FREE ESSAY ON GREEK ART

GREEK ART

Greek Art
By Lizette 
There are three major categories of Greek sculpture: freestanding statues, architectural
sculpture, and nonarchitectural reliefs. The principal subjects of Greek sculpture are
gods, heroes of legend, and athletes, youths, or maidens intended to demonstrate ideals
of beauty. Whatever the subject, category, or material, the typical Greek sculpture was
basically spiritual in function. Most statues and reliefs were dedicated as offerings in
sanctuaries to please or thank divinities, or stood as markers over graves, while
architectural sculpture was carved essentially only for temples, treasuries, or tombs.
The determining phase of Greek sculpture closes with sculptures viewed principally from
the front. This frontal stance and an advanced left leg prevail in later larger statues
in Greece and so initiates the Archaic period. Although, this art phase contained various
little changes that had an overall effect, such as freedom of space between the arms and
torso, the "archaic smile", and on to ornate dressings on woman statuettes. 
The characteristics of Archaic sculpture began to define themselves after 675 BC; the
style in fact derives some of its elements from Egyptian models. The typical statue
depicts a frontal figure short, standing stiffly with a low forehead, face framed by
heavy triangular locks of hair.
The Archaic freestanding statues are certainly similar to Egyptian sarcophaguses and
cubic figures. The Female Figure and the Standing Youth can be matched up to Menkaure and
His Wife, Queen Khamerernebty from Egypt. One leg of the kouros, usually the left,
strides forward, while he holds his arms stiffly at his sides. The feet are blocked
shaped, the eyes are all round and bold, while the Greek kore and kouros have more
freedom between the torso and arms.
Then within the Archaic period a change occurs that leads it to the classical period.
From the Standing Youth of 600 BC, to the Kroisos from 525 BC, the shape of the body
becomes more natural and flowing. The cubic shape has disappeared with a more
proportioned body, and the edge at the femur bone is smoothened. Also in women statuettes
alterations are shown. Kore in Dorian Peplos figures carries a lightweight simple dress
as the Kore in Chios has elaborate jewelry placed on her. These two kore figures display
the geometric shaped hair as the earlier kore statue, but the later ones have longer
hair. 
The evolution of the Archaic kore figure is slightly different: Early sculptors
concentrated on the kore's clothing, showing folds in the cloth at first as regularly
incised lines and later as more varied and deeply cut. By the close of the Archaic
period, artists had begun to pay more attention to the shape of the body beneath the
folds and to render figures with greater individuality.
The first large-scale stone pediment in Greek sculpture decorated the Doric Temple of
Artemis on the island of Corfu. As in that of the Lioness Gate at Mycenae the carvings
are in high relief and hold decorative symbols to ward of evil. The Athenian Treasury at
Delphi, Battle of the Gods and the Giants, places layer upon layer, using undercutting as
the main skill. This can be recalled later in the Hellenic period in which the Great
Frieze of the Great Pergamum contains a scene named, Athena and Alcyoneus. The panoramic
sculptures are so definably cut that they seem unbound from the pediment.
Early Classical sculptors, unlike their Archaic predecessors, began to explore the inner
character and the emotions of their subjects. At the same time they began to create
statues that broke from the rigidity of the Archaic kouros by simulating a contrapposto.
The pose first appears in a marble figure known as the Kritios Boy (480 BC). In contrast
to a stiff and "archaic smile" figure, the Kritios Boy seems to make a facial and bodily
reaction to what he is contemplating. In contrast, the Kroisos from 525 BC is a more
self-prominent character rather than that who is in deep thought. 
The bronze Charioteer of Delphi (470 BC), as well appears to be pondering his victory in
the chariot race just ended. His clothing entails fine detail as shown before in the
Archaic ornate kore. The folds of the dress fall with the movement of the body. So from
that the action of the being is accentuated and explored as it was developed from the
earlier time on.
Bronze became the favorite medium of Early Classical sculptors, partly because it was
better suited to action poses. In works such as the Discobolus (450 BC), the sculptor
Myron depicted an athlete at the moment of greatest potential energy. 
The Parthenon sculptures and other works from the Acropolis also illustrate changing
attitudes toward the display of the female body. Figures such as the goddesses from the
Parthenon's east pediment are covered with drapery that reveals each curve of breast,
stomach, and thigh. The Female Figure (650 BC) has more restraint and reserved clothing.
Kore in Dorian Peplos which was also from the Archaic period, though showed the form of
the female body. 
Until the 4th century BC no goddess or heroic female figure was depicted completely naked
in Greek art. The first great female nude was a statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of
beauty, by Praxiteles. The Cnidian Aphrodite (340-330 BC), it was the most famous Greek
statue of its time. The sculptures became more sincere and gentle. Even his male figures,
such as Hermes (320-310 BC), seem soft and less manly than the hard-bodied athletes of
before. 
After the conquests of Alexander the Great from 334 to 323 BC, the Greek world comprised
vast lands and peoples that were mostly non-Greek. Because Hellenistic sculpture had to
speak to a far more diverse audience, artists tended to choose subjects that all people
could readily understand, figures that depicted old age, anxiety, sleep, fatigue,
drunkenness, or even deformity.
At the same time, Hellenistic sculptors developed further some of the trends established
in the Late Classical period. Hellenistic figures such as the powerfully projecting Nike
of Samothrace (200-190 BC) show a unique deepness.
Melodramatic, exaggerated effects are especially associated with the Great Pergamum
Alter, built atop the city's acropolis sometime from about 190 to 156 BC. Some figures
seem ready to leap off the wall and even crawl up the sides of a staircase. The muscles
of the figures are, the drapery sweeping, the poses striking, and the faces expressive.
In one scene, the goddess Athena has caught a giant as he gazes helplessly toward the sky
as he tries to free himself. His expression resembles that of Laocoon, a later statue,
shown as he struggles to free himself from giant snakes.