The document summarizes key events and developments in ancient Greece during the Classical period from 480 BCE to 323 BCE. It describes how the Greeks defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, saving Greece from Persian rule. This victory allowed Athens to emerge as a powerful city-state and ushered in the Classical period, a time of intellectual, artistic, and architectural achievements. The document focuses on Athens' cultural flowering under the patronage of Pericles, including the rebuilding of temples on the Acropolis such as the Parthenon with its sculptures and architectural refinements that embodied the ideals of balance, proportion, and order.

1. Ancient Greece
Part 2
1

2. Greek defeat of the Persians
Battle of Salamis 480 BCE
Xerxes retreats.
Saved from the threat of
external rule and changed the
course of Western Civilization
HUMANISM vs.
“ Barbarians”
Democracy vs.
Monarchy

3. 3

4. Classical Period
Begins:
480 BCE defeat of the Persian
Empire
Ends
323 BCE Death of Alexander the
Great
Distinction between Asian and European
Civilizations
Asian (Middle East): barbaric and
inhuman
Greek-reason and law, humanism
Intellectual and Artistic:
Rationality: human beings impose
order
Idealism: perfect beings and
buildings

5. Classical Age
Athens emerged from the Persian
Wars triumphant. Using their navy and
merchant marine, the Athenians took
control of the seas around Greece.
With renewed prosperity and a keen
sense of their own importance in
international affairs, they set about
repairing the damage incurred during
the wars and extending the traditions
established prior to the Persian
invasion, in particular, drama, painting
and architecture.
Part of the reason for this surge in the
arts was the confidence born of victory
and independence. In antiquity, to win
a war was to gain the assurance that
one's gods were pleased, which meant
that the ceremonies and celebrations
performed in their honor must be to
their liking. From that vantage point, it
only makes sense to continue and
even extend them.
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6. Classical Age
Thus, the Classical Age was scion and
heir of a sense of righteous vigor. Led
by Pericles, a man who had to be re-
elected to office every year but who
was nonetheless firmly in control of
Athens for much of his life, the
Athenians set about expanding their
commercial interests. Wealth soon
poured into the city from an alliance
called the Delian League which they
had formed after the war for the benefit
of all Greece, but their own mostly.
Delian Leaugue= Athens collects
“tribute” money from other poleis.
Eventually they get angry, this leads to
the Peloponnesian War and the
downfall of Athens.
DON’T GET GREEDY!
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KRESILAS, Pericles. Roman marble herm
copy of a bronze original of ca. 429 BCE.
Full herm 6’ high; detail 4’ 6 1/2” high.
Musei Vaticani, Rome.

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KRESILAS, Pericles. Roman marble herm
copy of a bronze original of ca. 429 BCE.
Full herm 6’ high; detail 4’ 6 1/2” high.
Musei Vaticani, Rome.
Pericles:
•Elected stratego, general of Athens 15X
•Instrumental in rebuilding and beautifying Athens
after second Persian invasion
•Notice his idealized appearance
•Herm- a bust on a square pillar

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Warrior, from the sea off Riace, Italy, ca. 460–450
BCE. Bronze, 6’ 6” high. Museo Archeologico
Nazionale, Reggio Calabria.

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Warrior, from the sea off Riace, Italy, ca. 460–450
BCE. Bronze, 6’ 6” high. Museo Archeologico
Nazionale, Reggio Calabria.
This Riace Warrior, like most Classical
Greek statues, was sculpted in bronze.
Most Classical bronzes have not survived
as they were melted down in the Dark
Ages for weapons.
Most of the Classical Greek sculptures we
have today are Roman marble copies.

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Zeus (or Poseidon?), from the sea off
Cape Artemision, Greece, ca. 460–450
BCE. Bronze, 6’ 10” high. National
Archaeological Museum, Athens.

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MYRON, Diskobolos (Discus Thrower).
Roman marble copy of a bronze original of
ca. 450 BCE, 5’ 1” high. Museo Nazionale
Romano—Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.

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Gaze away from the viewer
Inward not outward

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POLYKLEITOS, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Roman
marble copy from Pompeii, Italy, after a bronze original
of ca. 450–440 BCE, 6’ 11” high. Museo Archeologico
Nazionale, Naples.

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POLYKLEITOS, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Roman
marble copy from Pompeii, Italy, after a bronze original
of ca. 450–440 BCE, 6’ 11” high. Museo Archeologico
Nazionale, Naples.
“Ideal” male warrior (Platonic influence)
•Originally titled Canon
•Established Polykleitos’ canon of proportions,
setting ideal correlations among body parts
•Contrapposto
Polykleitan Style
Dynamic asymmetrical balance
Motion at rest
Harmony of opposites- chiastic
Impose human order on a natural form

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19. Pythagoras
Order is embedded in all of nature
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Aerial view of the Acropolis looking southeast, Athens, Greece.

