Power and Politics Ancient History

Power and Politics Art as a vehicle for political message, as the product of patronage of political elites, and as an expression of rule.  Ancient Near East  Roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East.  3000-331 BC  The Law Code of Hammurabi (...

Power and Politics Art as a vehicle for political message, as the product of patronage of political elites, and as an expression of rule.  Ancient Near East  Roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East.  3000-331 BC  The Law Code of Hammurabi (c. 1792-1750 B.C.)  51 cuneiform columns  To protect the weak from the strong.  The Talion Law: eye-for-eye  Builder killed if house fell on owner.  Doctor’s hand cut off if patient died in surgery  Adultress’ guilt or innocence depended on whether she floated or not. King Assurnasipal II Hunting Lions  Ancient Greece: Hellenic Golden Age (5th cent. B.C.): beautiful proportions, formal, simple.  Ancient Greece: Hellenistic  Alexander the Great (4th cent B.C.) to the beginning of the Roman Empire (31 B.C.).  Spread of Greek culture beyond Greece.  Exaggerated, overly dramatic and decorative.  The Laocoön  Artists: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus.  Battle of Issus Alexander fighting King Darius III of Persia