Hellenic Greece is the ancient civilization of Hellas in what is encircled mainland Greece with nearby islands in the Aegean Sea, the western coast of Turkey (known as Ionia), southern Italy and Sicily (known as Magna Graecia), and by the late 300s B.C., Egypt, Syria, and other Near Eastern lands.
Greek art and architecture has lasting influence with its simplicity and reasonableness on the history of Western civilization and art. Greeks stated many of permanent themes, attitudes, and forms of Western culture. Greek artists first established mimesis (imitation of nature) as a main principle for art. The nude human figure in Greek art reflects a belief that "Man is the measure of all things". Another Greek legacy that the West has inherited is architecture. Many of the structural elements, decorative motifs, and building types that were established in Ancient Greece are still used in architecture today.
The roots of Greek culture lie in Mycenaean culture. Mycenaeans built simple houses of a type that the Greeks continued to build long after. And Mycenaean workshops established a tradition of painted pottery that continued without interruption, though with great changes, into later periods. In short, much of Mycenaean culture carried over into later Greek society.After the collapse of Mycenae around 1100 BC, the Greek cities fell into decline and this was followed by a period of wars and invasions, known as the Dark Ages.
The Dark Ages
(1100 - 750 B.C.)
This is known as the period between the fall of the Mycenean civilization and the readoption of writing in the eighth or seventh century B.C. After the Trojan Wars the Mycenaeans went through a period of civil war and invasions. Greece entered a period of relative impoverishment, depopulation, and cultural isolation. The art of writing was lost for most of that period. The country was weak and a tribe called the Dorians invaded from the north and spread down the west coast.
During the Dark Age, Greeks settled Ionia. Artisans in Athens produced an abstract style of painted pottery called protogeometric (meaning "first geometric"). The precision of the painting on this pottery foretell the character of later Greek art. Around 800 B.C., the Hellenic civilization began to arise. The last 2 centuries of the Dark Age, are called the Geometric period. That refers to a primarily abstract style of pottery decoration of the time. The Greeks probably adapted Phoenician alphabet at the same time, (around 800 B.C).
During most of its ancient history, Greece was a disunited land of scattered city-states, and wars between the city-states probably first occurred by the end of the 8th century B.C. The 8th century also saw Greek expansion into southern Italy and Sicily, where city-states from the Greek mainland established their first colonies.
(750-500 B.C.)
The period from 750 B.C. to 480 B.C. is called the archaic period. After about 750 B.C. ancient Greek artists increasingly came into contact with ideas and styles from outside of Greece. In the seventh and sixth centuries many cities came to be ruled as democracies. The best known of these is the Athenian democracy. Greek colonization of Southern Italy and Sicily begins.
By 6th century B.C. the Greek world presents a picture in many respects different from that of the Homeric Age. This is the period when monumental stone sculpture, vase painting and other developments began to reflect Greek ideas. Monumental building programs became part of the competition, as each community attempted to establish itself as culturally superior. In this period, kouros and kore statues were created. These stylized figures of young men and maidens express the birth of a specifically Greek artistic obsession - the idealization of the human figure. The art of vase painting reached a level of artistic and technical excellence.
A threat to Greece developed in the East. Persia expanded into Ionia and to the rim of the Aegean Sea. The Persian Wars, between Persia and Greece, broke out in the early 5th century, and ended in victory for Athens and the Greeks.
(480-338 B.C.)
Classical period of ancient Greek history is fixed between 480 B.C., when the Greeks began to come into conflict with the kingdom of Persia to the east and 338 B.C., when Philip II of Macedonia with son Alexander defeated the Greeks.
Athens established an empire of its own after the Persian Wars, and rivalry between Athens and the city-state of Sparta dominated the history of 5th-century Greece. The period of classical art began in Greece about the middle of the 5th century BC. By that time, many of the problems that faced artists in the early archaic period had been solved.
Greek sculptors had learned to represent the human body naturally and easily, in action or at rest. They were portraying gods and their best sculptures achieved almost godlike perfection in their calm, ordered beauty.
