ANCIENT GREECEGARDNER CHAPTER 5-8

PP. 145-154

HELLENISTIC

PERIOD Alexander’s conquest of the Near

East and Egypt ushers in a new cultural age called the HELLENISTIC PERIOD

Begins with the death of Alexander in 323 BCE and ends with the double suicide of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra -> they were defeated by Augustus at the Battle of Actium

Cultural centers were the court cities of the Greek kings who succeeded Alexander

1. Antioch in Syria

2. Alexandria in Egypt

3. Pergamon in Asia Minor

320-30 BCE

Athena battling Alkyoneos, detail from gigantomachy frieze from the Altar of Zeus, Pergamon, 175 BCE, 7’6” high

HELLENISTIC ARCHITECTURE

Variety, complexity and sophistication of Hellenistic culture

Architecture on an imperial scale and wide diversity -> the wealth of the East

Center of culture shifts from the Greek mainland to the wealthy lavish cities of the Hellenistic monarchs in the East

Pergamon in Asia Minor – Altar of Zeus at center right

TEMPLE OF APOLLO, DIDYMA Great scale, theatrical element of

surprise, and willingness to break the canonical rules of temple design = the Temple of Apollo at Didyma 313 BCE

DIPTERAL PLAN = double colonnade

10 huge Ionic columns on facades, 21 columns on sides

No pediment or roof -> open to the sky -> colonnade was a frame for courtyard -> in courtyard was a small shrine w/ statue of Apollo

Complex interior spatial planning = new

HIPPODAMOS OF MILETOS Hippodamus of Miletus = the father

of rational city planning

Strict grid plan imposed on city site regardless of terrain -> all streets meet at right angles = ORTHOGONAL PLAN

Hippodamian plan also designated separate quarters/part of the city for public, private, religious functions

Logically and regularly planned cities

4th century city of Priene in Asia Minor

STOA OF ATTALOS, ATHENS

AGORA = open square or space used for public meetings or business

STOA = a covered colonnade or portico -> often housed shops and civic offices -> staples of Hellenistic cities

Finest of the new Athenian stoas was the Stoa of Attalos -> 2 stories, 21 shops opening onto the colonnade -> façade columns are Doric on ground level and Ionic on 2nd story -> columns more widely spaced for easy access

PERGAMON One of the most significant

Helllenistic cities -> the kingdom controlled most of western and southern Asia Minor

Bequeathed to Rome in 133 BCE

Immensely wealthy -> vast sums spent on the capital city and its acropolis

GALLIC CHIEFTAIN KILLING HIMSELF AND HIS WIFE, Roman marble copy of bronze original, 230-220 BCE, 6’11”, from Pergamon

ALTAR OF ZEUS,

PERGAMON

The most famous Hellenistic sculptural ensemble, 175 BCE

Altar was an elevated platform, framed by Ionic stoalike colonnaded with projecting wings on either side of broad staircase

All around the platform was a larger than life sculpted 400 ft long frieze -> gigantomachy

The frieze = violent movement, swirling draperies, vivid scenes of death and suffering

DYING GAULS

Dying Gaul, Roman marble copy of bronze original 230-220 BCE, 3’ ½” high

Victory of Pergamon over the Gauls -> barbarians shown w/bushy hair, mustaches, neck bands

Gallic trumpeter collapsed on his shield -> stares at the ground in pain -> recalls the dying warrior from east pediment of Temple of Aphaia at Aegina

Enemy is presented as a noble and savage foe who fights to the end

NIKE OF

SAMOTHRACE Nike alighting on a warship, from

Samothrace, Greece, 190 BCE, marble, 8’1” high

Nike is crowning the naval victor -> right arm held crown

Wings still beating, wind sweeps her drapery

Statue was part of a two-tiered fountain with war galley and nike in upper portion, large boulders in lower portion, flowing water created sound and drama

VENUS DE MILO

In Hellenistic period sculptors undressed Aphrodite and explored the eroticism of the nude female form

Larger than life marble statue of Aphrodite found on Melos, 150-125 BCE, 6’7” high

More overtly sexual than the Knidian Aphrodite -> slipping garment teases the spectator

BARBERINI

FAUN Sleeping Satyr (Barberini Faun),

230-200 BCE, marble, 7’1” high

Archaic statues smile, Classical statues look away, Hellenistic statues often portray sleep -> fantasy and dreams -> the antithesis of Classical ideal of rationality and discipline

Satyr has consumed too much wine -> thrown down panther skin on a convenient rock -> fallen into a drunken, restless sleep

Blatantly sexual -> spread legs focus attention on the genitals

DEFEATED BOXER

Seated boxer, from Rome, ca. 100-50 BCE, bronze, 4’2”

Hellenistic art treated traditional themes but in novel/new ways -> Greek athlete -> but not a young victorious athlete w/ a perfect face and body

Older, defeated boxer w/a broken nose and battered ears

Compare the Hellenistic boxer to the Early Classical Riace warrior -> appeals to the emotions and compassion not the intellect

OLD MARKET WOMAN

Old market woman, ca. 150-100 BCE, marble, 4’ ½ “ high

Classical period = idealism

Hellenistic period = this statue = realism

Many Hellenistic statues portray old men and women from the bottom on the social order

Haggard old woman -> bringing chickens, fruits, vegetables to sell at the market -> wrinkled, bent with age, broken spirit and lifetime of poverty

New interest in social realism -> the poor, foreigners

DEMOSTHENES

Demosthenes by Polyeuktos, Roman marble copy of bronze original, ca. 280 BCE, 6’7” high

Growing interest in the production of true likenesses of specific persons

Hellenistic art = redefinition of portraiture -> record actual appearance and capture the essence of their personalities

Demosthenes -> Athenian statesman -> frail man -> great courage and conviction -> tried to rally opposition to Macedonian imperialism

Aged, slightly stooped body, deep in thought, lined face, receding hair, expression of sadness

HELLENISTIC ART UNDER ROMAN PATRONAGE

Beginning of the 2nd century the Romans defeat the Macedonians and “free” Greece

Greece becomes a Roman province in 146 BCE

In the 80’s Athen’s sides with an enemy of Rome -> Roman general Sulla crushes the Athenians

Greeks artist will continue to be in great demand to furnish Romans w/endless copies of Classical and Hellenistic masterpieces -> and create new statues A LA GRECQUE = in the Greek style

Lucius Cornelius Sulla

LAOCOON

Laocoon and his sons, from Rome, early 1st century, marble, 7’10” high

Depicts the Trojan priest Laocoon and his son being strangled by sea serpents in punishment for trying to warn the Trojans about bringing the the Greek’s wooden horse into the city

The 3 Trojan writhe in pain as they struggle to free themselves from the death grip of the serpents

Akin to images of the great frieze on the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon

SPERLONGA

Head of Odysseus, from Sperlonga, Italy, early 1st century CE, marble, 2’ 1 ¼ “ high

This emotional depiction of the hero was part of a mythological statuary group that was made by the Laocoon sculptors for the grotto at emperor Tiberius’s seaside villa at Sperlonga

Rome adopts and becomes heir to the Greek artistic legacy -> and passes it on to the medieval and modern world