Mycenaean & Archaic Greek Art Mainland Greece’s First Flowering

Introduction To Art History I

Professor Will Adams

Valencia College

The Mycenaean Culture: Early Helladic Period: c. 2750 - 2000 BCE

Somewhere between 3000 BCE and 2000 BCE, the lands of Greece were settled by a metal-using agricultural people who spoke a language that was not Indo-European.

Some of the names they gave their villages were preserved by the Greeks, names, for instance, ending in "-ssos."

We know next to nothing of these people, their religion, their cultural memory, their language, or their everyday experiences.

The period when they dominated Greece, called the "Early Helladic" period, seemed to be one of comparative quiet and peace.

All that ended around 2000 BCE; the early Helladic sites and villages were destroyed in fire or abandoned outright.

The Mycenaean Culture: Middle Helladic Period: c. 2000 - 1550 BCE

This period of conquest and

settlement by the Greeks makes

up the Middle Helladic period.

These new invaders settled all the

parts of Greece, in some instances

settling peacefully with the

previous inhabitants, and began

to dominate Greek culture.

They spoke an Indo-European

language; in fact, they spoke

Greek.

Their society was primarily based

on warfare; their leaders were

essentially war-chiefs.

The Mycenaean Culture: Middle Helladic Period: c. 2000 - 1550 BCE

They had settled a difficult land: the Greek mainland is hot, dry and rocky.

Agriculture is difficult, but some crops grow extremely well, such as grapes and olives.

The coastal settlers relied heavily on fishing for their diet.

In spite of the ruggedness of their life and the harshness of their social organization, these early Greeks traded with a civilization to the south, the Minoans.

Their contact with the Minoans was instantly fruitful; they began to urbanize somewhere in the Middle Helladic period and translated their culture into a civilization.

The Mycenaean Culture: Late Helladic Period: c. 1550 - 1150 BCE

Around 1600 BCE, urban centers began to thrive and the Greek

settlers entered their first major period of cultural creativity.

Their cities grew larger, their graves more opulent, their art

more common, their agriculture more efficient, and the power

of these new warlord cities began to be felt around the

Aegean.

This period of Greek development and prosperity is called the

Late Helladic Period or simply The Mycenaean Period.

The Greeks of this age are the Mycenaeans proper; for four

centuries their culture thrived.

The Mycenaean Culture: Late Helladic Period: c. 1550 - 1150 BCE

What we can tell from their

ruined cities, their art, and their

records, is that the Mycenaeans

derived much of their culture

from the Minoans, but with

some dramatic differences.

Mycenaean society was

monarchical.

The monarch, called a wanax,

ruled over a large

administration as a kind of head

bureaucrat.

The Mycenaean Culture: Late Helladic Period: c. 1550 - 1150 BCE

Unlike the Minoans, though,

the Mycenaean kings

accumulated vast wealth in

concentrated form.

The rest of society did not

share in the prosperity as did

the Minoans.

The king was also primarily a

warlord, and Mycenaean

society was constantly geared

for battle and invasion.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Mycenaeans & Perseus

According to the tradition, the city of Mycenae, the main representative of this civilization, was founded by Perseus (1400 - 1350 BCE), the son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of King Akrisos of Argos.

Mycenae was built by the mythical Cyclops, the same one who constructed the enormous walls of the nearby city of Tiryns, which was governed by his brother Proteos.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Mycenaeans & Perseus

Perseus was succeeded by his son Sthenelos, the father of Eurystheus, who captured Argos and according to the myth, he assigned Herakles to perform the twelve labors.

After the death of Eurystheus, the city was governed by Atreus of Elis (1250 BCE), the brother of Eurystheus’ wife and son of Pelops and Hippodameia.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Citadel at Mycenae: c. 1400 BCE

The Mycenaean Culture: The Citadel at Mycenae: c. 1400 BCE

The ancient city of Mycenae was

once thought to exist only in

ancient Greek legend and the epic

poetry of Homer.

It wasn't until 1870 CE that an

amateur archaeologist named

Heinrich Schliemann found the

fabled city.

