The people during the Classical Era of Greek worshipped God and godlike appearance was the main standard in their art. Statues became more natural and their posture, bodily movement were less stiff. They focused more on Olympics sports since ability to play sport became more important to the Greeks. They believed it was a way to become closer to their gods. To them, arete can be depicted through controlled movements and staged faces. One of examples is the “Discolobus” by Myron. They wanted to be described in idealized human form, God-like appearance in contrapposto posture (such as the “Spear Bearer” by Polykleitos). The Greeks valued physical healthiness and masculinity (for
The Ancient Greeks laid foundations for the Western civilizations in the fields of math and science. Euclid, a Greek mathematician known as the “Father of Geometry,” is arguably the most prominent mind of the Greco-Roman time, best known for his composition in the area of geometry, the Elements. (Document 5) To this day, Euclid’s work is still taught in schools worldwide.
”-Melissa Bury. The Ancient Greeks had a fixation on an “ideal” world. This was prevalent in their architecture, and in their art of the human body. However, the Greeks pursuit for perfection ends up being just a pursuit, as the goal never can be or will be
Creating an amazingly life-like appearance to its sculptures, not only demonstrated, in my mind, a higher intelligence, but is defiantly a tribute to their focus on superior strength and fitness. Although the realistic style was soon changed to create an even more ideal human figure, the understanding of the human body and how to recreate it through art was only the beginning of Greece’s contribution to the “classical ideal.” After their rise to power, gained by their triumph over Persia, the Greeks again changed the way we see art. This time they turned to their knowledge of geometry, focusing on the creation of grand architecture as their medium.
Uncontrolled emotionalism and shameful truth were now common characteristics to most of them. Still throughout the hellenistic, many sculptures were distinguished by their calmness, grace, and compassion for human suffering. The Ancient Greek sculptures were commonly made from stone or wood and very few of them are still existing to this day. Many were made to reflect the image of a freestanding human form even when the statue was of a god, and for this reason many of the sculptures were naked, the Greeks saw nudity as something beautiful. Other of the sculptures showed athletic figures, to essentially portray what the Greeks perceived as an ideal human and what it should look
Greek pottery was a very important part of the history of Greece. It represents their culture, animals, human figures, and birds. Others showed real life events that happened around whomever made that piece of pottery. Making pottery took lots of time, effort, and materials. They had to use all the resources they had around them, in order to make the pots.
They associated each of their gods with a different aspect of life or nature. For example Zeus was the king of the gods, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, Dionysus was the god of wine, and the list goes on. The ancient Greeks erected massive temples to these gods for worship. Each god or goddess had his or her own temple for sacrifices or offerings. They Greeks believed sacrifice was necessary to appease the gods and keep everyday life fruitful and peaceful.
In Greece the Greeks looked up to the gods and goddesses of the Greek culture. The gods and goddesses were the rulers of Greece and had the most power. They over saw everything the humans would do whether it being barbaric or civilized. There were a number of Greek gods and goddesses, but some over powered others. They fought in many wars and helped humans accomplish many different activities in order for them to survive.
Odysseus has been taken seriously because of his physique and strength that Athena built, he has killed many suitors with his incorrect, warrior like, actions, and has also cheated because of his war background. In both ancient Greece and modern society, body image is of high importance because with it people can judge you based on how they think you would be as a person. They opinionate your strength as a person by your body image.
What is a good person, and how does one achieve the good life? These were the questions asked by the ancient Greeks. Arete, or excellence, was what the Greeks strove for in everything. In a quest for excellence, the Greeks experimented with new types of politics. Greece was divided into individual city-states that each had their own form of government.
Essay Final: Prompt 1 The Greek concept Arete describes a heroic-like excellence, virtue and goodness. When observing a tragic hero, this element is what gives relevance to the character while highlighting their flaws. Creon?s Arete was his power over Thebes and its citizens in addition to his will to do what was best for them.
Sculpture specifically focused on both human potential and achievements, plus the human experience. Firstly, the Greeks often sculpted humans instead of animals or monsters, which is human-centered enough. When they did sculpt gods or goddesses, these deities were anthropomorphic, having human characteristics. Classical sculpture used nudity to depict the ideal human form; subjects were often young male athletes or soldiers, epitomizing human potential and achievement. Hellenistic sculpture was more realistic and emotional, where the subjects were everyday people; this style focused on the struggles included in the human experience.
Greek mythology can be viewed as a mirror to the ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greek myths and legends often reflected how the Greeks saw themselves. Myths were used by Greeks to make justifications of every existing aspect of earth as well as their own society. In myths, Greek gods & heroes often represented key aspects of the human civilization. From Greek mythology, we can learn about the favorable characteristics of humans, such as their behavior and valuable skills that were approved of by the ancient Greek society.
The Greeks took a huge step into entertainment. This step is still felt today. The whole reason we have olympics is because of the Greeks. There is way more to this story. The Greek theatre plays a huge role in our modern theatre.
Ancient Greek shaped the ideas of the what art should look like, and Greek culture plays such an important role of building the foundation of the western civilization. His ideas is absorbing, spreading and developing along with the conquered by Rome. Greece is kind of materialism, they barely believe the world in the mental, they prefer the world is all made by material instead. All the art work is the best example of Greece philosophy of life. The ideas of democracy, wisdom, religion is reflected in the Greek artwork, also represent the ancient people’s intelligence and creativity.
Greeks would perform athletics nude in celebration of the body and it’s physical abilities. Although many people might assume that this sculpture is about war because it is named “Spear-Bearer”,