Greek Spirit of Idealism

Discuss the Greek spirit of idealism, independence and identity using THREE examples of human figure sculpture created in the Archaic, Classical or Hellenistic periods. Explain how each sculpture focuses on the central importance of the human body as a means to express either the purity of spirit, ideal beauty, the bravery, or courage, or victory of the human being. and reflect upon what creating your own destiny means to you today, as a citizen of the country, and the world.

        Idealism, independence, and identity each impacted the Greek sculpture of the human figure, variant to the era in which the pieces were created.

Prior to the beginning of the Archaic period of Greek culture, art was dominated by abstract geometric patterning, giving way to ever increasing representations of the human form in a naturalistic way, yet variant dependent upon the gender of the subjects.  For example, male kouroi sculptures (figure 1) were athletic in nature, often bearing resemblance to the Greek god Apollo, whereas female korai (figure 2) sculptures focused less on the female form, instead being fully clothed with garment that expressed a great amount of detail in the folds and intricacies of said clothing, bearing reflection on the Greek ideal that women should be fully clothed and express modesty, although both possessed a touch of realism which was added to the statues by adorning both genders with smiling expressions. Interestingly, it was viewed that a man’s body was public, belonging to the state, in contrast a woman’s private, belonging only to the father if they were unwed, or to their husband if marriage had taken place. Many of the statues and sculptures of this era were less for decorative and amusement purposes and more for religious and sacramental function.  Man was represented by sculpting them in the image of the Greek gods, with strong physiques and an unashamed naked prowess.  Women were sculpted to depict a sense of discreetness and privacy, a humble existence of servitude to the man in her life, albeit father or husband, and of course the gods.

          Artists of the Classical period in Greek art first expressed interest in the sculpting of humanistic gods sporting human attributes, and personifying natural phenomena (rain, floods, etc.) concepts.  Humanism would give way to Idealism, as artists began to sculpt and decorate their works of art in perfection.  The Doryphoros (figure 3), creation of the master sculptor Polykleitos, was an exercise in “symmetria”, Greek for symmetry, proposing focus on both proportion and balance, as well as contrast.  Oddly, nudity and nakedness were viewed as a marker of separation from neighboring civilizations of the Greeks, whom they deemed “barbaric”.  If not for the spear that the sculpture Doryphoros had originally held, how would one know it was a rendering of a warrior as it is devoid of any garment or armor?  The idea of the Classical era of Greek history, the ideal to strive for if you will, was perfection, symmetry.  It was an obsession that while one must strive for perfection, the flip side of the coin was that they must recognize it was also unattainable.  If you gaze into the face of Doryphoros, you will come to realize that there is in fact a lack of distinguishing individual features, proposing that he is representative of an idealized version of an everyday citizen, the perfect Greek.  As a viewer of this sculpture in the Greek era, you may have embraced the strong, symmetrical and balanced sense of strength, an overwhelming sense of confidence exuding from the Doryphoros, something you would aspire to, but may never achieve in life.  

          Where the Classical era of Greek art history established the humanistic form, the Hellanistic era gave way to naturalistic domination, emphasizing the sculpture’s bodily form and expression of the sculpture’s face to illicit an emotional response from the viewers.  No longer is there an obscure obsession over perfection, as naturalism embraces the display and idea of imperfection.  The rules that previously governed the Classical art period were abandoned in favor of exploring themes and dramas, pathos, foreighn to Greek artists.  Most pieces were staged in settings, such as fountains, to add to the dramatical sense of the pieces to further provoke emotional responses, as they were also commonly adorned with jewelry and other props for similar theatrical purposes.  No longer were the sculptures depicting the ideal Greek male or female as depicted in the Classical age, instead they were shown in compromising situations exploring the fragility of age, exhaustion, sleeping, and even intoxication, as seen in the sculpture the Barberini Faun (figure 4), depicting a figure who is passed out upon a rock, drunk from booze.  Clearly this piece demonstrates the symbolism associated with the Hellanistic era, clearly embracing the seemingly imperfection and flaw of man as he indulges in spirits to the point of unconsciousness, perhaps in public, something seemingly to have been frowned upon in the previous Classical era.