Minoan culture
ca. 2500-1400 B.C.E.
Mycenaean culture
ca. 1400-1200 B.C.E.
Archaic Period
ca. 700-480 B.C.E.
Classical Period
ca. 480-323 B.C.E.
Hellenistic Period
ca. 323-30 B.C.E.
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
birth of mythology; poetry
earliest form of democracy
ancient Greece
the Athenian polis
body of citizens in a Greek city-state with voting rights
Anthropocentric
(human-centered) world view
Cycladic Culture
refers to Greek islands
Helladic culture
refers to Greek mainland
Minoan culture
located on the island of Crete
Mycenaean culture
culture of the Greek mainland associated with Mycenae
Earliest examples of Greek art
Idols
Minoan Architecture
First instance of a highly developed, urban culture in the Western hemisphere
Thera
part of Minoan culture; volcanic eruption destroyed settlement
Volcanic Eruption
around 1500 B.C.E
two principle structures of Mycenaean culture
palaces of Tiryns and Mycenae (both on the Peloponnesian peninsula)
megaron
chief or throne room of the palace
heraldic iconography
underlining artistic exchanges and cross-cultural influences with eastern Mediterranean cultures
Mycenaean culture collapsed after
1200 B.C.E.
Krater
Vessel form used for mixing wine and water
Geometric Period
ca. 900-700 B.C.E.
Kylix
Greek drinking cup
Exekias
name of a potter-painter
black-figure pottery
engobe, or slip of finely sifted clay, is applied where figures appear; coarser clay for body of kylix; three-part firing process (oxidizing, reducing, reoxidizing)
kuros figure
sculpture in the round of a male youth depicted nude
Archaic period (ca. 700-480 B.C.E.)
great improvements in correct understanding of anatomy, musculature, movement of body in space, striding forward
marks the onset of the Early Classical period
idealized canon of human proportions
Persian Wars
497-479 B.C.E.
Classical sculpture
primacy on the naturalistic depiction of the human figure, rendered in terms of idealized proportions
Discobolos
discus thrower
Doryphoros
spear bearer
Sculptor Polykleitos
the great rival of Phidias in Athens
Doric Order
associated with mainland Greece, simpler, massive, older, rustic; distinctive features: plain, cushion-like capitals, triglyph and metope on frieze (reminders of early wooden temples; triglyphs = ends of wooden crossbeams)
Ionic Orders
associated with Asia Minor, decorative, recent, seems lighter, sophisticated; distinctive feature: volutes mimicking acanthus leaves
Pericles
reconstruction of the Acropolis on grander scale
Oldest and largest of the buildings on the Acropolis
the Parthenon
Athena-Parthenos
Athena = Deity associated with Athens, Athenians
Acropolis
Epitome of High Classical architecture
Naos
subdivided with one half containing a giant cult statue of Athena-Parthenon
elaborate classical drapery
Phidian inspiration
Fragments of the sculptural program once decorating the fa�ade collected by
Lord Elgin
frieze
created to adorn the upper part of the Parthenon's naos
Panathenaic procession
taking place every four years: citizen of Athens carried in a ceremonial procession the peplos, or robe, to an Archaic statue of Athena kept, ultimately, in the Erechtheum
Propylaea
entry gate
Ionian order
dominant in eastern Greece and the islands; because of Athens's dominant position in the Delian League, these influences migrated west
site of contest between Poseidon and Athena over Athens
Erechtheum
Caryatid figures
figural columns
the Hellenistic Period
a decline of the ideals espoused by the age of Perikles and Phidias
Athenian dominance in Greece came to an end with
defeat of the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War in 404 B.C.E.
Alexander the Great
set out to conquer Sumer, Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and even parts of India
focus of interest of Hellenistic artists
Departure from the classical canon of idealized human beauty: drama, violence, suffering, age, physical decay and nude female figures
An early hotbed of Hellenistic art
kingdom of Pergamon
Aphrodite
Greek goddess of love and beauty
Female figures in sculpture
rare in the classical tradition (and typically clothed)
Nike
Greek goddess of Victory
the School of Rhodes
where many Hellenistic sculptures originated
Hellenistic art
a new cast of characters enters the scene: barbarians (non-Greeks), old folk, and children
Geometric simplification: triangles, rectangles, cylinders, etc.
Palace of Knossos, Crete, ca. 1600-1400 B.C.E.
ca. 1500 B.C.E.
1300 B.C.E.
ca. 900-700 B.C.E.
Example of black-figure pottery
Conceived as a funerary monument to Kroisos
Kritios Boy, Kuros figure from the Acropolis
of Athens, ca. 480 B.C.E., marble
marble copy after a bronze original by Romans
Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Roman marble
copy after a bronze original from ca.
450-440 B.C.E.
Best preserved example of an Archaic temple
Temple dedicated to Athena-Parthenos
Mnesikles, The Propylaea, Acropolis,
Athens, ca. 437-432 B.C.E.
Kallikrates, Temple of Athena
Nike, Acropolis, Athens, 427-
424 B.C.E.
Intriguing detail: Caryatid figures (figural columns) of the "Porch of the maidens
Dying Gaul, Roman marble copy
after a bronze original form
Pergamon, ca. 240 B.C.E.
Altar of Zeus and Athena, Pergamon,
ca. 175 B.C.E.
Aphrodite of Melos (Venus of Milo), ca.
150-100 B.C.E., marble
Example of a work from the School of Rhodes
Agesander, Athenodorus, and Polydorus,
Laoc�on, early first century B.C.E. (?),
marble