Ancient Greece

The classic period of ancient Greece was considered a Golden age. The classic style developed throughout Hellenistic Greece and Rome. It included perfection harmony and balance. The sculptures were amazing and the architecture had to tell a story.

In the classical period the statues in Greece became more natural. Instead of statues of gods there were statues of real people doing everyday things. The kouros statue, which means boy in Greek, was one of the earliest statues. It was from the archaic period. It had long stylized, detailed hair, and the statue was naked. The kouros was usually carved from marble. The female counterpart to the kouros was kore which means girl in Greek. They were usually figures of girls that served Athena. In the kore we see what is known as the archaic smiles which represent the figure being alive. The Peplos Kore shows us the early representation of the body beneath the drapery. Through her clothes we can see the outline of her breast and arms.

The beginning of the classic style shows the transition between archaic and classical style. The Kritios boy of the classic period shows some similarities to the kouros but with many evolvements and differences. The kritios boy had hallowed out eyes and defined muscles. The biggest change was in the hair. The Kritios boy, unlike the kouros, had short wavy hair. It also had contrapposto. Contrapposto is when “the head is turned slightly and the right leg bends forward at the knee so that the left leg appears to hold the body’s weight. The torso shifts, and the right hip and shoulder are lowered”().

Another classical characteristic is the change from marble to bronze. Using bronze allowed large figures to get out of the block shape. One of the most popular examples of the bronze statues is Poseidon. He looks like he is in the middle of a spear throwing game. He is balanced and looks like he is ready to throw his spear at any moment. This statue also shows the interest that the Greeks had in athletics.

From 450- 400 B.C. is known as the golden age of Greek art. The art that is make in this period show how smart and ahead of their time the Greeks were. It shows their culture and how important it was to them. Although the golden age was full of new ideas it still drew from art from the pass. The Doryporos which was sculpted by Plykleitos of Argos stands like the Kritios Boy. There is just more contrapposto and it is more anatomically correct. We can see things like knee caps and veins that were not in sculptures before. Classical artist like Plykleitos of Argos put the human form on a pedestal. There figures were usually youthful, symmetrical, and they didn’t have any physical