Art Of The Classical Greek World

Timetable

every Wednesday from 3.00 p.m. until 4.30 p.m.

Module aim (aims)

A thorough analysis of key elements of an artistic tradition, that characterized the ancient Greek world from ca. 530 until ca. 300 BC. Several aspects of this phenomenon will be discussed: from the cultural, political and social background, through major artistic schools, personalities, and works of art, as well as causes and effects of its development and spread throughout – and beyond – the Mediterranean world. In doing so, elements of traditional approach to the Greek art will be employed, as well as more modern methods of interpretation, developed during last decades in study of classics, and borrowed from related field of humanities. Moreover, some important questions will be asked concerning the validity of the term “classical” itself, in relation to the past and the present.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Basic knowledge of the history, art and culture of the ancient Greek world.

Syllabus

Week 1:       What does „Classical” mean?

Week 2:       What came before, or the Archaic.

Week 3:       The beginnings, or inevitable change.

Week 4:       Men of bronze and women of marble.

Week 5:       A day at the sanctuary.

Week 6:       Pheidias on the summit.

Week 7:       “Nike, why don’t you get your clothes dry?”

Week 8:       Do the Muses ever fall silent?

Week 9:       “Dear Plato, would you hold that mirror for me?”

Week 10:    Pothos - longing or desire?

Week 11:    The diffusion, or the world’s wonder at the world’s end.

Week 12:    The naked truth, or Knidia vs Apoxyomenos.

Week 13:    “Can you hand me that brush, please?”, or how to portrait the king.

Week 14:    What came after, or the Hellenistic.

Week 15:    “THIS … IS … SPARTA!” - the Classical Greece in the 21st century.

Reading list

 M. Beard, J. Henderson, Classical Art: From Greece to Rome, Oxford – New York 2001,
J. M. Barringer, The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece, Cambridge 2014,
J. Burnett Grossman, Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone: A Guide to Terms, Styles, and Techniques, Los Angeles 2003,
R. Carpenter, Greek Sculpture: A Critical Review, Chicago 1960,
W.A.P. Childs, Greek Art & Aesthetics in the 4^th Century B.C., Princeton 2018,
I. Jenkins, Greek Architecture and Its Sculpture, Cambridge, Mass. 2006,
S. Lydakis, Ancient Greek Painting and its Echoes in Later Art, Los Angeles 2004,
M.M. Miles (ed.), A Companion to Greek Architecture, Malden – Oxford 2016,
R.T. Neer, The Emergence of Classical Style in Greek Sculpture, Chicago 2010,
R.T. Neer, Art & Archaeology of the Greek World, London – New York 2019
J. Onians, Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome, New Haven – London 1999,
O. Palagia (ed.), Greek Sculpture: Function, Materials, and Techniques in the Archaic and Classical Periods, Cambridge – New York 2008,
O. Palagia, J.J. Pollitt, Personal Styles in Greek Sculpture, Cambridge 1999,
D. Plantzos, Greek Art and Archaeology, c. 1200-30 BC, Athens 2016
J.J. Pollitt, Art and Experience in Classical Greece, Cambridge 1972,
T.J. Smith, D. Planztos (eds), A Companion to Greek Art, vols. 1-2, Malden – Oxford 2012,
N. Spivey, Understanding Greek Sculpture: Ancient Meanings, Modern Readings, London 1996,
N. Spivey, Classical Civilization: Greeks and Romans in 10 Chapters, London 2016,
A. Stewart, Greek Sculpture, vols. 1-2, New Haven - London 1990,
A. Stewart, Classical Greece and the Birth of Western Art, Cambridge 2008,
A. Stewart, Art in the Hellenistic World, Cambridge – New York 2014,
D. Tarn Steiner, Images in Mind: Statues in Archaic and Classical Greek Literature and Thought, Princeton 2001,
C. Vout, Classical Art: A Life History from Antiquity to the Present, Princeton – Oxford 2018,