Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art
Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art

Author: Sarah P. Morris

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2022-02-08

Total Pages: 485

ISBN-13: 0691241945

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In a major revisionary approach to ancient Greek culture, Sarah Morris invokes as a paradigm the myths surrounding Daidalos to describe the profound influence of the Near East on Greece's artistic and literary origins.

Myth, Ethos, and Actuality
Myth, Ethos, and Actuality

Author: David Castriota

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780299133542

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Using material remains, as well as the evidence of contemporary Greek history, rhetoric, and poetry, David Castriota interprets the Athenian monuments as vehicles of an official ideology intended to celebrate and justify the present in terms of the past. Castriota focuses on the strategy of ethical antithesis that asserted Greek moral superiority over the "barbaric" Persians, whose invasion had been repelled a generation earlier. He examines how, in major public programs of painting and sculpture, the leading artists of the period recast the Persians in the guise of wild and impious mythic antagonists to associate them with the ethical flaws or weaknesses commonly ascribed to women, animals, and foreigners. The Athenians, in contrast, were compared to mythic protagonists representing the excellence and triumph of Hellenic culture. Castriota's study is innovative in emphasizing the ethical implication of mythic precedents, which required substantial alterations to render them more effective as archetypes for the defense of Greek culture against a foreign, morally inferior enemy. The book looks in new ways at how the patrons and planners sought to manipulate viewer response through the selective presentation or repackaging of mythic traditions.

Gods and Heroes in Late Archaic Greek Art
Gods and Heroes in Late Archaic Greek Art

Author: Karl Schefold

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1992-12-03

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 9780521327183

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This volume is the sequel to Karl Schefold's Myth and Legend in Early Greek Art, and the second in his ambitious project to trace the representation of the Greek myths in Greek art from the beginnings down to the Hellenistic period.

A Companion to Greek Art
A Companion to Greek Art

Author: Tyler Jo Smith

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2018-06-18

Total Pages: 894

ISBN-13: 1119266815

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A comprehensive, authoritative account of the development Greek Art through the 1st millennium BC. An invaluable resource for scholars dealing with the art, material culture and history of the post-classical world Includes voices from such diverse fields as art history, classical studies, and archaeology and offers a diversity of views to the topic Features an innovative group of chapters dealing with the reception of Greek art from the Middle Ages to the present Includes chapters on Chronology and Topography, as well as Workshops and Technology Includes four major sections: Forms, Times and Places; Contacts and Colonies; Images and Meanings; Greek Art: Ancient to Antique

Postcolonial Amazons
Postcolonial Amazons

Author: Walter Duvall Penrose Jr.

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-10-20

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 019101950X

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Scholars have long been divided on the question of whether the Amazons of Greek legend actually existed. Notably, Soviet archaeologists' discoveries of the bodies of women warriors in the 1980s appeared to directly contradict western classicists' denial of the veracity of the Amazon myth, and there have been few concessions between the two schools of thought since. Postcolonial Amazons offers a ground-breaking re-evaluation of the place of martial women in the ancient world, bridging the gap between myth and historical reality and expanding our conception of the Amazon archetype. By shifting the center of debate to the periphery of the region known to the Greeks, the startling conclusion emerges that the ancient Athenian conception of women as weak and fearful was not at all typical of the region of that time, even within Greece. Surrounding the Athenians were numerous peoples who held that women could be courageous, able, clever, and daring, suggesting that although Greek stories of Amazons may be exaggerations, they were based upon a real historical understanding of women who fought. While re-examining the sources of the Amazon myth, this compelling volume also resituates the Amazons in the broader context from which they have been extracted, illustrating that although they were the quintessential example of female masculinity in ancient Greek thought, they were not the only instance of this phenomenon: masculine women were masqueraded on the Greek stage, described in the Hippocratic corpus, took part in the struggle to control Alexander the Great's empire after his death, and served as bodyguards in ancient India. Against the backdrop of the ongoing debates surrounding gender norms and fluidity, Postcolonial Amazons breaks new ground as an ancient history of female masculinity and demonstrates that these ideas have a much longer and more durable heritage than we may have supposed.

The Amazons
The Amazons

Author: Adrienne Mayor

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2016-02-09

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13: 0691170274

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The real history of the Amazons in war and love Amazons—fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world—were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons. But just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real? In this deeply researched, wide-ranging, and lavishly illustrated book, National Book Award finalist Adrienne Mayor presents the Amazons as they have never been seen before. This is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China. Mayor tells how amazing new archaeological discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons prove that women warriors were not merely figments of the Greek imagination. Combining classical myth and art, nomad traditions, and scientific archaeology, she reveals intimate, surprising details and original insights about the lives and legends of the women known as Amazons. Provocatively arguing that a timeless search for a balance between the sexes explains the allure of the Amazons, Mayor reminds us that there were as many Amazon love stories as there were war stories. The Greeks were not the only people enchanted by Amazons—Mayor shows that warlike women of nomadic cultures inspired exciting tales in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Central Asia, and China. Driven by a detective's curiosity, Mayor unearths long-buried evidence and sifts fact from fiction to show how flesh-and-blood women of the Eurasian steppes were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men. The result is likely to become a classic.

An Introduction to Greek Art
An Introduction to Greek Art

Author: Susan Woodford

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-02-26

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1472526392

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The four centuries between the composition of the Homeric epics and the conquests of Alexander the Great witnessed an immensely creative period in Greek art, one full of experimentation and innovation. But time has taken its toll; damaged statues have lost their colour and wall paintings have been totally destroyed. And yet sympathetic study of surviving sculpture and of drawing on vases can give extraordinary insight into and appreciation of these once brilliant works This book, designed originally for students, introduces the reader to Greek sculpture and vase painting in the critical period from the eighth to the fourth centuries BC. The works discussed are generously illustrated and lucidly analysed to give a vivid picture of the splendor of Greek art. The up-dated second edition includes a new chapter examining art in Greek society, a timeline to help relate artistic development to historical events, an explanation of how dates BC are arrived at, a brief overview of Greek temple plans and a further reading list of recent books. This clear, approachable and rigorous introduction makes the beauty of Greek art more readily accessible and comprehensible, balancing description with interpretation and illustration, and is an invaluable tool to help develop insight, appreciation and comprehension.