In most Greek city-states the most powerful individual was the high priest or priestess of the city’s patron deity. Great temples were built in every city to honor the gods and offer sacrifices. These temples were usually built on the acropolis, or highest place in the city, to denote the gods’ position above man. This also served as a place to retreat to in case of attack, providing both the high ground for physical safety and the protection of the gods (“Acropolis,” n.d., para. 1).
Some of the comparitive areas of Egyptian and Greek cultures include sculptures, pottery making, and various architectural designs. One of the main cultural relics for both Egyptian and Greek civilzation was no other than sculptures. Example of Greek sculpture is Athena Giustiniani Musei Capitolini, it is completely done in white marble depicting one of the gods of ancient Greek Mythology. She is wearling a robe and a metal helm while holding up a torch like item in her right hand. The feeling one while looking upon Athena is very cold and a little frighting.
The Greeks believed that intellect is superior to forces of nature, while the Romans wanted their architecture to dominate the sites. A third similarity was their ability to be innovative during their time periods. Along with their innovations when it came to their temples, the Greeks also had the ability to create very life-like and dynamic sculptures, something that the Romans constantly struggled with during their time. Because of this, a lot of their sculptures were just replicas of Greek sculptures with small adaptations and changes occurring. One of the most innovative steps that the Romans took with their
The architecture of ancient Greece is represented by buildings in the sanctuaries and cities of mainland Greece, the Aegean islands, southern Italy and Sicily, and the Ionian coast of Turkey. Monumental Greek architecture began in the archaic period, flourished through the classical and Hellenistic periods, and saw the first of many revivals during the Roman Empire. The roots of Greek architecture lie in the tradition of local Bronze Age house and palaces. The following paper will cover the basic forms of Greek architecture. One of the many types of Greek building structures was Sacred Architecture.
Because of pottery’s durability, it comprises a large part of the archaeological record of the Ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it, it has exerted a large influence on the understanding of Greek society. Each period has its own style of decorations. Although, Greek pottery was used to explain myths and legends, it also had many other uses. Greek pottery is famed for its range of uses, from large storage containers for oil and grain to small pots meant to hold perfumes to vessels used strictly for ceremonial purposes, as much as for the range of motifs, patterns and painting techniques utilized, or used, by Greek artisans. As you can see, there are many uses for Greek pottery.
Sculptures were fluid and expressive and often monumental in scale. For example, the Battle of the Gods and the Giants, known as gigantomachy, the subject of the revolt of the giants-the Titans of Greek mythology-against the gods was popular in the Hellenistic artists. The style of this work- its action, violence, display of emotion, and windblown drapery-also defines this style. With my choices
C. M. Bowra says of Greek influence on contemporary society: “the modern world is far too deeply indebted to Greece to accept in unthinking ingratitude what it has inherited”. Similarly, Hadas notes that at the dawn of Roman civilization “ancient cities already had a layer of Greek culture. On this Rome superimposed imperial buildings...Augustus boasted of restoring 82 temples” These two extracts show us just how pivotal ancient Greek architecture, particularly temples, was at the time and continues to be to this day. It speaks of the restoration projects the Romans undertook to resuscitate decrepit Greek temples, and whilst the new temples “shared many basic characteristics with Greek architecture... it tended to be ornate and elaborate overall”. The Romans moved away from the simple, ordered and comparatively humble style of Greek temples and created more lavish, grandiose buildings, made possible by engineering developments such as concrete, arches, vaults and domes, to emulate the epicurean taste, vast wealth and power of the Empire.
Columns and the Parthenon The Greek life was dominated by religion and so the religious temples of ancient Greece were some of the biggest and most beautiful examples of their art and architecture. They were also used to show civic power and pride. The architectural system was divided into three groups, or orders, each with a different detailing. The three Greek orders are: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, with Corinthian being the most decorated. Doric columns were sturdy and the tops were plain.
“The Greek God’s and Goddesses, though immortal, behaved in very human ways” (Davies, 82)2. Some major God’s and Goddesses of Greek culture were “Zeus, the God of sky and weather; Hera, Zeus’ sister and wife; Poseidon, the God of the sea; Hades, the God of the underworld; and Persephone, Hade’s queen” (Davies, 82)3. The Greek God’s and Goddesses were incorporated into Greek art forms to create idealized human being’s to symbolize the strength of the God’s. These God’s represented power, authority, strength and greatness. Through the six period’s of Greek Art, the art work progressively becomes less Archaic, “rigidly frontal and conceived as four distinct sides, reflecting the form of the block from which they were carved” (Davies, 85)4; to a contrapposto stance, “a balanced asymmetry of this reflected stance…to represent movement with a new naturalism”
Although, the Doric style was mainly used in mainland Greece and the Ionic style was used in the Islands and colonies to the east. The main structure of the temple was built by either marmaros (marble) or poros (limestone), the roof was made with marmaros or terracotta tiles. The temples could be decorated by carving figures into the stone, either on the columns or around the edges of the temple. Slabs at the top of the temple were carved in relief (the figures stood out from the surface of the stone). There were often little statues on top of the roof, sometimes flowers or figures.