• Means "top of the city".
• What the Greeks called the citadel.
• Ruined in Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE.

Acropolis

Time Period

• 5th and 4th century BCE

Acropolis

Polis

• Means "City-State".
• One of 800 other polies across Greek Pelopennese.

Acropolis

Athens

• Center of the Greek World.
• Consisted an urban center, surrounding a natural citadel which could serve as a fortification.
• Functioned as the city-state's religious center.

Acropolis

Pericles

• Convinced the Athenians to rebuild the Acropolis.

Acropolis

Phidias

• Appointed as a sculptor.

Acropolis

Ictinus and Callicrates

• Architects for the rebuilding of Acropolis.

Acropolis

Parthenon

• One of the most remarkable monuments built in Acropolis.
• Built to honor the Goddess Athena for salvation of Athens.

Mycenaean Culture

City of Mycenae

• One of several forified cities on the mainland of Greece.
• Flourishing by 1500 BCE.
• Have come to be called Mycenaean.

Mycenaean Culture

Kings

• Controlled their own cities and surrounding countryside.

Mycenaean Culture

Merchants, Farmers, and Artisans

• Owed their prosperity to the king.
• Paid high taxes for the privilege of living under his protection.

Mycenaean Culture

Tax Collectors, Civil Servants, and Military Personnel

• A large bureaucracy that ensured the state's continued prosperity.

Mycenaean Culture

The Palace

• Located at Knossos.
• Abandoned by the Minoans in about 1400 BCE.

Mycenaean Culture

People

• Warriors from the mainland culture of Mycenae quickly occupied Crete when the Minoans abandoned the palace at Knossos in about 1450 BCE.
• Lived inside fortified hilltops.
• Battle and Hunting scenes dominated their arts.
• Lived and died by the sword.

• Also known as Jupiter.
• Was the king of the Greek gods.
• Master of the sky for Greeks.

Zeus

Tradmarks

• Usually bearded.
• Associated with the eagle and thunderbolts.

Zeus

Origins

• Each polis traced its origins to a particular god, Zeus stood for Sparta like Athena for Athens.
• Greeks believed their gods ruled over Greece completely in human fashion and there was nothing special about them except for their power, which was enormous and frightening.

• Also known as Minerva.
• Greek goddess of war.
• Through her association with Athens, she was also the goddess of civilization.

Athena

Family

• Daughter of Zeus.
• Born from his head.

Athena

Trademarks

• Often depicted helmeted wiht a shield and spear in her hand.
• The owl is a symbol of wisdom and sacred to her.
• The olive tree is a symbol of peace and sacred to her.

Athena

Origins

• Greeks believed that she is the founding god for the polis Athens.
• The monumental temple Parthenon was reconstructed in Acropolis in thanks to her for the salvation of Athens an Greece in the Persian Wars.

• Classical Greek architecture.
• Composed of 3 vertical elements which comprised its elevation.
  1. The Platform
  2. The Columns
  3. The Entablature
• The relationship of these 3 units is referred to as the elevation's order.
• Greeks developed 3 different orders.
  1. Doric Order
  2. Ionic Order
  3. Corinthian Order

Doric Order

Time Period

• Developed by the end of the 6th century BCE.

Doric Order

Description

• Architrave - The bottom layer of the entablature.
• Frieze - The flat band just above the architrave decorated with sculpture, paintings, or moldings.
• Both of the above are comparatively massive than the other two orders.
• Columns are simple but sturdy with no base.

Doric Order

Popular Architectures

• Temple of Hera I in Italy, ca. 560 BCE.
• Parthenon in Acropolis, Athens, ca. 447-438 BCE.

Ionic Order

Time Period

• Developed by the 6th century BCE.

Ionic Order

Description

• Compared to Doric, it is:
  1. Noticeably smaller
  2. Lighter in proportion
  3. More elegant in detail.
• Have a base in their columns in the platform.
• Capital is characterized by a scroll-like motif called a volute.

Ionic Order

Popular Architectures

• Temple of Athena Nike in Acropolis, Athens, ca. 425 BCE.
• Naxian sphinx is sculptured in Delphi, ca. 560 BCE.

Corinthian Order

Time Period

• Originated in the last half of the 5th century BCE.

Corinthian Order

Description

• Most elaborate of the 3 orders.
• Lighter in size than Doric and Ionic order.
• Destinguished by flowery burst of acanthus leaves.
• Became the favorite of the Romans.

Corinthian Order

Popular Architectures

• Temple of Asklepios, Epidaurus.

• Means "Young Man" in Greek.
• The male body was celebrated in this widespread genre.
• Greek athletes performed nude.
• Physically fit male:
  - Won accolades in athletic contests.
  - Represented the conditioning adn strength of the military forces of a particular polis.
• Celebration of body is uniquely Greek.

Kouros

 Time Period

• 6th century BCE
• Over 20,000 kouroi have been carved during this century.

Kouros

Description

• Could be found in sanctuaries and cemeteries.
• Served as votive offering to the gods.
• Commemorative grave markers.
• Resolute features suggest determination in their role as ever-watchful guardians.
• Natural form of human body represents increased naturalism in Greek sculpture.

