M4 | The Early Aegean

• 'Heroic' Citadel War Cultures Pre-Dating Greeks •Seafaring Island Cultures Of The Aegean •Trojan War/Homer: The Illiad + The Odyssey •Proliferation Of Trade/Cultural Exchange/Pottery

KEY GLOBAL EVENTS

can be characterized by its liveliness, it's anecdotal, spontaneous qualities.

Minoan art

reflects an obsession with eternity.

Egyptian art

The Greeks were known for their military strategies, including the phalanx. The phalanx is a defensive posture in which soldiers line up side by side and lock their shields together. This forms in nearly impenetrable line of which soldiers line up side by side and lock their shields together. This forms in nearly impenetrable line of defense. Of key importance is the notion of blood brothers. That each soldier has the other's back and is willing to die for him. The phalanx is associated with the notion that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. As we shall see, this culture of deep intimacy between men as blood brothers is a key theme in Greek society and art.

Greek military strategies

...the Greeks of Homer's time, the Greeks of the Trojan War. The culture gets its name from the dominant mainland Greek city-state of Mycenae. Unlike the Minoans, who lived in communities with no defensive walls, the Mycenaeans lived in citadels, walled city-states comparable to military enclosures. The Mycenaeans were well known for their defensive military walls.

The Mycenaeans (cultures of mainland Greece) are associated with...

The ancient Greeks were well-known sculptors in marble. In fact, they decorated the exteriors of their important buildings, primarily temples, with life-size statues. The pediment is the triangle that's formed at the short end of a building with a gabled roof. As humanists, who favored naturalism in art, the Greeks hated hierarchy of scale. Instead of putting small to scale figures in the corners of pediments, the artist chose fallen warriors.

The pediment

We associate humanism with an interest in the here and now. Humanism, as a central cultural trait, is popularized in this region in the later classical era.

humanism

The bull was an important symbol in Minoan culture, associated with the strength and fertility of the king. The bull headed rhyton made of steatite and shell was excavated from Knossos. A rhyton is a ritual vessel object used for the pouring out of a libation, or liquid, offering. The vessel has a hole in the bottom, which it held shut by the palm of one's hand. The vessel is filled with fine wine or other expensive liquid gift. At the appropriate moment, the hand is removed, and the liquid is poured out.

Bull-head rhyton, steatite and shell, (c. 1500 BCE) -Minoan

The palace at Knossos was elaborately decorated on the interior with frescoes, including this bull-themed artwork at Knossos. This shows a coming of age ritual for Minoan men called bull leaping. The young man takes a running jump and leaps over the bull. The young man shown here is presented with darker skin than the two women, who are very white. Note that all the figures are thin, like the folded arm figures. They wear minimal clothing, lots of jewelry, and have long, crimped hair. These details of taste represent the fashions of the day in Knossos. The body types are undoubtedly exaggerated in their extreme thinness and skin color. The lively posture of the bull as it leaps off the ground is a characteristic of Minoan art.

Bull-leaping (from palace at Knossos, Crete), fresco (c. 1450 BCE) - Minoan

This is a figurine of a nude woman called a Cycladic folded arm figure. Many such marble images have been found and dated from the prehistoric Cycladic islands. These objects are made of marble, a material indigenous to the Aegean region. The statuettes share similar characteristics-- thin bodies, folded arms, protruding nose, and pointed feet. This Cycladic folded armed figure is similar to the woman from Willendorf, as they appear to have served a similar purpose. Both types of images, for example, have been excavated from graves. If we compare and contrast the Aegean and European figurines, we see that the Cycladic figure is thinner, with smaller breasts. Both, however, emphasize the pubis, useless arms and feet. The faces, however, as it appears many of the Cycladic figurines had faces painted on, the paint now missing. This early, pre-Greek statuette of a goddess has a face and personified as human, unlike the timeless quality of the woman from Willendorf.

