Buildings and sculptures, poems and thoughts of great philosophers - all these are components of the “Greek miracle”, as scientists call it today.
If you are interested in the culture of Ancient Greece, you can briefly familiarize yourself with it in this article. So, what has delighted even the most inexperienced person in art for four thousand years now? Let's take a closer look.
General information
The ancient period, which is characterized by the rise and heyday of Hellas (as the ancient Greeks called their country), is most interesting for most art historians. And not in vain! Indeed, at this time, the birth and formation of the principles and forms of almost all genres of contemporary creativity took place.
In total, scientists divide the history of this country into five periods. Let's look at the typology and talk about the formation of certain types of art.
Aegean era
This period is most clearly represented by two monuments - Mycenaean and Knossos palaces. The latter is better known today as the Labyrinth from the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. After archaeological excavations, scientists confirmed the veracity of this legend. Only the ground floor has survived, but it has more than three hundred rooms!
In addition to palaces, the Cretan-Mycenaean period is known for masks of Achaean leaders and Cretan sculptures of small form. Figurines found in the hiding places of the palace are striking in their filigree. Women with snakes look very realistic and elegant.
Thus, the culture of Ancient Greece, a brief summary of which is presented in the article, originated from the symbiosis of the ancient island civilization of Crete and the coming Achaean and Doric tribes who settled on the Balkan Peninsula.
Homer Period
This era is significantly different in material terms from the previous one. From the 11th to the 9th centuries BC, many important events took place.
First of all, the previous civilization perished. Scientists suggest that due to the eruption of a volcano. Further from statehood there was a return to community structure. In fact, the formation of society took place anew.
An important point is that, against the backdrop of material decline, the spiritual culture is fully preserved and continued to develop. We can see this on the example of the works of Homer, which reflect precisely this crucial era.
The Trojan War dates to the end of the Minoan period, and the writer himself lived at the beginning of the archaic era. That is, the Iliad and the Odyssey are the only evidence of this period, because apart from them and archaeological finds nothing is known about him today.
Archaic culture
At this time, there is rapid growth and establishment of policy states. A coin begins to mint, the alphabet is formed and the letter becomes.
In the archaic era, the Olympic Games appear, the cult of a healthy and athletically built body is formed.
It was during this period that the culture of Ancient Greece was born. A brief message on the development of its genres you can read on.
Classic period
Everything that the culture of Ancient Greece captivates us today (a brief summary is in the article) was created precisely in this era.
Philosophy and science, painting and sculpture, oratory and poetry - all these genres are experiencing a rise and unique development. The apogee of creative expression was the Athenian architectural ensemble, which still amazes the audience with its harmony and grace of form.
Hellenism
The last period of the development of Greek culture is interesting precisely because of its ambiguity.
On the one hand, the unification of Greek and Eastern traditions takes place as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. On the other hand, Rome conquers Greece, but the latter conquers it with its culture.
Architecture
The Parthenon is probably one of the most famous monuments of the ancient world. And Doric or Ionian elements, for example, columns, are inherent in some later architectural styles.
Basically, the development of this type of art, we can trace the temples. After all, it was in this type of buildings that most of the forces, means and skills were invested. Even palaces were valued less than places for sacrifices to the gods.
The charm of ancient Greek temples is that they were not formidable temples of mysterious and cruel celestials. In their internal structure they resembled ordinary houses, only they were equipped more elegantly and furnished richer. But how could it be otherwise if the gods themselves were portrayed like people, with the same problems, quarrels and joys?
Subsequently, three column orders formed the basis of most styles of European architecture. It was with their help that the culture of Ancient Greece briefly, but very capaciously and permanently entered the life of modern man.
Painting
The works of this type of art are the most numerous and studied to date. At school, children learn information about what the culture of Ancient Greece was (briefly). Grade 5, for example, is a period of acquaintance only with myths and legends.
And the first monuments of this civilization that students see are black-lacquered ceramics - very beautiful and stylish dishes, copies of which served as souvenirs, jewelry and collectibles in all subsequent eras.
Vascular painting went through several stages of development. Initially, these were simple geometric ornaments, known since the days of the Minoan culture. Then spirals, meanders and other details are added to them.
In the process of formation, the vase painting acquires the features of painting. Plots from mythology and everyday life of the ancient Greeks, human figures, images of animals and everyday scenes appear on the vessels.
It is noteworthy that the artists managed not only to convey the movement in their paintings, but also to give personal characteristics to the characters. Thanks to its attributes, individual gods and heroes are easily recognized.
Mythology
The peoples of the ancient world perceived the surrounding reality a little differently than we used to understand it. Deities were the main force that was responsible for what was happening in human life.
The school is often asked to make a short message on the topic "Culture of Ancient Greece", to briefly, interestingly and in detail describe the heritage of this amazing civilization. In this case, the story is best to start with mythology.