The works of the great Greek painters have disappeared completely, and we know only what ancient writers tell us about them. Fortunately we have many examples of Greek vases, preserved in tombs or uncovered by archaeologists in other sites. The decorations on these vases give us some idea of Greek painting. They are examples of the wonderful feeling for form and line that made the Greeks supreme in the field of sculpture.
From 334 to 323 B.C., Alexander the Great extended his father's empire into Asia Minor (now Turkey), Syria, Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan, and as far as India. Hellenic civilization reached the peak of its power during the 5th century BC.
The usual periodization practiced is to see the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC as distinguishing the Hellenic period from the Hellenistic. This represents the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance of the city-state to that of larger monarchies.
The empire of Alexander the Great did not survive his death in 323. After he died, empire was divided into a number of Hellenistic ('Greek-like') kingdoms. In the 2nd century B.C. Rome began to exert its influence. The Hellenistic period ended in 31 B.C., when Rome defeated Egypt, the last of the Hellenistic kingdoms.
In the Hellenistic art people sought to portray the inner emotions and details of everyday life instead of the heroic beauty. The style changed from godlike serenity to individual emotion and from the dramatic to melodramatic pathos, using dramatic poses and theatrical contrasts of light and shade playing over figures in high reliefs. One characteristic of these sculptures was that they showed extreme expressions of pain, stress, wild anger, fear, and despair. The first Theaters were built in the Hellenistic Period. Corinthian columns began to be more common in this period.
Cycladic culture - Early Bronze Age (About 3000-2200 B.C.)
The Cycladic civilization of the Aegean Sea flourished at about the same time as the early Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. That is considered the forerunner of the first truly European civilization - Greece.
On the mainland their villages have been small independent units, often protected by thick walls. Over time, the buildings on Crete and in the Cyclads became more complex.Cycladic culture developed pottery, often decorated with rectangular, circular, or spiral designs. They also produced silver jewelry. The sculpture produced there was very unique compared to the art being produced by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. These sculptures, commonly called Cycladic idols, were often used as grave offerings. Characteristic of that sculpture is that all were made of Parian marble, with its geometric, two-dimensional nature, which has a strangely modern familiarity. The Cycladic artists made obvious attempts to represent the human form. Therefore, Cycladic sculpture can safely be called the first truly great sculpture in Greece.
Minoan Culture - Middle Bronze Age (About 2200-1800 B.C.)
Newcomers arrived in the Cyclades and on the mainland and caused destruction. For about two centuries civilization was disrupted. New pottery and the introduction of horses at this time indicate that the invaders were of the Indo-European language family.
Minoan culture developed on Crete, in the 2nd millennium B.C. Impressive buildings, frescoes, vases, and early writing are evidence of that flourishing culture. Great royal palaces built around large courtyards were the focal points of these communities. The Minoan empire appears to have coordinated and defended the bronze-age trade. They maintained a marine empire, trading not only with the Cyclades and the mainland but also with Sicily, Egypt, and cities on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Minoan religion featured a female snake deity, whose worship involved the symbolism of fertility and the lunar and solar cycles.
Minoan art is unusual for the time. It is naturalistic, quite different from the stiff stereotypes of contemporary art elsewhere. The vibrant colors, smooth lines, and sense of nature make Minoan art a pleasure for eyes even today. Minoan artists broke away from the two-dimensional expression of figure and created three-dimensional figures. The frescoes are art of exceptional beauty and their fluidity makes the figures dynamic. The easy pleasure-loving lifestyle comes across in their art. The Minoan civilization rivaled that of Egypt. From Crete, this style spread to the Aegean. On the Greek mainland it was modified by geometric tendencies.
Minoan palaces: Knossos, Phaestos, Malia, Zakros.
Mycenaean culture - Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 B.C.)
It is believed that the Mycenaeans were responsible for the end of the Minoan culture with which they had many ties. This theory is supported by a switch on the island of Crete from the Cretan Linear A Script to the Mycenaean Linear B style script and by changes in ceramics styles and decoration. The styles on painted vases and weapons that depicted hunting and battle scenes are more formal and geometric than those of earlier examples, anticipating the art of classical Greece.
