This drama was the Abydos passion play, involving the story of Osiris (Robinson, 2002). Most of the first recorded examples of theatre come to us from Ancient Greece. Ancient Grecians had four festivals honoring gods, which were scheduled around the seasons. City Dionysia, a festival honoring the god, Dionysus, was the only festival to have performances. These performances were part of a contest, with the best playwrights/plays winning a prize.
Carlos Sambrano Greek Architecture Greek architecture changed and influenced a lot of the architecture of today. The ancient Classical eras of Greece were undoubtedly one of the most beautiful, having left behind ideas, concepts, and art that created the foundation of what we call “western civilization”. However, the two previous millennia that lead to these ancient eras, as well as the other two millennia that succeeded them are all part of the history of Greece and have left just as rich a cultural footprint. Doric The Doric style is sturdy and its top is plain. This style was mostly used in mainland Greece and in southern Italy and Sicily.
We do have plays for the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth, and we have plays just for our entertainment suck as Romeo and Juliet. The Greek theatre history began with festivals honoring their gods. A god, Dionysus, was honored with a festival called by "City Dionysia". In Athens, during this festival, men used to perform songs to welcome Dionysus. Plays were only presented at City Dionysia festival.
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.
These aspects of their culture were vital to their identity. New styles of art showed up all over Greece due primarily to Athens’ influence. The theater was one area where Athenians were particularly superior. This was due in part to their famous festivals for the God, Dionysus, the most well-known being the Dionysia. Aeschylus was one dramatist who was revolutionary in these festivals; even to this day we utilize his works.
Architecture/Art Homer wrote of a Gorgon shield (Iliad 11.32-37), ‘a thing of splendour’ belonging to the Greek hero Agamemnon. Gorgon shields have been found in Greek art, an example of which is held in the Museo Archaeologico in Syracuse (DVD1, section 2, track 2). The earliest example of Gorgon shield found has been from the seventh century BC. Whether this is an example of Homer’s work inspiring others or whether Homer himself was inspired by older artefacts that did not survive into the present day is irrelevant. That figures from Greek mythology were still being represented artistically in Homer’s time shows that the people still respected the tales after centuries had gone by.
Over time, civilizations tend to evolve and change for the better. Over many centuries, many nations and empires have risen and fallen. Two of these ancient civilizations were Mesopotamia and Greece. In Mesopotamia, there was a city called Babylon which lived under the laws of the Code of Hammurabi, written in 1780 B.C. In Athens, Greece, Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who wrote a book called Politics, describing the laws and the type of government the people of Athens lived under in 350 B.C.
The Greek Olympics The Greeks held many events and festivals in honor if their gods. One of the most significant and famous festivals were the athletic, or the sports festivals. There were three types of festivals in Greece; the Isthmos games which were staged every two years at the Isthmos of Corinth, the Pythian Games took place every four years near Delphi and the most famous games which were held at Olympia. The Olympic Games began over 2700 years ago in Olympia, a valley near a city called Elis, which is in the southwest of Greece. The games were part of a religious festival.
The Ancient Greeks continue to influence our lives today in three prominent ways: architecture, politics, and medicine. In present day, Western architecture owes a heavy debt to the classical styles of Ancient Greece. Ancient Greeks started building temples of worship to their gods at about 600 B.C. One defining feature in these temples was the distinctive column styles known as Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. These can be most easily defined and identified by each column’s capital.
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.