a lesbian and it’s irrelevant conjecture. What IS known is that she was considered a brilliant poet and, according to some, second only to Homer.
In the visual arts, things soon evolved past their Geometric and Egyptian influences.
Kouros statues (around 600-480 BC) are thought to have been grave markers. There’s a clear Egyptian and Mesopotamian influence in the aesthetic and technique. Forms are stiff, nearly symmetrical, and often life-sized.
Black-figure painting developed in pottery around 700 BC, while Athenians developed the well-known red-figure vase painting technique around 530-520 BC.
Greek columns, arguably their most famous architectural feature, emerged as we know it today with the Doric style; around 700-600 BC. This marked a shift toward using stone as a primary material, as opposed to wood. Doric style was simple, masculine-oriented, and geometric, like the art of the late Greek Dark Ages.
The first known temple in the competing Ionic style (Temple of Hera on Samos) was built around 570-560 BC. The famed Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was constructed around 550 BC. Elaborate Corinthian-style columns were the last to be used throughout Greece. The oldest known temple with them dates to 427 BC (Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae) or 335-334 BC (Choragic Monument of Lysicrates). The Romans later used elements of these columns in their own works.
Pythagoras (570-495 BC) is allegedly responsible for many scientific and mathematical discoveries, including the “Pythagorean theorem” and calculating the Earth’s circumference. He also influenced the arts by possibly popularizing the concept of mathematical proportions in sculpture and architecture, along with “Pythagorean numerology” (similar to the concept of Sacred Geometry). Some parts of music theory are attributed to him as well.
Related to poetry, the ancient Greeks always had a big emphasis on musical prowess.
Most people have heard the myth of Orpheus: a talented musician who charmed his way into the underworld to retrieve the spirit of his dead wife Eurydice. Many artistic works have been inspired by this. By some accounts, however, he was a real person (obviously disputed) and said to be the greatest musician and poet of his time. References to him began appearing around 600-500 BC, as did Orphic Cults, a mystery religion with some connections to Pythagoreanism.
As the Greeks eventually beat back the Persian Empire, their culture trended toward a Golden Age.
Classical Antiquity
“Classical Greece” is usually deemed the period between the Greco-Persian Wars (including the battles of Marathon and Thermopylae) and Alexander The Great’s death. Around 500 BC to 323 BC. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus were built during this time period.
The era included some of the world’s most important figures, like:
Pericles (495-429 BC)
Herodotus (484-425 BC)
Phidias (480-430 BC)
Socrates (470-399 BC)
Thucydides (460-400 BC)
Hippocrates (460-370 BC)
Aristophanes (446-386 BC)
Xenophon (430-354 BC)
Plato (428-347 BC)
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Demosthenes (384-322 BC)
Also worthy of note (among others too numerous to name) are the “three ancient Greek tragedians” Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides. Aeschylus' Oresteia in particular has been called the greatest work of literature to exist between Homer and Shakespeare.
Pliny the Elder wrote in The Natural History that the painter Zeuxis, for a contest, created such a realistic still life that birds tried to eat the grapes he painted. His rival Parrhasius won that contest though, and is credited with the invention of chiaroscuro.
It’s difficult to discuss painting since so few examples survive in any meaningful way. This is why pottery, sculpture, and architecture tends to be on most peoples’ minds. But the Greeks did make great advances in technique, form, and color, laying the groundwork for the future European Renaissance.
Most ancient Greek works show an idealized world, if not subtly enhanced. Many statues were modeled after the Olympic winners who were viewed as the peak of physical beauty. Artists preferred to show humanity at its best.
Greeks used what’s called the “lost-wax technique” for bronze. You’d create a wax sculpture and surround it with clay. Heating the clay solidifies it (like firing pottery) while melting the wax away to create an empty space. Molten metal (usually bronze) is then poured into the clay. Lastly, artisans would polish the cooled metal and add details like glass eyes.
Artists abandoned the Archaic style by creating statues in increasingly relaxed and natural poses. Early statues (480-450 BC) were still a bit stiff and formal, although they quickly became elaborate and elegant (450-323 BC) with realistic fabric folds and expressive poses. This included contrapposto. Historians sometimes divide these into Early/High/Late Classical.
Sculptors moved from bronze to marble and ivory, partly because of its added realism. Artists like Phidias and Polykleitos preferred it, although some like Myron stuck with bronze.
The Golden Age of Athens ended with the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) and the Corinthian War (395-387 BC). Although the Spartans were victorious in both, they were short-lived victories. Their defeat at the 371 BC Battle of Leuctra kicked Sparta into steep decline. They faced many issues and weren’t able to recover.
The Spartans have little surviving art and architecture. They preferred music and poetry over painting and sculpture. These are easier to lose with the passage of time. It’s said that Sparta was rich in art in its earliest years, and this fell off as the culture became militarized. This was viewed as necessary since so few Spartan citizens existed compared to the lower classes, and tight control over their numerous slaves (Helots) consumed much “free time.”
Hellenistic Era
Macedon’s rise to power was the next big event. King Phillip II began expanding his territory around 359 BC. By one account, his goal was to stabilize Greece in preparation for another war with Persia. His son Alexander the Great took the Macedonian throne in 336 BC. He conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire by 330-328 BC and continued from there.
The time between Alexander’s death (323 BC) and the emergence of the Roman Empire (31 BC) is known as the “Hellenistic period.“ This is considered the height of Greek cultural influence on the Mediterranean world.
Alexander’s generals (Diadochoi) divided his territory into their own pieces. Goods and ideas flowed between the Greeks and the areas under their tenuous control. Artistic expression expanded, with even Buddhist art taking on some Greek sculptural thought. Greek Elites commissioned many works in their new lands.
“Classical” Greece is best known for its idealism. They used elements of proportion, harmony, symmetry, and other objective standards of beauty. By the time of Hellenistic Greece, these were falling more to the background in favor of lifelike art with flowing lines. Movement over elegance. Drama over formality. Emotion over stoicism.
The famous Venus de Milo was carved around 150-125 BC. Laocoön and His Sons, one of Greece’s most elaborate works, is thought to date to 27 BC at the earliest. Although these are technically after the Hellenistic period, they’re the natural evolution of this mindset and arguably its peak, not to be equaled until the Renaissance.
The Romans eventually displaced Greek dominance during the Punic Wars (264-146 BC).
We’ll discuss the Roman Empire, and beyond, next time:
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