The architecture and art of Greek mainland was very different from the one of Crete. Mycenae and Tiryns were two major political and economic centers there at the time.
Cyclopean Architecture is the Mycenaean type of building walls and palaces. Palaces were built as large citadels made of piled up stones, as opposed to the openness of Minoan palaces. The citadel of Mycenae is an Acropolis - a citadel on raised area. The Lion Gate - entrance to the Acropolis of the city of Mycenae is an excellent example of this building practice combined with a corbelled arch - the triangular arch shape that the lions stand within.
Megaron is the fortress palace of the king at the center of a typical Mycenaean city. This is a characteristic form of Mycenaean palace found at many sites, including Troy. They are very symmetrical and its basic form is a forerunner of later Greek temple forms.
Tholos tombs are conical chambers with the subterranean burial chambers. The stonework of the tholos is very much influenced by Egyptian masonry techniques. There are 9 at Mycenae. There were found the gold death masks, weapons, and jewelry at the royal burial sites similar to Egyptian practice.
Mycenaean civilization mysteriously disappeared shortly after 1200 B.C. most likely, to widespread fighting among the Mycenaean Greeks.
Mycenaean cities: Mycenae, Tiryns, Troy
Early works
Although earlier civilizations are known, the first archaelogical finds of artistic importance are the superb ceramics from Susa and Persepolis (c.3500 B.C.). The choice of biological subjects, simplified into patterns, may be called the formative principle of Persian art. Much of 4th-millennium Iranian art is strongly influenced by that of Mesopotamia. The 3d-millennium art of Elam, found at Sialk and Susa, also follows Mesopotamian styles, and this trend is continued in the less well-known Elam and Urartu art of the 2d millennium.
Beginning at the end of the 2nd millennium to the middle of the 1st millennium a great florescence of bronze casting occurred along the southern Caspian mountain zone and in mountainous Lorestan. Probably dated 1200-700 B.C., harness trappings, horse bits, axes, and votive objects were made in large quantities and reflected a complex animal style created by combining parts of animals and fantastic creatures in various forms.
Achaemenian period (550-330 B.C.)
A unified style emerges. Luxurious works of decorative art were produced. The Achaemenids evolved a monumental style in which relief sculpture is used as an adjunct to massive architectural complexes. Remains of great palaces reveal plans that characteristically show great columned audience halls. The style as a whole and the feeling for space and scale are distinctive.
In the sculpture is shown ordered clarity and simplicity. Heraldic stylization is subtly combined with effects of realism. Typical are the low stone reliefs and friezes executed in molded and enameled brick, a technique of Babylonian-Assyrian origin. The great care lavished on every stone detail is also found in the fine gold and silver rhytons (drinking horns), bowls, jewelry, and other objects produced by this culture.
After the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.), there was turmoil in Iran until the rise of the Parthians (c.250 B.C.). Theirs is essentially a crude art, synthesizing Hellenistic motifs with Iranian forms.
Sassanian Period (A.D. 224 - 651)
Of far greater artistic importance is the the Sassanian art. Adapting and expanding previous styles and techniques, they rebuilt the Parthian capital at Ctesiphon. There a great palace with a huge barrel vault was constructed of rubble and brick. Sassanid architecture is decorated with carved stone or stucco reliefs and makes use of colorful stone mosaics.
Sassanian metalwork was highly developed, the most usual objects being shallow silver cups and large bronze ewers, engraved and worked in repoussé. The commonest themes were court scenes, hunters, animals, birds, and stylized plants. The largest collection of these vessels is in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. The Sassanids recorded their triumphs on immense outdoor rock reliefs scattered throughout Iran, often using the same sites that the Achaemenids had covered with reliefs and inscriptions.
This is the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which roughly comprises modern Iraq and part of Syria. The most ancient civilizations known to man first developed there writing, schools, libraries, written law codes, agriculture, irrigation, farming and moved us from prehistory to history. It's giving Mesopotamia the reputation of being the cradle of civilization. The name does not refer to any particular civilization using that name. It includs non-Semitic Sumerians, followed by the Semitic Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Over the course of 4000 years, the art of Mesopotamia reveals a tradition that appears, homogeneous in style and iconography.