Many people doubted that he

would find such a city, but using

only landmarks from the text of

Homers Iliad, Schliemann

uncovered the remains of a once

thriving civilization.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Citadel at Mycenae: c. 1400 BCE

The city of Mycenae was the center of a large and powerful Mycenaean Greek civilization, which existed from circa 1900 BCE to 1125 BCE.

It is located in the south central part of what is present day Greece.

The Mycenaean civilization was at its height between 1400 and 1200 BCE.

It is believed that the entire civilization consisted of a few loosely joined city-states.

Possible members of the city-states were Tiryns, Pylos, Thebes, Orchomenos, and of course Mycenae, which was the strongest.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Citadel at Mycenae: c. 1400 BCE

The Mycenaean Culture: The Citadel at Mycenae: c. 1400 BCE

The cyclopean citadel walls of Mycenae protected the palace, administration buildings and some habitations.

It is a roughly triangular fortress situated around a low hill with 1 main gate, a postern gate and 1 or 2 sally ports.

A paved ramp-road winds from the main gate, past Grave Circle A, past buildings of the lower citadel, and up to the palace at the top of the hill.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Citadel at Mycenae: c. 1400 BCE

There were 3 stages of construction:

1. ca. 1350 BCE: walls enclosed highest portion of hill

2. ca. 1250 BCE: area enlarged to S and W, enclosing Grave Circle A. Lion Gate and postern gate added

3. ca. 1200 BCE: NE Extension encloses access to water reservoir.

The southeast section of citadel lost to later natural erosion.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Lion Gate at Mycenae: c. 1250 BCE

The twin lions shown here flanking a pillar were positioned above the main entrance to the citadel of Mycenae.

The gate was about 10 feet wide and 10 feet high; the carved stone with the lions is about three feet high.

It forms what is called a "relieving triangle", because the carved slab weighs much less than the stones to the right and left; this reduced pressure on the lintel block below it.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Lion Gate at Mycenae: c. 1250 BCE

That block weighs two tons or so.

The door was made up of two wooden leaves opening inward.

The lions originally had heads made of metal, but they have long since disappeared.

The column the two lions stand beside perhaps represented the god of the royal house; the lions served to guard the entrance.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Treasury of Atreus: c. 1350 BCE

The Mycenaean Culture: The Treasury of Atreus: c. 1350 BCE

The Treasury of Atreus, also known as the Tomb of Agamemnon, the legendary king of Mycenae, lies in a walking distance from the ancient site and is one of the most famous buildings of Mycenae.

The Treasury of Atreus is actually a tomb: a vaulted tomb built of stone called a tholos (“beehive”) tomb, made of corbelled concentric rings of stone.

The Mycenaean Culture: The Treasury of Atreus: c. 1350 BCE

The Mycenaean Culture: The Treasury of Atreus: c. 1350 BCE

The enormous monolithic lintel of the doorway weighs 120 tons and is 29.5 feet long, 16.5 feet deep, and 3 feet high. It is surmounted by a relieving triangle that was decorated with relief plaques.

The façade is approached by a dromos, or ceremonial passageway, that is revetted with cyclopean blocks of masonry and open to the sky.

The Mycenaean Culture: Death Mask of Agamemnon: c. 1550 BCE

The Mycenaean Culture: Death Mask of Agamemnon: c. 1550 BCE

Created between 1600 and 1500 BCE, this gold mask from Mycenae measures 12 inches high and was found in one of the burial shafts of the grave circle inside the walls.

It was originally discovered by Heinrich Schliemann who, enthralled by ancient Greek myths, name it the "Mask of Agamemnon."

The Mycenaean Culture: Death Mask of Agamemnon: c. 1550 BCE

This gold mask was probably for a king - such masks were commonly put on the faces of deceased royalty - but even if Agamemnon did exist, the mask is older than him - by about 300 years or so.

Of all the gold masks discovered at Mycenae, this is the best and there is a good chance that it was created by Minoan craftsmen who fled whatever disaster had befallen Crete and caused the destruction of many palaces there.

