P1246990923IzgVA

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ACHILLES TO ODYSSEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD No smooth
words about death to me, shining Odysseus! By
god, Id rather slave on earth for another
man Some dirt poor farmer who scrapes to keep
alive Than rule down here over all the exhausted
dead.
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It is very hard to find anything worthwhile in
the Trojan War. What, really, was the point? The
words of Achilles ghost are the eulogy for the
old order. Achilles was a man who ate his fill of
the fruits of victory before discovering they
were sour. If Achilles says it wasnt worth it,
it is time to rethink what heroes should be!
This is a quote about The Odyssey from Susan
Neimans book, Moral Clarity (2008).
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ODYSSEUS begins this process, at times
restraining and even denying his heroic self, at
times unable to resist its demands. Imperfect
as he is, he is, as his name implies, a man of
many parts, a man of twists and turns. He is
an adventurer who, using all of his capacities,
has left the old behind and must somehow figure a
way to get home to a fuller way of life.
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We can expect to find this interest in partsand
the quest for the best order through which to
unify life, to find a fuller way of thinkingin
the art of the Geometric and Archaic Periods
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Dipylon Vase

• Attic Greek amphora (large pottery jar)
• Around 750 BCE.
• National Museum, Athens
• Geometric
• This vase marks the high-point in Geometric art,
  with sophisticated multiple friezes and a central
  figural scene which makes an attempt to show both
  emotion and 3D perspective. The scene is known as
  a prothesis (or "wake"/"lying in state") in which
  the deceased lies under a canopy and is mourned
  by family and friends. It is a common scene on
  Geometric funerary vases.

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Dipylon Vase Nothing has been left to chance the
placing of each part has been painstakingly
calculated to fit in the space.
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Detail of Dipylon Vase

• Depiction of the human form
• The head is always shown in profile
• The chest is always frontal, triangular.
• The legs are always shown in profile, one in
  advance of the other, each visible in its
  entirety
• Broad shoulders and strong massive thighs
  represent the physical manifestation of the
  powerful Homeric hero. This is the heroic body,
  the image that will dominate archaic Greek
  depictions of human beings.

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Each part of the body is distilled into an
abstract form, and bodies consist of these
assembled parts. Clothes are not depicted. It is
the heroic body that is depicted.
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Amphora from Eleusis Odysseus blinding
Polyphemus About 650 BCE Eleusis Museum
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Detail from Amphora from Eleusis

• Odysseus and His Companions Blinding Polyphemus
• The figure of Polyphemus represents a new
  direction in Greek art
• The overlapping of one part of the body by
  another subordinates reality (what we know to be
  really there) to appearance (what we can
  actually see from a particular point of view)
  for the giants right leg is completely hidden
  behind his left, and all we see of his right arm
  is the hand holding the cup, the rest being
  concealed by the profile chest.

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In thus suggesting that the body is contained
between a nearer and a further plane, the early
archaic vase painter has taken the first step on
a long road which will lead eventually to the
invention of spatial illusion, which is essential
to the pictorial symbolization of spontaneous
action.
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Engagement of Heavy-armed Infantry

• A small jug made in Corinth about 640 BCE (the
  so-called Chigi Vase)

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The overlapping is extended to unite several
hoplitesin a closely-knit phalanx.
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Battle of the Gods and Giants

• From the marble frieze of the north side of the
  treasury erected by the Siphnians
• Around 525 BCE
• Not only is overlapping used with great effect to
  convey the confusion of the battle, but there is
  also a feeling for rounded volume in the modeling
  of the bodies and several of the figures are
  obliquely foreshortened, so leading the
  spectators eye back in depth and suggesting the
  third dimension

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ETHOS Character, discipline, stability
PATHOS Action, strife, passion
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ARCHAIC SCULPTURE Kouros (boy)and Kore (girl)
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Influence of the Egyptian sculptors King and
Queen, 2500 BCE.
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Kouros (pl. Kouroi)

• Nude
• Fists clenched, hands to the sides
• Both feet are flat on the ground with the
  advanced left leg unbent at the knee the weight
  falls equally on both legs
• Hair at the back of the head is a beaded curtain
• Head held high, eyes to the front
• Archaic smile
• Symmetrical
• Cube shaped

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Metropolitan Kouros About 600 BCE Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York
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Kleobis and Biton About 580 BCE Archeological
Museum, Delphi
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Kouros from Tenea About 570 BCE Staatliche
Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich
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THE CALFBEARER About 560 BCE Acropolis Museum,
Athens
NOTE THAT THE CALF LOOKS MORE REALISTIC THAN THE
MAN. WHAT DOES THIS FACT INDICATE?
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Auxerre Kore (pl. Korai) About 650 BCE Louvre,
Paris
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Auxerre Kore Clothed One hand at the side, the
other at the breast Head held high, eyes to the
front Highly stylized hair Archaic
smile Symmetrical Cylinder shaped
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Kore from Samos About 570-560 BCE Louvre, Paris
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Peplos Kore About 530 BCE Acropolis Museum,
Athens The action of the left arm raises the
left shoulder higher than the right, slightly
breaking the symmetry and reaching into the
viewers space!
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Kore from Chios About 510 BCE Acropolis Museum,
Athens Elaborate drapery that seems to reflect
the effect of the body and gravity Organic
unity?
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Anavyssos Kouros About 525 BCE National Museum,
Athens Note This kouros served as a grave
marker and was accompanied by the following
inscription "Stand and pity beside the grave
monument of dead Kroisos, whom, at one time,
while fighting in the front ranks of battle,
raging Ares destroyed".
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Kore from Euthydikos About 490 BCE Acropolis
Museum, Athens Loss of the Archaic smile a
melancholy expression instead Found on the
Athenian Acropolis, this kore, named for the
inscription on its base - "Euthydikos, son of
Thaliarchos, dedicated me" - marks an important
transition point in Greek sculpture. It is part
of the movement from archaic to early classical,
known as the Severe Style.
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Kritios Boy

• About 480 BCE
• Same sculptor as the Kore from Euthydikos
• Acropolis Museum, Athens
• The weight of the body is no longer divided
  equally on both legs but is shifted onto one leg
• The right leg is slightly bent at the knee, the
  boys weight being shifted mainly to the left,
  while his head is turned to the right, very
  slightly but just enough to send a current of
  animation through the whole figure.
• Breaks symmetry below the waist and above the
  neck
• His expression is serious, as if the growing
  consciousness of freedom had already burdened him
  with a sense of responsibility

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Blond Boy

• Around 480 BCE
• Acropolis Museum, Athens
• Pythagorean influence the module for determining
  the spacing of the features along the vertical
  axis of the head is equal to one-tenth of the
  total height from the base of the chin to the top
  of the crown.

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Blond Boy

• Base of the chin to the mid-line of the mouth 2
  modules
• To the lower edge of the nostrils 1 module
• To the horizontal axis through the tear ducts and
  the outer corners of the eye 2 modules
• To a line tangent to the uppermost curve of the
  eyebrows 1 module
• To the highest point of the forehead at the edge
  of the cap of the hair 1 module
• To the top of the crown 3 modules

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