Art became decorative, stylized and conventionalized at different times and places. Gods took on human forms and humans were combined with animals to make fantastic creatures. Large temples and imposing palaces dotted the landscape. History and poetry for the first time was recorded and set down to music. Lyres, pipes, harps and drums accompanied their songs and dances.
The soil of Mesopotamia yielded the civilization's major building material - mud brick. Stone was rare, and certain types had to be imported for sculpture. Variety of metals, as well as shells and precious stones, were used for the finest sculpture and inlays.
The history of Ancient Egypt, long more than 3000 years, is divided into 8 or 9 periods, sometimes called Kingdoms. The Ancient Egyptians themselves rather seem to have developed the notion of dynasties throughout their history. It developed along the river Nile, in Eastern Africa.
The importance of religion and the respect for death ruled their art. They built mostly temples, graves and adopted strict canons controlled by the priests. Our knowledge of Egyptian civilization rests almost entirely on them and their contents since they were built to endure forever. Conventions of ancient Egyptian believes and culture strongly affected the art. The Pharaoh (King) considered divine. Representation of the figure presented the most reflexive view of each part of the body. Preparation for the afterlife was of extreme importance. The body must be preserved if the soul or ka is to live on in the beyond in a same body. They built great tombs for their Pharaohs (kings), who were not only the supreme rulers but gods. Tombs contained everything the deceased might want or need in the afterlife and much of our knowledge of the culture comes from tomb paintings. After Pharaoh's death, his body was laid right in the centre of the huge mountain of stone, along with many weapons and food. Even his servants were buried to help him on his journey to the other world.
Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic Period (3500-3000 B.C.)
From about 5000 BC to 3000 BC, Egypt was not a unified nation and that time is known as the Pre-Dynastic period. Around 3000 BC, Upper and Lower Kingdom conjoined and lands along the Nile River were united under one ruler and the Dynastic period began.
The Old Kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.)
The old kingdom is an important period in political and cultural development of Ancient Egypt. Centuries of uninterrupted rise, established one of the most powerful cultures of the ancient world. During this period Hieroglyphic writing reached its sophistication. The techniques of crafts developed to a high professionalism. King Djoser, builder of the step pyramid at Saqqara, is the first and most celebrated king of the third dynasty. The works of Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus, the creators of the three pyramids at Giza represents the peak of achievements in the architectural field. A strong centralized government, as well as a divine kingship characterizes this period. Towards the end of the period, central authority disintegrated and the country fell into a state of rapid decline.
The Middle Kingdom (2050-1800 B.C.)
The middle kingdom started with the re-foundation of the Kingdom under single administration by Mentuhotep II. It was an epoch of restoration of the Egyptian culture. The kings of the following dynasties enlarged their control over the land, promoted the economic and political development. Egyptian trade flourished, and a developed irrigation system was re-established. Pyramid building was also revived, but much humbler then in the old kingdom. This rise was followed by the ultimate downfall and the country fell into the hands of foreign rulers.
The New Kingdom (1550-1080 B.C.)
During this period Egypt reached the zenith of its power. Egypt extended further south in Africa and into the Middle East under these rulers. Tutmosis III was among the pioneers in the military field. The degree of refinement of this age is clearly manifested in the architectural heritage. Under the rule of queen Hatshipsut, the artistic revival began. The reigning monarchs of this period showed a genuine interest in art and architecture. Khenaton, the heretic pharaoh, reached the peak of artistic innovations with his unique art style that accompanied his religious reformation.
Late Period (after 1080 B.C.)
The late period was a period of deterioration. Kingship suffered a decline in prestige, and the political and social systems were unstable. Egypt was now ruled from two separate capitals, one in the north and one in the south. Large foreign colonies developed and Egypt for the first time opened its borders to the foreigners who settled in the delta.