The End of Mycenae By 1200 BCE, the power of Mycenae was declining; during

the 12th century, Mycenaean dominance collapsed. Within a short time, around 1250 BC, all the palaces of

southern Greece were burned, including the one at Mycenae.

This is traditionally attributed to a Dorian invasion of Greeks from the north, although some historians now doubt that such an invasion took place.

However, no outsiders speaking Doric Greek entered Greece.

Another theory postulates that some of the Mycenaean populace, who later came to speak the Doric dialect, turned on the weakened Mycenaean superstructure and razed it, settling in many regions formerly controlled by it.

Revival & Extinction During the early Classical period, Mycenae was once again

inhabited, though it never regained its earlier importance.

Mycenaeans fought at Thermopylae and Plataea during the Persian Wars.

In 462 BCE, however, troops from Argos captured Mycenae and expelled its inhabitants.

In Hellenistic and Roman times, the ruins at Mycenae were a tourist attraction (just as they are now).

A small town grew up to serve the tourist trade.

By late Roman times, however, the site had been abandoned.

The Archaic Period: 600 – 480 BCE

Historical Events 600 - 480 BCE Persian Wars 490 - 479 BCE Poets and Playwrights

Sappho 600 BCE, Aeschylus 525 BCE

Herodotus 485 BCE

Democratic reforms Draco, Solon, Kleisthenes Tyrants patronize arts

Pre-Socratic Philosophers search for the basis of reality Thales of Miletus (water) Parmenides (logos) Heraclites (change)

Human Figure Sculpture: Kouroi New York Kouros c. 600 BCE Marble 6’ 1/2” high Kouros “youth”

Grave marker Based on Egyptain

prototypes

Offerings to gods Generic quality made it

useful for in several contexts

Increasingly lifelike

New York Kouros

Compare &

Contrast COMPARE

Left leg stride Arms at side Frontal posture Muscles linear

Expressionless face Votive offerings

CONTRAST NY Kouros

freestanding NY Kouros nude NY Kouros marble

Notice The Progression

The Peplos Kore

530 BCE

The Kroisos Kouros

530 BCE

The Calf Bearer 560 BCE

The New York Kouros

c. 600 BCE

Ancient Greek Pottery

Geometric Ware: The Dipylon Krater Artist Unknown

Dipylon Krater

Athenian Black-figure Footed Krater

C. 800-700 BCE

42 ½” Tall

This is probably the most famous example of Greek geometric ware.

It was found just outside Athens in a cemetery, whose entrance was flanked by two large pylons, thus its name.

This large, footed vessel was wheel thrown in sections and assembled.

At the top is a register with a decoration called a stepped meander.

Geometric Ware: The Dipylon Krater Below that is the burial

procession.

Below the burial scene is a procession of chariots, horses and warriors.

Individual warriors are reduced to highly stylized and geometric figures.

An attempt is made to indicate perspective, by drawing three horses pulling each chariot.

The three horses are painted one behind the next, but oddly, all 12 legs appear in one plane.

Archaic Black Figure Vases

KLEITIAS & ERGOTIMOS François Vase

Athenian black-figure volute krater ca. 570 BCE.

General view (top) and detail of centauromachy on other side of

vase (bottom) 2’ 2” high

Exekias: Black-Figure Master

EXEKIAS, Achilles and Ajax Playing

Dice Athenian

black-figure amphora

c. 540–530 BCE.

Black Figure Method Exekias

Achilles Killing Penthesilea

Athenian black-figure amphora

c. 540–530 BCE

1’ 4 3/8” high

Throw vessel on potter’s wheel

Handles applied separately

Paint with “slip”

Fire 3 times

Oxidizing: All turn red

Reducing: All turn black

Reoxidizing: Basic baking clay becomes red again

A Bilingual Vase: Black & Red Figure Pottery

Euphronios: Red-Figure Master

EUPHRONIOS Herakles Wrestling

Antaios Athenian red-figure

calyx krater c. 510 BCE

Whole vessel 1’ 7” high; detail 7 3/4”

high

Euthymides: “As Never Euphronios!”

Euthymides

Three Revelers

Athenian Red-figure Amphora

C. 510 BCE

2’ High

Na Synechistoún…