Greek Art

Parthenon Horse

1-G-12

Larger picture

Parthenon Temple, Athens. 465 B.C.

Horses were an integral part of life in ancient Greece. They played an active role in warfare, transportation and in the games such as the Panathenaic Games in Athens with its huge contingent of cavalry riders. Athenian enthusiasm for the horse was clearly expressed in the many civic buildings and temples that were adorned with paintings and sculptures of riders and battle scenes showing cavalry such as in the Parthenon friezes where this wonderful horse head originates. Two deities, Poseidon and Athena, together served as protectors of horses and patrons of horsemanship and equestrian activities. Athena, Patron Goddess of Athens, was credited with the invention of the bridle and the use of chariots. The horse was a symbol of prestige, wealth and status. Social rank has often been defined by the ability to own and maintain a horse. The Aristocratic families that ruled Athens during the 6th century B.C. often took pride in their nobility by starting or ending their name with the word hippos (horse). The aristocracy bred and raced horses from very early times and it seems that chariot racing was the preferred form of competition and maybe the foundation of the Olympic Games

The Hippocratic Oath

1-G-14

Larger picture

This relief shows the famous hippocratic oath developed by Hippocrates in Ancient Greece. The oath reads as follows: “I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepios and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgement this oath and this covenant: To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art - if they desire to learn it - without fee and covenant; to give a share of preceptss and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else. I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgement; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art etc, etc.”

Head of Zeus

1-G-52

Larger picture

National Archaeological Museum, Athens. 450 B.C.

This bust is taken from the magnificent full figure which was first called Poseidon, God of the Sea. That identification is now questioned. The balance of evidence tilts towards Zeus, the Chief of the Olympian Gods, and this is now accepted by the majority of archaeologists. An arm of the statue was first found in 1926 under the sea in the remains of an old shipwreck north of Athens. The rest of the figure was recovered two years later. Many art historians believed that the statue was the work of Kalamis. Zeus ruled over the sky and all atmospheric phenomena-winds, clouds, rain and even the destructive thunder and lightning came under his command. Being ruler of the sky, he was venerated in lofty places such as mountain tops. The oak was sacred to him as was the thunderbolt and the eagle.

Athena

1-G-62

Larger picture

Athena was the Greek Goddess of wisdom and women's crafts. She was also a defender against evil and a warrior Goddess par excellence. She was the daughter of Zeus and Metis. When Metis became pregnant, Gaia and Uranus told Zeus that after giving birth to a daughter, she would then have a son by Zeus who would later dethrone him. On Gaia's advice, Zeus swallowed Metis. When the time came for the child to be born, Zeus was afflicted with a dreadful headache and sought the help of Hephaestus who split his skull with a bronze axe to relieve the pain. A girl in full armour sprang forth from his head: It was Athena. Athena's attributes were the spear, the helmet and the Aegis (a goat-skin shield). She attached the Gorgon's head which Perseus had given her to her shield, and this turned to stone every living thing that looked at it.

The Three Graces

1- G-67

Larger picture

The Louvre Museum, Paris. 100 B.C.

They are the beautiful sister Goddesses who attended Aphrodity, the Goddess of love, and were personifications of grace and beauty. They spread the joy of nature and lived on Olimpus. Their names, number and parentage vary, but they are generally said to be three sisters named Euphrosyne, who represented jollity, Thalia identified with abundance, and Aglaea, a representation of splendor. They are daughters of Zeus and Eurynome or Hera. They influenced artists throughout the ages. They were depicted in sculpture and vase paintings by the ancient Greeks, in Roman wall paintings at Pompeii, in Botticelli's allegorical painting known as Springtime, and in a marble statue carved by Canova. In art they are frequently represented as naked girls with their hands on each other's shoulders, the two outer figures looking one way and the middle one looking the other.

Artemis the Huntress

1-G-15

Larger picture

The Louvre Museum, Paris, 4th Century B.C.

Artemis, also known by her Roman name Diana, was the Greek goddess of hunting and archery. She is often represented as a huntress with bow and quiver on her shoulder and dogs or deer at her side. The Greeks worshipped Artemis as the goddess of chastity and the guardian of youths and maidens. At the time of the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood, the ancient Greeks used to invoke the support of Artemis and held special rites dedicated to her. Artemis was a pure virgen who had never known the joys of love and marriage. Artemis greatest joy was run through the dense forest hunting with her golden bow, accompanied by her dogs and her favorite animal, the deer. She was renowned for her skill at archery. No god or mortal could match her for accuracy. Artemis also came to be looked up as the moon goddess, just as her twin brother Apollo was viewed as the sun god. The ancient original of this reproduction was found in the villa of the Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli near Rome.

Athena Relief

1-G-5

Larger picture

Piraeus Museum, Athens 380 B.C.

Athena was the Goddess of wisdom and women's crafts in the mythology of the Greeks. She was also a defender against evil and as such she was a warrior Goddess par excellence. She was the daughter of Zeus and Metis. When Metis became pregnant, Gaia and Uranus told Zeus that after giving birth to a daughter, she would then have a son by Zeus who would later dethrone him. On Gaia's advice, Zeus swallowed Metis. When the time came for the child to be born, Zeus was afflicted with a dreadful headache and sought the help of Hephaestus who split his skull with a bronze axe to relieve the pain. A girl in full armor sprang forth from his head: It was Athena. Athena's attributes were the spear, the helmet and the Aegis (a goat-skin shield). She attached the Gorgon's head which Perseus had given her to her shield, and this turned to stone every living thing that looked at it.

Aphrodite of Melos

1-G-55

Larger picture

Louvre Museum, Paris. 200 B.C.

Her graceful body symbolizes an ideal of beauty that many long for but none attain. The French named her the Venus of Milo. In 1820 a peasant named Yorgos found her broken body in an underground cavern on the Aegean island of Melos. Later she was taken out of Greece under unclear circumstances to be taken to Paris where she was to be admired by the millions of visitors to that country's great museum-the Louvre! Aphrodite was the Goddess of Love, identified in Rome with Venus. Although Homer describes Aphrodite as the daughter of Zeus and Dion, the more popular view was that she was conceived in the foam of the ocean from the seed of Uranus. Dropped there when he was castrated, her name meaning "foam-born". Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, but she loved Ares and she was known for her many love affairs, notably with Adonis and Anchises.

Athena

1-G-62

Larger picture

Hecate, Greek Triple Goddess

1-G-89

Larger picture

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Hecate originally derived from the Egyptian midwife Goddess Hekat. In Greece, Hecate was one of the many names for the original feminine trinity ruling Heaven, Earth and the Underworld. Greeks tended to emphasize her crone or underworld aspect. Hecate was called "Most lovely one", a title of the moon. She was associated with the moon in all three of her aspects. Some said she was Hecate Selene, the Moon in Heaven; Artemis the Huntress on Earth and Persephone the Destroyer in the Underworld. Sometimes she was part of the Queen of Heaven Trinity: Hebe the Virgin, Hera the Mother and Hecate the Crone.

%NEXT%>