The Neolithic period, also called New Stone Age, began when men first developed agriculture and settled in permanent villages. It ended with the discovery of bronze. The prime medium of Neolithic art was pottery. Other important artistic expressions were statuary of the universally worshiped Mother Goddess and megalithic stone monuments.
Free standing sculpture had already begun by the Neolithic, the earliest being the anthropomorphic figurines, often embellished by animals from the very beginning of the Neolithic discovered in Nevali Cori and Göbekli Tepe near Urfa in eastern Turkey, dating to ca. 10th millennium BC. The mesolithic statues of Lepenski Vir at the Iron Gorge, Serbia and Montenegro date to the 7th millennium BC and represent either humans or mixtures of humans and fish.
In Central Europe, many Neolithic cultures, like Linearbandkeramic, Lengyel and Vinca, produced female (rarely male) and animal statues that can be called art. Whether the elaborate pottery decoration of, for example, the Želiesovce and painted Lengyel style are to be classified as art is a matter of definition.
Megalithic monuments are found in the Neolithic from Spain to the British Isles and Poland. They start in the 5th Millennium BC, though some authors speculate on Mesolithic roots. Because of frequent reuse, this is difficult to prove. While the most well-known of these is Stonehenge, were the main structures date from the early Bronze age, such monuments have been found throughout most of Western and Northern Europe, notably at Carnac, France, at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, in Portugal, and in Wiltshire, England, the area of Stonehenge, the Avebury circle, the tombs at West Kennet, and Woodhenge. One tomb found in New Grange, Ireland, has its entrance marked with a massive stone carved with a complex design of spirals. The tomb of Knowth has rock-cut ornaments as well. Many of these monuments were megalithic tombs, and archaeologists speculate that most have religious significance.
Paleolithic or "Old Stone Age" is a term used to define the oldest period in the human history. The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic - lit. old stone from the Greek paleos=old and lithos=stone. It began about 2 million years ago, from the use of first stone tools and ended of the Pleistocene epoch, with the close of the last ice age about 13,000 BC.
Subdivisions of the Paleolithic include the: Lower Paleolithic (Oldowan, Clactonian, Abbevillian, Acheulean), Middle Paleolithic, the time of the hand axe-industries (Mousterian) and Upper Paleolithic (Châtelperronian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, Gravettian, Magdalenian). The Paleolithic is followed by the Mesolithic or Epipaleolithic.
The Lower spans the time from around 4 million years ago when the first humans appear in the archaeological record, to around 120,000 years ago when important evolutionary and technological changes ushered in the Middle Palaeolithic.
In Europe and Africa the Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the period of the early Stone Age that lasted between around 120,000 and 40,000 years ago. It was the time when early humans gained increasing control over their surroundings and later saw the emergence of modern humans around 100,000 years ago. Stone tool manufacturing developed a more sophisticated tool making technique which permitted the creation of more controlled and consistent flakes. Hunting provided the primary food source but people also began to exploit shellfish and may have begun smoking and drying meat to preserve it. This would have required a mastery of fire and some sites indicate that plant resources were managed through selective burning of wide areas. Artistic expression emerged for the first time with ochre used as body paint and some early rock art appearing. There is also some evidence of purposeful burial of the dead which may indicate religious and ritual behaviors.
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 8,500 years ago. Modern humans, who had begun migrating out of Africa during the Middle Paleolithic period, began to produce regionally distinctive cultures during the Upper Paleolithic period. The earliest remains of organized settlements in the form of campsites, some with storage pits, are encountered in the archaeological record. Some sites may have been occupied year round though more generally they seem to have been used seasonally with peoples moving between them to exploit different food sources at different times of the year. Technological advances included significant developments in flint tool manufacturing with industries based on fine blades rather than cruder flakes. The reasons for these changes in human behavior have been attributed to the changes in climate during the period which encompasses a number of global temperature drops. Artistic work also blossomed with Venus figurines and exotic raw materials found far from their sources suggest emergent trading links.
Paleolithic Art, produced from about 32,000 to 11,000 years ago, falls into two main categories: Portable Pieces (small figurines or decorated objects carved out of bone, stone, or modeled in clay), and Cave Art.
