Ancient Greece Flashcards
Kouros
ca. 600 BCE.
Greek.
One of the earliest life-sized greek statues, it still emulates the stances of Egyptian statutes and also had a funerary function, but Kouros is nude and liberated from the stone block, which represented stability and permanence. The greeks were interested in movement.
Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), Roman copy after bronze original, c. 450-440 BCE.
Greek.
Doryphoros portrays the perfect man through mathematical proportions, he is in a contrapposto stance creating counterbalance and harmony. For the first time, sculptures seem alive, which moves away from the stiff sculptures from that of the archaic period.
Artemision Zeus or Poseidon,
c. 460 BCE,
Greek.
This is an idealized, bronze sculpture depicting a god, in an open stance. The naturalistic approach and the depiction of movement is representative of the classical period.
Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon,
447–438 BCE,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece.
Greek.
Sacred space and symbolism of rebirth and democracy, voted on by Athenians. The Parthenon was an ideal system of proportion, they used entasis on the columns and was built on a curve giving the building an architectural contrapposto.
Plan of the Parthenon, 447-438 BCE,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece.
Greek.
The Parthenon was an ideal system of proportion. The stylobate and cella is 9:4 ratio. A post and lintel, peripteral, doric temple design, but also incorporates ionic elements.
Phidias, Lapith versus Centaur, South Metope, Parthenon
Athens, Greece.
447-432 BCE
Greek.
Naturalistic and of perfect proportion, the overlapping bodies and barbaric nature of the centaur represents the battle of order versus chaos. The diagonal lines give you a sense of movement and action, a moment frozen in time.
Phidias, Procession of Women and Men, Inner Frieze (east side), Parthenon,
Athens, Greece.
c. 447-432 BCE,
Greek.
An Ionic frieze representing the Panathenaic Festival procession, for the first time a greek temple featured a human event, showing that the Parthenon celebrated the greatness of Athens and the Athenians as much as it honored Athena. This piece of the frieze depicts the invited guests and the procession as it comes to a halt, by the use of the vertical lines versus that of the south side of the frieze.
Dying Gaul, Roman copy after bronze original
Pergamon, Turkey,
c. 230-220 BCE.
Hellenistic Greek.
A sculpture depicting a defeated Gallic warrior suffering with restraint, dying with honor. The dramatic narrative appealing to the senses and emotion is representative of the Hellenistic period.
Nike of Samothrace,
c. 190 BCE,
Samothrace, Greece.
Hellenistic Greek.
Created to honor a sea battle and goddess Nike. She once stood on the prowl of a ship, Hellenistic statues interact with their environment and appear living and breathing. The way the fabric is draped it appears as the wind is pushing her back.
Athena (detail), Great Altar of Zeus and Athena
Pergamon, Turkey
c. 200-150 BCE,
Hellenistic Greek.