Cycladic folded arm figure, marble, (c. 2500 BCE) - Cycladic

The pot is from the Geometric period, which is dated around 700 BCE. The Geometric is known for the use of geometric shapes, including circles, cylinders, and triangles. The figures on the pot mirror the design of the cast bronze statuette. The statuette may be a god or a warrior. The Greeks were well known potters in the ancient world and their ceramics were traded throughout the Mediterranean basin and beyond. The new democratic systems of the Greek city-states, in this period following the collapse of the citadels, appear to go hand-in-hand with the flowering of industry and trade. This is a krater. A krater is a Greek punch-bowl used for mixing water and wine. It is called the Dipylon Krater, as it was excavated from the Dipylon Cemetery. Note the geometric patterns and organization of visual information into registers. The space is not filled with figural imagery are decorated with bands of wide black, made from slip.

Dipylon krater, clay and slip, (c. 740 BCE) - Greek Geometric

Here are two fallen warriors from the pediment corners of two sides of the same temple. Of note is that the figures were designed 10 years apart. The first figure was created earlier and the second figure, 10 years later. Scholars have observed the subtle yet significant difference in these two figures. Note Warrior one, he's spear in the chest, yet his posture and archaic smile make it appear he has no pain or emotional concern over this fatal wound. Warrior two, likewise, is mortally wounded, while he still wears a smile, he nonetheless demonstrates acute pathos, that is emotion or feeling as he desperately attempts to lift himself with his shield. His eyes are positioned downward as if contemplating his fate.

Dying warriors, from east and west pediments of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, marble, c. 480 and 490 BCE (Greek Archaic)

This is an Archaic period red figure amphora by Euthymides. it is made of clay and slip and dated 510 BCE. The figures are shown reveling or partying at a symposium. A symposium was a men-only gathering in which a group came together to drink, debate, share ideas and poetry. These are revelers, they are dancing. Reveling is a great opportunity to show the nude male figure from multiple views, profile, front, and behind. These are grown men, soldiers with beards. The red figure technique allows the painter to paint in slip the outlines of the body rather than scratching out those details. The skin is not painted. It is reverse-process of the black figure, described as permitting freer expression with the brush, a greater fluidity of line. In other words, the artist painted, rather than scratched the details. Note the background has been painted with slip, oxidized, and turned black in the kiln.

Euthymides, Three revelers (red-figure amphora) clay and slip, (c. 510 BCE) - Greek Archaic

The artist's name is Exekias. Ancient Greece was known for its thriving ceramics industry. Pottery workshops employed many workers, and oftentimes both the potter and the pot painter would sign the work. Certain workshops became well known throughout the Mediterranean, and self-branding was important. Pots came in different styles. This is an amphora, a multipurpose storage jar. Note that a vessel richly decorated in this way would not have been used for everyday purposes, but would have been reserved for special occasions. This amphora shows Achilles and Ajax playing a dice game. This is a subject from the Trojan War, which remained popular throughout Greek history. Scholars explain that throughout history Greeks continually looked back to the heroic age of Homer.The two heroes of the Trojan War are shown here playing a game before going into battle. This is very important. It emphasizes the importance of mental thought and strategy, intellect and calm reason, and as equally important to physical strength. Moderation, calm, decorum, all attributes promoted in Greek high society, and these ideals reflected in this image. The figures are balanced and mirror each other. This reflects the beauty found in a balance of opposites. The image is rendered in the black figure technique. In this process the figures are painted with slip and fired. They turn black in the kiln. The details of muscles and textile embroidery are made with a stylist. Designs are literally scratched through the slip. The broad areas of yellow are the natural color of the clay. This is an Archaic era work. Note the Archaic smiles and stiff postures

Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice game (black-figure amphora) clay and slip, c. 540 BCE (Greek Archaic)

This is an archaic kouros. Ancient Greek art and culture is organized according to strict gender binaries, male and female. These are archaic-style life-size statues called kouros and kore. The kouros is male and the kore is female. They are generic idealized youths. These are not portraits but rather mass produced in marble for a range of uses-- grave marker, votive offerings, etc. This is extremely important. Greek culture fetishized the idealized male nude. It came to symbolize valued characteristics of Greek culture and society-- balance, moderation, health in mind and body. These were all ideal properties of the ideal person, as well as the ideal state. Greek boys went to grade school, which included intellectual studies as well as physical education. Training in sports prepared the young man for later military service. Greek men in art are shown in two ways, with and without the beard. A young man before the age of the beard is a youth and an athlete. A man at the age of the beard is a warrior, a soldier. It was the Greek custom not to shave the face, so a beardless man is a young man

Kouros, marble, (c. 600 BCE) - Greek Archaic

associated with King Minos at Knossos, Crete.

