Historical Background

Welcome to “History through Art”. Today we’ll be looking at the history, art and culture of Ancient Greece. But why should you be interested in learning about a civilization more than three thousand years old? For the Ancient Greeks left an enormous legacy to Western Civilization. For instance, if it weren't for the philosophers of Ancient Greece – such as Plato – we might not be living in a republic. Democracy might not be the ideal political system in the Western world. Ideas such as "all men are created equal" and "equal justice under the law" might not be part of our vocabulary without the Greeks.

The Ancient Greeks truly believed that people were remarkable beings— certainly capable of cooperative self-government. This high regard for humanity is reflected in the graceful, yet strong, style of Greek sculpture and in paintings on urns, as well as in their stories and myths about strong men and women—and humanlike gods—who were tested and tried and who frequently triumphed over all odds. Greek art also reflects the history of the people.

Nearly 4000 years ago people began to settle the mainland and islands of Greece. These settlers belonged to two groups: the Ionians and the Dorians. Both groups eventually gave their names to the capitals—or tops—of one of Greece's most popular architectural features—the column. The same style of Ionic and Doric columns that supported the walls of Greek temples, like the Parthenon, can be seen on many buildings and houses today. From the settlements of the Ionians and Dorians emerged a number of prosperous city-states that traded with the older civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, such as Egypt. The most prominent of the city-states were Corinth, Sparta, and Athens. As a result of various wars and alliances, these city-states were in constant contact with each other. From cultural exchange emerged Hellenic, or Classical Greek, culture.

From the beginning, the Ancient Greeks created remarkable drama, poetry, music, and visual arts, all of which ennobled religious and cultural life. Some of this artistic legacy is still available for us to study today, 2500 years or more after it was created.

Perhaps you can discover eternal truths about human frailty and passion in the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, or understand the real measure of a hero as found in Homer's epic poems The Illiad and The Odyssey. And who can forget the timeless morals of Aesop's fables?

Most historians agree that Greek art and culture reached its highest point in Athens during the 5th century B.C. During this period, the Greeks produced enduring achievements in architecture, sculpture, drama, and philosophy, as well as advances in democratic government.

Not long after this period, Macedonia, the country north of Ancient Greece, conquered Greece in 338 B.C. Macedonia's most famous leader, Alexander the Great, studied in Greece and was a fervent admirer of Hellenic customs and civilization. As he conquered countries from Greece to India, he carried and taught the Greek culture as the ideal.

Two hundred years later, in 146 B.C., Greece was conquered again, this time by the Romans. However, even that defeat did not stop the spread of Greek culture. Like Alexander before them, as the Romans expanded their Empire throughout Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor, they also spread their love for Greek art and philosophy. The popularity of Greek culture eventually declined during the Middle Ages, when people began to focus more on heavenly things than on earthly ones. However, it gained new life 1000 years later during the Italian Renaissance, and there have been frequent Greek revivals even into modern times.

In the following program you will see and hear many things that may seem familiar to you in some way. This is because many years ago, the Ancient Greeks laid the foundation for much of the world we live in today.

Part I

These are the rocky, sun-bleached, wind-swept hills of Ancient Greece. This relic-strewn land gave birth to ideals, values and a spirit which still live within the heart of Western Man. Here, the island-dotted Aegean Sea embraces the very foundations of Western Civilization.

More than 2700 years ago, these craggy rocks and barren lands watched silently as the Dorian tribes from the west, and the Ionians from the east came to settle on the land. Centuries later their civilization had attained levels of culture that have never been excelled. The standards set by these Ancient Greeks have been the standards for Western Man ever since. Though we know of many civilizations older than that of the Greeks – the Egyptians for one – we look to Ancient Greece for the roots of Western Man.

How were these early Greeks different from previous civilizations? The most striking difference was the commitment to man himself, to his capacities, his potential, and his ideals. Thus, the Greeks were history’s first humanists, believing that man was the measure of all things. They wished not merely to survive, but to survive in freedom and with dignity.

The Greeks aspired to the highest human values, such as justice, human rights, and honour for all. Our own Constitution was partly inspired by this heritage from the Ancient Greeks. Their ideals still exert enormous influence today.

