Transcript Classical Greek Art

Greek Art History Timeline
• Geometric and Orientalizing Periods, 900-600 BCE
• Archaic Art, 600-480 BCE
• Early and High Classical Art, 480-400 BCE
• Late Classical Art, 400-323 BCE
• Hellenistic Art, 323-30 BCE
BELLRINGER
• Grab a guided notes sheet from the front
table.
• In your sketchbook: The Greeks were
known for creating the “ideal” figure in
sculpture. Brainstorm 3 things that might
make a sculpture look “ideal”.
Early and High Greek
Art, Architecture, and Theater BIG IDEA!
• Presents the universal ideal of beauty
through logic, order, reason and moderation.
Early and High Classical Art
• Begins:
– Persian sack of the Acropolis
480 BCE
– Greek revenge 481 BCE
• Fifth Century BCE was the
Golden Age of Greece
– Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides wrote their plays
– Sculptors revolutionized their
figures
– Mathematics are applied to
temples to make the proportions
more harmonious.
Early and High Classical Art- Sculpture
• Greek sculptures made artwork more life like…
• Can you figure out how?
• Stand up for an exercise.
Early and High Classical Art- Sculpture
• Sculptures went from…..
• To…
• By introducing contrapposto
– Weight of the body is thrown to one foot
– Tension is created on one side and relaxation on the other
Polykleitos’ Prescription for the Perfect
Statue
• What creates true beauty?
• Read the article entitled,
“Polykleitos’ Prescription
for the Perfect Statue” and
answer the corresponding
questions on your learning
guide.
Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer)
• Ideal statue of a nude male athlete or
warrior
• Original named, “Canon”
• Original in bronze (marble copy)
• Polykleitos developed Greek canon
▫ height of the head was used as the
unit of measurement for determining
the overall height of the body
 Doryphoros is 8 heads tall
• Contrapposto
▫ Weight on one leg, hips and
shoulders are no longer parallel, and
spine is in an S curve
Early and High Classical Art- Architecture
• The Parthenon (447 BC- 438 BC)
– Decorations continued until 432 BC
• a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece
• dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena,
– Patron of Athens
• It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally
considered the culmination of the development of the Doric order.
• Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art.
• Currently being restored
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReJOK8RMzPE
Early and High Classical Art- Architecture
• How was the Parthenon constructed?
– Answer the questions on your corresponding learning guide to
understand how the Parthenon is constructed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReJOK8RMzPE
Early and High Classical Art- Theater
• Characteristics
•Usually performed in an amphitheater
•After 425 BCE, proscenium stages were used
•Mathematics were used to create acoustics
•Actors frequently wore masks with exagggerated
features to reveal their character
•Greek plays also included a chorus which offered a variety of
background and summary information to help the audience
follow the performance. The chorus consisted of 15-24
members.
Oedipus Rex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA1_QZxvRyo&f
eature=related
*After watching the short video, draw the family
tree of Oedipus.
Oedipus
Jocasta
Laius
Antigone
Ismene (she is not mentioned in the video, but she
is the daughter of Oedipus)
Oedipus Rex
 Written by Sophocles 429 BCE – first part of a three-part cycle
Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes.
After having been married some time without children, Laius and Jocasta
consulted an oracle.
 What is an oracle?
**A prophet, someone who can see/tell the future
The Oracle prophesied that if Jocasta should have a son, the son would
kill her husband Laius and marry her. When the couple had a son, Laius had
his ankles pinned together so that he could not crawl, and gave the boy to a
servant to abandon. The sympathetic servant passed the baby on instead of
leaving him to die, where he ended up being adopted by the King & Queen of
Corinth.(Oedipus becomes a prince).
 Many years later, Oedipus is told that the king of Corinth is not his real father.
Oedipus seeks counsel from the same Delphic Oracle. The Oracle does not tell
him the identity of his true parents but instead tells him that he is destined to
kill his father and marry his mother. In his attempt to avoid the fate predicted
by the Oracle, he decides to not return home to Corinth. Oedipus decides to go
to Thebes.
Oedipus Rex
As Oedipus travels he comes to a place where three roads meet, and here he
encounters a chariot, driven by his (unrecognized) birth-father, King Laius. They fight
over who has the right to go first and Oedipus kills Laius in self defense, fulfilling
part of the prophecy.
 Continuing his journey to Thebes, Oedipus encounters a Sphinx which would stop
all those who traveled to Thebes and ask them a riddle. If the travelers were unable to
answer correctly, they were killed and eaten by the sphinx; if they were successful,
they would be able to continue their journey. The riddle was:
"What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at
night?" Oedipus answers: "Man; as an infant, he crawls on all fours, as an adult,
he walks on two legs and, in old age, he relies on a walking stick.”
Oedipus was the first to answer the riddle correctly. The Sphinx is astounded
and inexplicably kills itself by throwing itself into the sea, freeing Thebes.
Oedipus Rex
 Grateful, the people of Thebes appoint Oedipus as their king and give him the
recently widowed Queen Jocasta's hand in marriage.
 In a search for the identity of the killer of Laius, Oedipus follows Creon's (his brother-inlaw) suggestion and sends for the blind prophet, Tiresias, who warns him not to try to find
the killer. In a heated exchange, Tiresias exposes Oedipus as the killer.
A messenger then reveals that Oedipus was adopted. Jocasta then goes into the palace
where she hangs herself. Oedipus seeks verification of the messenger's story from the
very same herdsman who was supposed to have left Oedipus to die as a baby. Thus, Oedipus
finally realizes in great agony that so many years ago, at the place where three roads meet,
he had killed his own father, King Laius, and as a consequence, married his mother,
Jocasta.
 Using the pin from a brooch he takes off Jocasta's gown, Oedipus gouges his eyes
out.
Prophesy in Oedipus Rex
There are three instances of prophesy in Oedipus:
a.) The oracle tells Laius and Jocasta that their son
will kill Laius and marry Jocasta.
b.) the oracle tells Creon that the plague will be lifted
if the murderer of Laius is banished.
c.) Tiresias tells Oedipus of the same prophesy as
Laius and Jocasta.
**This prophesy motif is prevalent in many Greek
tragedies and reveals the theme of denial or
blindness to the truth (symbolized by Oedipus
gouging his eyes out at the end).
Oedipus Sensory Figures
1. Create a simple drawing of your character chosen from the story (Oedipus,
Jocasta, Tiresias, Lauis, Creon, Antigone).
2. Label each sense – what the character may be seeing, hearing, saying, feeling,
thinking, etc.
3. These can be both physical and mental experiences (for instance, a person can
feel sad, but they can also feel the hot or cold of the weather depending on
Where the setting is).
4. You MUST use color!
I hear…
I feel with my hands…
I think…
I see…
I feel with my heart…
I feel with my feet…
Exit Slip
• 1) What are major characteristics of art,
architecture, and theater did the Greeks
believe made a product beautiful? You
need to state all characteristics.
– State one characteristic from visual art,
architecture, and theater that proves that the
Greeks use logic, order, and symmetry to
show beauty.
Exit Slip
• 1) What makes Greek Visual Art beautiful?
– Hint: What made Polycleitus’ sculpture beautiful?
• 2) What makes Greek Architecture beautiful?
– Hint: What did the Greeks do to make the
Parthenon beautiful?
• 3) If characters in Greek drama did not show
moderation or thought they could defy fate,
what would happen?