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IKTINOS and KALLIKRATES, Parthenon, (Temple of Athena Parthenos, looking
southeast), Acropolis, Athens, Greece, 447–438 BCE.

27. The Parthenon
Iktinos and Kallikrates
Sculptor: Phidias 447-438
BCE
Paid for with embezzled funds from the
Delian Leaugue
Site: Highest point of the city-the
Acropolis-Mount Olympus- birthplace of
Athena.
Structure: Mixture of Doric and Ionic:
Athens is the ruler of all Hellenes.
Parthenos=Virgin

28. Panathenaic Procession
Held every four years
Glorify Athens and Athenians
Remember victory over the
Persians

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31. Symmetria: Ideal of harmony
and mathematical proportion
The Golden Mean
X=2Y+1

32. Entasis
The application of a convex
curve to a surface for aesthetic
purposes

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36. Entasis

37. 37
Plan of the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, with diagram of sculptural program (after Andrew
Stewart), 447–432 BCE.

38. Exterior
Interior

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PHIDIAS, Athena Parthenos, in the cella of the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438
BCE. Model of the lost chryselephantine statue. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

41. Athena Parthenos: the Virgin
by Phidias
Holding Nike (victory) in right
hand (victory over Persians)
Chryselephantine: gold and
ivory
Shield:
Amazonomachy and
Gigantomachy
(order over Chaos)
Height = 38 ft
In the Cella.

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44. metopes
44
Lapiths vs.
Centaurs

45. metopes
Centauromachy
Gigantomachy
Amazonomachy
Trojan War
45
Lapiths vs.
Centaurs

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48. 48
Battle of Centaurs and Lapiths, by Piero di Cosimo (notice the female centaur with a male centaur in the foreground).

49. Pediments: The
Athenians
East-birth of the Goddess
West- contest between Athena
and Poseidon to be patron God
of Athens (arrogance?)
Athenians are always in the
position of judgement.
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50. pediments
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Helios and his horses, and Dionysos (Herakles?), from the east pediment of the Parthenon,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438–432 BCE. Marble, greatest height 4’ 3”. British Museum,
London.

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Helios and his horses, and Dionysos (Herakles?), from the east pediment of the Parthenon,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438–432 BCE. Marble, greatest height 4’ 3”. British Museum,
London.
Notice how horses rise from below the ground line.
On the other side they sink below.

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Three goddesses (Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite?), from the east pediment of the Parthenon,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438–432 BCE. Marble, greatest height 4’ 5”. British Museum,
London.

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Three goddesses (Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite?), from the east pediment of the Parthenon,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438–432 BCE. Marble, greatest height 4’ 5”. British Museum,
London.
Phidian school establishes mastery of clothed forms.

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Three goddesses (Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite?), from the east pediment of the Parthenon,
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438–432 BCE. Marble, greatest height 4’ 5”. British Museum,
London.
“wet drapery”

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61. Parthenon: Ionic Frieze
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62. Parthenon: Ionic Frieze
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Details of the Panathenaic Festival procession frieze, from the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens,
Greece, ca. 447–438 BCE. Marble, 3’ 6” high. Horsemen of north frieze (top), British Museum,
London; seated gods and goddesses (Poseidon, Apollo, and Artemis) of east frieze (center),
Acropolis Museum, Athens; and elders and maidens of east frieze (bottom), Louvre, Paris.

65. Deities as spectators:
Gods watching the Athenians
because they are so important
Upper part of the relief higher for
better visibility

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Grave stele of Hegeso, from the Dipylon
cemetery, Athens, Greece, ca. 400
BCE. Marble, 5’ 2” high. National
Archaeological Museum, Athens.

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Grave stele of Hegeso, from the Dipylon
cemetery, Athens, Greece, ca. 400
BCE. Marble, 5’ 2” high. National
Archaeological Museum, Athens.
Enclosed composition
Servant is possession, like the jewel box, and
just as woman is possession
of her husband.

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ACHILLES PAINTER, Warrior taking leave of his
wife (Athenian white-ground lekythos), from Eretria,
Greece, ca. 440 BCE. Approx. 1’ 5” high. National
Archaeological Museum, Athens.

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ACHILLES PAINTER, Warrior taking leave of his
wife (Athenian white-ground lekythos), from Eretria,
Greece, ca. 440 BCE. Approx. 1’ 5” high. National
Archaeological Museum, Athens.
White-ground technique

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PHIALE PAINTER, Hermes bringing the infant Dionysos to Papposilenos (Athenian white-ground
calyx krater), from Vulci, Italy, ca. 440–435 BCE. 1’ 2” high. Musei Vaticani, Rome.

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Youth diving, painted ceiling of the Tomb of the Diver, Paestum, Italy, ca. 480 BCE. 3’ 4” high.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Paestum.

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Very rare Greek mural painting. Plunge=plunge into death.