Minoan culture

associated with Mycenae-- mainland Greece.

Mycenaean culture

Another example of liveliness and spontaneous action is this Minoan vessel called the Octopus Vase. Like other cultures around the world, the cultures of the Aegean have popularized ceramics in the Neolithic period. This pot would have been ideal for storing liquid. This vessel is an example of the Marine Style. It is decorated with a lively octopus, whose tentacles twist around the pot. This is an ideal subject for a sphere-shaped vessel. It's also important to note that the octopus, a marine animal, is relevant in this context, as the Minoans where a seafaring culture.

Octopus vase, clay and slip, (c. 1500 BCE) -Minoan

This is the palace at Knossos. Minoan culture gets its name from the legendary King Minos from Knossos Crete. He is believed to have constructed a vast palace complex at Knossos. Minos is infamous for imprisoning a minotaur in a labyrinth beneath his palace. The minotaur is significant as a symbol of chaos or disordered nature. It is the task of any king to control the unruly forces of nature to enforce and promote conformity on both his kingdom and his people. When the palace was excavated in modern times, it was observed that the series of rooms and light wells at the subterranean level had the appearance of a labyrinth. Research shows that this palace incorporated many advancements for the time, including air conditioning, subterranean lighting, and plumbing. The architect achieved this by situating the primary living areas at the basement level, which is cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. To accommodate these subterranean spaces, light wells were incorporated to bring light and air to the lower levels. the column shafts are narrow at the bottom and wider at the top, with large cushion capitals. Research has shown that Neolithic builders in this area used inverted trees together with their root bundles as upright piers for building. The root bundle would have served to level the lintels and roof. Like other cultures, including the Egyptians, these earlier building styles are later translated to more lasting material.

Palace at Knossos, detail of columns, Crete, (c. 1700 BCE) - Minoan

These are archaic-style life-size statues called kouros and kore. The kouros is male and the kore is female. The anonymity of the figures is associated by scholars with the nature of the Greek. It is the root of Greek democracy. In other words, portraiture is more closely associated with cult of personality, with kingship. The archaic style follows the geometric and is characterized by the archaic smile and stiff postures. The smile is indicative of the lively nature of Aegean art, indicative of humanism, with the interest in the present moment, the natural world. Smiling requires effort, agency. It is associated with spontaneous action and denotes life. In terms of the archaic, note too that the limbs of the figures look very much like Egyptian statues, but with the distinction that there is a separation. That is a separation between the limbs and the body, the background of the statue. Historic sources tell us the Greeks learned to cut stone from the Egyptians. As for the medium, marble is widely available in both Greece and Italy. Also unlike the Egyptian statuary, the kore positions her left hand forward in offering. Observe the young man is nude and the woman is clothed. Women in Greek art are never shown nude. Women were obligated to remain modest and virginal. Girls did not go to school but rather prepared for their future vocation as wife and mother by learning from their own mothers at home. The kore shown here is called Peplos Kore. It is polychrome marble dated 530 BCE. A peplos, you should know, is the simple linen tunic worn by Greek women.

Peplos Kore, polychromed marble, c. 530 BCE (Greek Archaic)

Slip is watery clay used for paint. The mineral content in the slip oxidizes when the pot is fired and so turns black. (Dipylon krater continued...)The yellowish background is the natural color of the clay. The decoration at the lip of the pod is a Greek key, also called a meander. During this period, kraters were customized with a hole at the bottom to be used as grave markers. The hole was to accommodate libations to the dead and to drain rainwater. This krater was for a dead man. Such objects were mass produced, according to gender, male and female. There were stock images for men and stock images for women. As shown here, images for men included military motifs. The upper register shows the dead man on a funerary beer, his wife and child sitting behind. To the left and right are professional mourners tearing at their hair. Below is a military procession with soldiers, horses, and chariot. Note the distinctive hourglass shaped Greek shields.