The Greek interest in life and humanity can best be appreciated by comparing the Greek and Egyptian civilizations. Ancient Egypt was primarily concerned with death and with the life hereafter. The Egyptians built the most famous cemetery in the world. The Pharaohs built these awesome mountains of death in an attempt to prolong their tremendous power into eternity. So they preserved their mummified bodies deep within the gigantic tombs. The Egyptian culture was based upon slavery and dictatorship. The average Egyptian man was at the base of a vast human pyramid. It was a world in which great rulers had total power and superstition held the minds of men captive. For most Egyptians the ideas of reason and of freedom did not exist. And human life itself had little value.

For the Greeks, on the other hand, reason, democracy, and the life here-and-now were all important. The Greek interest in man was so great that even the Greek gods were anthropomorphic, that is, created in the image and shape of man.

Here are some of the Greek gods: Zeus, the powerful chief of the gods and ruler of the heavens. Apollo, the sun god, the god of wisdom, light, poetry and healing. He is serene, poised, and majestic. Dionysus, the god of intoxication, ritual and drama. Athena, goddess of wisdom. According to legend, she was born by springing fully grown from the head of Zeus. Aphrodite, goddess of love, fertility and beauty.

They were gods and goddesses in the form of superhumans. And like humans they fought battles, were angry, jealous, and made love. They also took sides in the wars of men. Always, the gods represented man, or certain aspects of human life, at their idealized best. The gods were created by the poet, priest, and sculptor in the form of the powerful, dignified, and graceful human beings.

No other civilization had believed in such human gods. For example, these are the gods of Ancient Egypt. They are represented by animals or distorted humans, never by the lifelike men and women that Greek gods resembled.

The extent, to which the Greeks believed the human being to be the module, or basic unit of measure, is evident in the way they presented man in their sculpture. The figure is strong and straight, with many vertical lines to emphasize its strength, much like a column, the predominant element in Greek temple architecture. This association between man and the architectural column indicates that the Greeks identified the human being with the characteristics of the column: strong, orderly, proud, erect, beautiful.

The column symbolized man, while man symbolized life, the intellect and the human spirit. Thus, we think of the Greeks dedicating their many-columned temples not only to the gods, but also to the idea of man. Man was indeed, the measure of all things, even of his gods. And just as each column contributed to the support of the whole structure, so each human contributed his support to the whole community.

In their concept of the community, or polis, lies the Ancient Greeks’ greatest creation. The polis (from which comes our word politics) was not intended to exert force and oppress the individual, like the Egyptian form of government. Rather, it was a commitment to an idea that all Greeks willingly assumed. And this ideal influenced all aspects of their lives - moral, intellectual, social, aesthetic, spiritual, and practical. Imagine what an integrated, harmonious experience life must have been.

The word polis stood not only for the integrated relationship, which governed every aspect of Greek life; it also meant the place where the community resided. Thus, the polis was a community, a city and a state all in one. It was usually small by modern urban standards. For example, the Athenian polis was never larger than about 200 000 people. Like an early New England town, it was self-sufficient, proud, democratic and had a strong communal spirit.

The physical centre of the polis was within the city itself. It was a high, sacred place, rich in historical legend. Originally, it was a fortified stronghold, but it became more a symbolic than a practical place. It was called the Acropolis, “acro” meaning high, “polis” meaning city. Upon it was focused much of the ritual and ceremony of Greek life.

The greatest of these Acropolei was in Athens. The Athenian Acropolis was crowned by a mere handful of buildings, erected during the Golden Age of Greece.

This is the entrance building, which is called the Propylaea. Right next to it stands a tiny temple dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens for her moment of victory over the Persians. Toward the centre of this vast platform were built two more temples, the Erechtheum and the Parthenon. Dedicated to the goddess Athena, the Parthenon housed a great ivory and gold statue of her.

We, who are so impressed by great size and large numbers, can nevertheless appreciate the Greek emphasis upon quality. The Greek imagination was not fired up by huge dimensions such as those of the Egyptian pyramids. Rather, the Greeks took pride in painstaking refinements and subtleties. Four buildings are not a large number to crown a great age. But as we shall see, they were all excellently planned, down to the last detail and such excellence is rare.