Kouros

Popular Architectures

• New York Kouros, ca. 600 BCE
  - Earliest known life-size standing sculpture of a male in Greek art.

• Sculptural renderings of korai or "maidens" in Greek.
• Increasing naturalism in these scultures is similar to that of the Kouros.

Kore

Time Period

• 6th century BCE

Kore

Description

• Votive offering and gift to Athena.
• Male citizens of Greece dedicated korai to the goddess as a gesture of piety and pleasure.
• Trend toward naturalism is obvious in their dress.
• Anatomical realism is suppressed by the straight lines of the sturdy garment known as a peplos in teh sculpture known as the Peplos kore.

Kore

Popular Architecture

• Peplos kore
• Kore dated 520 BCE, found on Chios.
  - Whore a chiton, a linen that clings more closely to the body and is gathered to create pleats and folds which allowed the artist to show off his virtuosity.

• Started 447 BCE
• Ended 432 BCE
• Total of 15 years construction.
• Built during the rebuilding of Acropolis by Pericles after the Persians destroyed the polis in 480 BCE.

Parthenon

Description

• The temple measures 228' x 101' on the top step.
• Built to give thanks to Athena for the salvation of the Athens and Greece in the Persian wars.
• Tangible sign of power and might of the Athenian state.
• Designed to impress all who visited the city.
• Built on the foundations and platforms of an earlier structure.
• Architects Ictinus and Callicrates intended it to represent the Doric order in its most perfect form.
• Has 8 columns at the the ends and 17 on the sides.
• It remained almost wholly intact until 1687, when the Venetians exploded a Turkish powder magazine housed in it.

• Also known as the Golden Section.
• Greeks believed it was the most beautiful of all proportions.

Golden Rectangle

Specifics

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• Represents a ratio of (approx.) 8.5, or more precisely, 1.618:1.
• Any length can be devided into two parts a and b such that the whole lenght a+b is proportional to a and a is to b.
• Greek affinity for geometry recognized that a rectangle with these proportions could be divided and subdivided into identical sections or golden rectangles.

Golden Rectangle

Description

• Parthenon east and west facades are golden rectangles.
• Mathematical regularity of the temple was suited for the worship of goddess Athena, who is not only goddess of war but also wisdom, or rationality.

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Height 15¾".

Made of marble.

The artist was a Greek from Cyclades which is a group of more than 100 islands in the Aegean Sea between mainland of Greece and the island of Crete. The function of these figures remains unknown, but some scholars suggest that they were used for home worship and buried with their owner.

Figurine of a woman, Cyclades, ca. 2500 BCE.

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Limestone relief, panel approx. 9’ 6” high.

Built by sculptors from Mycenaean culture. Its walls-20ft. thick and 50ft. high were built from huge blocks of rough-hewn stone, in a technique called Cyclopean Masonry because it was believed by later Greeks that only a race of monsters known as Cyclopes could have managed them.

Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, ca. 1300 BCE.

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Made in Gold with height of 3½".

The artist was from Minoan culture. The bull motif in the cup was classically Minoan. It was executed in repousse, a technique in which the artist hammers out the design from the inside.

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Black figure decoration on Ceramic with height of 11^9/16" and diameter 9½". 

The artist belongs to Greek culture. It is a Greek jar used for storing oil or wine. The paintings consists of  two warriors, one armed with a sword, the other with a spear, confront one another with unwavering determination and purpose which illustrates the narration of poet Homer in his poems.

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The sculptors belong to the Greek culture. This order, which was developed by the 6^th century BCE,the architrave and the frieze decorated with sculpture, painting, or moldings, are comparatively massive than other orders. It also consists of the heaviest of columns with no base.

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The sculptors belongs to the Greek culture. By the 6^th century BCE, the Greeks had developed this order along with Doric but this order has a base for its columns and the capital is more elegant, with a scroll like motif called Volute.

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The sculptors belong to the Greek culture. By the last half of the 5^th century BCE, this was the last order that the Greeks had developed. This order is lighter than Doric and Ionic orders but it has the most elaborate capital, distinguished by its flowery burst of acanthus leaves.

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The sculptors are the Greeks from Athens. After the Persians destroyed Athens in 479 BCE, this polis had to be rebuilt.  This afforded the Athenians a unique opportunity to create one of the greatest monumental spaces in the history of Western architecture. Parthenon is the most famous monument in this polis.

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Height 6’ 4”.

The sculptor belongs to the Greek culture. The Greek athletes performed nude. The male body was celebrated in a widespread genre of sculpture which they named Kouros, meaning “young man”. This sculpture is the earliest known life-size standing sculpture of a male in Greek art.

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Built by Athenians from Athens, Greece. This was renowned for its democratic design. Not only was every viewer equally well situated, but the acoustics of the space were unparalleled.  A person sitting on the very top could hear a pin drop on the orchestra floor.

Frieze

Description

• Related to classical Greek orders.
• The flat band just above the architrave in the entablature.
• Decorated with sculptures, painting, or moldings.