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13a. The Golden Age of Greece

The Golden Age of Greece

Archaic to Classical Greece. The Persian Wars. TheRise of Athens

Archaic Greece (750500 B.C.) Remember that Homer bridged the Dark Age (1100750 B.C.) andthe Archaic Period (700500 B.C.)

This is the period of Old Greece (the meaning of archaic), mostlybecause later scholars see the next period, the Classical Period500404 B.C. , as bein the one that witnessed the reatest cultural

and political achievements Nevertheless, this period saw great advances

It witnessed some of the fundamental developments in Greek cultureand civilization

Renewed trade brought prosperity and new ideas to the Greekcommunities scattered throughout the Aegean

the fundamental political unit, the polisor city-state, developed andwitnessed a political evolution that eventually led to the developmentof democracy

Above all it was a period of artistic and intellectual innovation,including in the new genre of tragedy (see lecture 12b)

Greek colonization spread Greek culture throughout the Black Seaand Mediterranean

At the end of this period, Greece was threatened by Persia, the greatempire to the east.

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Most colonies were

fully independent city-states, but theyretained religious,

Greek Colonization

,with their mother cities

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Kourosfrom Attica, c.615-590 B.C.


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Examples ofKore

Peplos Kore, c. 530 B.C2/3/2010 513a. The Golden Age of Greece

Parts of a Doric Temple


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Temple Parts Named[ClCv 201 not responsibly for terms]

columns in antis

Pronaos(front porch)

Naos(sanctuary)

Adytum(extra back room) Opisthodomus

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stylobate


Temple of Neptune (actually of Hera) at Paestum


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Temple of Aphaia in Aigina


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Pedimental Sculpture from the Temple of Aphaia

(archaic style)


Fallen Warrior from the pediment of the Temple of

Aphaia, developed Archaic (moving towards Classical!)


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Overview of the Persian Wars I Earlier the Persians had

conquered the Greekcities Ionia (the westerncoast of what is nowTurkey)

In 490 B.C., a Persianforce landed atMarathon in Greece-proper to attack Athens

Miraculously, Athensdefeated the invaders

In 480 B.C., a muchlarger Persian forcebegan a general

Marathon

Thermopylae

invasion of Greece

After a holding action at

Thermopylae failed,the Persian force wasdestroyed at Salamis

Salamis


Overview of the Persian Wars II An alliance of Greeks, led

by Sparta assisted byAthens, drove the

ers ans out o reece-proper

In 479 B.C. the Greekspursued the Persians toAsia Minor and defeatedthem at Mykale

The Greek cities of Ioniawere freed from Persia

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Herodotus account endedwith the Atheniansbesieging a Persianstronghold at Sestos


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Classical Greece (Fifth Century B.C.)

After the Persian Wars, Greece entered its Golden Age,usuall known as the Classical Period

This is the period of the greatest achievements in the areas ofarchitecture, art, literature, and politics (although some fields,like intellectual history/philosophy flowered later)

These works became the standards or classics not only for the

Greeks but much of remaining history of Western Civilization


Aftermath of the Persian Wars:Continued need for a Greek alliance

After the defeat of the Persian Empire in 479 B.C., Greek citiesin the Aegean and on the Ionian coast of Asia Minor (modern

Sparta, previously the strongest state, was unacceptable as aleader Militaristic and authoritarian, her she was a land power and

primarily interested in protecting her position in Greece-proper Not as concerned about Ionia or areas to the east

At a meeting on the island of Delos, Athens organized themaritime states into an alliance

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,keeping the sea lanes open and expanding her influence inthe Aegean

The rise of two rival alliances: the Peloponnesian League and theDelian League (or Athenian Empire)


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AthenianEmpire(purple) andSparta &

allies (pink)


[High Classical Style]For interest only

Increased naturalism even as a reater idealism is erfected

(the opposite of naturalism is formalism, not idealism; Greekssaw a godly figure as the ideal natural form)

Refined figures at rest

Figures in action freeze action to show motion in staticmedium

Polykleitos canon sets ideal proportions (foot 1/10 of height,etc.

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more relaxed contrapposto

defined musculature


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Riace Warrior, c. 460-450 B.C. Striding God c. 460-450 B.C.


Diskobolos, orthe discus throwerMyron, c. 450 B.C.

Roman marble copy of Myrons

bronze original


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Doyphoros or Spear BearerRoman copy of a bronze original byPolykleitos, c. 440 B.C.

to illustrate a treatise (now lost) written byPolykleitos called the Kanon, which setout to codify his theory of proportions

Each limb bears a numerical relationship to

the overall measurements of the figure

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,commensurability (proportionality) of parts

Achieved a balance of straight and bent,tense and relaxed that marks it as an idealexample of contrapposto


Panathenaic Procession

entering the Acropolis(artists rendition left with real shot

below)


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13 Th G ld A f G

The Parthenon

Pericles used league fundsto rebuild the main temple toAthena on the Athenian

Ictinus and Callicrates,architects

Refinements for apparentperfection

entasis: columns bulge orswell in the middle


no straight lines, no truehorizontal, no realperpendicular (stylobatebows in middle)

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13a - Golden Age[1]