The ancient Greek pantheon included a lot of gods, demigods and heroes, but the main ones were twelve Olympians. The names of some of them were already known during the Crete-Mycenaean civilization. They are mentioned on clay tablets with linear writing. It is noteworthy that at this stage they had female and male analogues of the same character. For example, there was Zeus-on and Zeus-on.
Today we know about the gods of Ancient Greece thanks to the monuments of fine art and literature that have remained for centuries. Sculptures, murals, figurines, plays and stories - in all this, the Hellenic worldview was reflected.
Similar views survived their time. The artistic culture of ancient Greece, in short, had a primary influence on the formation of many European schools of various arts. Renaissance artists resurrected and developed the ideas of style, harmony and form, known even in classical Greece.
Literature
For many centuries, our society has been separated from the society of ancient Hellas, besides, in fact, only crumbs from what was written have reached us. The Iliad and the Odyssey are probably the most popular works, thanks to which the culture of Ancient Greece is known. A summary (about Odysseus and his adventures) can be read in any anthology, and the exploits of this wise man impress society so far.
Without his advice, the Achaeans would not have won the Trojan War. In principle, both poems form the image of the ruler of the island of Ithaca in perfect light. Critics perceive him as a collective character, containing many positive features.
Homer's work dates back to the eighth century BC. Later authors, such as Euripides, introduced a completely new stream into their works. If before them the main thing was the relationship of heroes and gods, as well as the tricks of the celestials and their intervention in the lives of ordinary people, now everything is changing. The tragedies of the new generation reflect the inner world of man.
The culture of Ancient Greece, in short, in the classical period tries to penetrate deeper and answer most of the eternal questions. This “research” involved such areas as literature, philosophy, and visual arts. Speakers and poets, thinkers and artists - all tried to realize the versatility of the world and pass on the resulting wisdom to descendants.
Art
The classification of art is based on elements of a vase painting. The Greek (Achaean-Minoan) period is preceded by the Crete-Mycenaean, when a developed civilization existed on the islands, and not on the Balkan Peninsula.
Actually, the culture of Ancient Greece, a brief description of which we provide in the article, is formed at the end of the second millennium BC. The most ancient monuments were temples (for example, the temple of Apollo on the island of Fera) and the painting of vessels. The latter are characterized by an ornament in the form of simple geometric shapes. The main tools of artists of this era were the ruler and compass.
In the archaic period, which began around the seventh century BC, art becomes more developed and bold. Corinthian black-lacquered ceramics appears, from Egypt, the poses of people depicted in vessels and bas-reliefs are borrowed. The so-called archaic smile appears at the sculptures, which are becoming more and more natural.
In the classical era, the "relief" of architecture. Doric style is replaced by Ionic and Corinthian. Instead of limestone, marble begins to be used, and buildings and sculptures become more airy. This civilization phenomenon concludes with Hellenism, the heyday of the empire of Alexander the Great.
Today, in many institutions the culture of Ancient Greece is studied - briefly for children, more fully for adolescents and deeply for researchers. But even with all our wishes, we do not completely cover the material left to us by the representatives of this sunny people.
Philosophy
Even the origin of this term is Greek. The Greeks were distinguished by a strong love of wisdom. No wonder in the whole ancient world they were considered the most highly educated people.
Today we do not remember any of the scholars of Mesopotamia or Egypt, we know units of Roman scholars, but the names of Greek thinkers are well known. Democritus and Protagoras, Thales of Miletus and Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato, Epicurus and Heraclitus - they all made a huge contribution to world culture, enriched the results of our experiments with civilization so much that we still use their achievements.
The Pythagoreans, for example, absolutized the role of numbers in our world. They believed that with their help it was possible not only to describe everything, but even to predict the future. Sophists mainly paid attention to the inner world of man. Good was defined by them as that which is pleasant, and evil as a thing or event that causes suffering.
Democritus and Epicurus developed the doctrine of atomism, that is, that the world consists of scanty elementary particles, the existence of which was proved only after the invention of the microscope.
Socrates turned the attention of thinkers from cosmology to the study of man, and Plato idealized the world of ideas, considering it the only real one.
Thus, we see that the features of the culture of Ancient Greece, in short, were reflected through the prism of a philosophical worldview on modern human life.
Theater
Those who have visited Greece have long remembered the amazing feeling that a person experiences while in the amphitheater. Its magical acoustics, which even today seems like a miracle, have been winning hearts for more than a thousand years. This building, in which there are more than a dozen rows, the stage is located in the open air, and the viewer sitting in the farthest place is able to hear how a coin falls on the stage. Isn't it a miracle of engineering?
The content of the plays was no less interesting. The comedy of masks now known in Italy originates from the classical Greek theater. The mechanisms allowing the scenery to be moved with the help of blocks and weights were called the “god of the car”; they shocked the audience with their inexplicability.
Thus, we see that the culture of Ancient Greece, briefly described above, formed the foundations of modern art, philosophy, science and social institutions. If not for the ancient Greeks, it is not known what the modern way of life would be.