Slip

associated with the Cycladic islands. The Cycladic is the oldest of these three cultures.

The Cycladic culture

The history of the prehistoric and ancient Aegean is dominated by three major cultures-- the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean. The Aegean refers to the culture in and around the Aegean Sea off the coast of mainland Greece

The Early Aegean

The ruins of a citadel, as well as the reconstruction. A double-walled defensive system made of cyclopean rocks. It is the Corbel vaulted gallery wall of the citadel of Tiryns Greece. "Cyclopean" refers to huge, irregular stones believed to be put in place by a mythical race of giant cyclopses. Corbeling is an architectural style that involves placing stones closer and closer together until they form a point. This produces an arch. When carried out along an axis, it can produce a gallery, as seen in the wall of Tiryns. The Treasury of Atreus is a corbeled vault that served as a royal burial. Note, the corbeling here is rotated in 360 degrees, creating a vaulted space. This structure was originally described as a treasury because of the expensive objects discovered here. It was later understood that these were objects buried with the dead, and not an actual treasury. Note the open space has no interior supports.

Treasury of Atreus, detail of corbelled vault, Mycenae, (c. 1300 BCE) - Mycenaean

a war, fought around 1200 B.C., in which an army led by Mycenaean kings attacked the independent trading city of Troy in Anatolia. The Trojan sons of King Priam were on a diplomatic mission to Greece. Troy was a Bronze Age city across the Aegean Sea from Greece on mainland Turkey called Anatolia in ancient times. Paris, the younger brother, falls in love with Helen, wife of a Greek king. She goes back to Troy with him. This sets off a chain of events that lead to the Trojan War. The husband of Helen convinces his fellow kings of the surrounding Greek city-states to band together with him. Reportedly, 1,000 Greek ships set sail for Troy. Like the Mycenaean citadels, Troy has an impenetrable wall. To trick the Trojans, the Greeks construct a huge horse filled with soldiers. The Trojans foolishly accept this gift, not realizing what it is. That night while the city slept, the Greek soldiers evacuated the horse and set the city of Troy on fire. The Greeks won the Trojan War. Of primary significance in this story is the cooperation of the independent self-governed city-states of Greece. Individually, they were independent kingdoms-- The Athenians, the Mycenaeans, and the Spartans, just to name a few. When they band together for a common cause, they are Hellenes. They are Greeks: The term for Greek is "Hellene." The term derives from the woman whose actions resulted in this historic coming together of the Greek city-states.

Trojan War

A theme that appears again and again in Mycenaean art is war. The warrior vase is made of clay and slip, it shows soldiers going off to war while a woman to the left waves them off. As ever in Greek art, the women play a secondary gendered role. Despite their promotion of humanism and democracy, the Ancient Greeks embraced a strict gender binary in which women played a secondary supporting role. They did not have access to a full range of human experience as men did. Note the uniform of the Greek soldier-- short kilt, helmet, spear, and shield.

Warrior Vase, clay and slip, Mycenae, (c. 1200 BCE) - Mycenaean

As you may recall, pottery for food preparation and storage became practical with the advent of farming. The later Greeks famously trade ceramics throughout the Mediterranean world. The potter's wheel was invented during this time period and made the mass production of ceramics a viable industry. Vessels were made in a host of shapes for different uses. More practical and less expensive pots were not decorated, but more expensive luxury vessels were.

pottery in the ancient world

Around 1200 BCE, the Mycenaean citadels, for reasons unknown, where de-peopled. The region of ancient Greece experienced a Dark Age that lasted for around 300 years. Populations were severely diminished and the nature of burials from this period indicates it was a time of poverty and hardship. What followed is new flowering of Greek culture, called the Geometric period. The Geometric is known for the use of geometric shapes, including circles, cylinders, and triangles. The statuette is significant for several reasons. First it demonstrates the Greek interest in the idealized male nude. Second it represents the technique of cast bronze, which will become one of the favored media among Greek sculptors.

the Geometric period