Greek Era (Ancient Greece) Lecture Notes PDF

GREEK ERA (ANCIENT GREECE) Dr. Ola Khayat GREEK ERA (ANCIENT GREECE) HELLENIC PERIOD (ANCIENT GREEK) 1200-323 BC ▪ Greece was one of the most important countries in the ancient world due to its abundance of thinkers, writers, warriors, artists, architects, and painters, in addition to the grea...

GREEK ERA (ANCIENT GREECE) Dr. Ola Khayat GREEK ERA (ANCIENT GREECE) HELLENIC PERIOD (ANCIENT GREEK) 1200-323 BC ▪ Greece was one of the most important countries in the ancient world due to its abundance of thinkers, writers, warriors, artists, architects, and painters, in addition to the greatest philosophers known to human history throughout the ages. ▪ About 40 thousand years ago, humans settled in Greece, and life at that time was primitive and simple; they lived on hunting and agriculture. ▪ Historians mentioned that the Greek civilization began with the Minoan civilization, named after their king Minos, and its main center was on the island of Crete. It was known as the land of Hellas and was not known as the Greeks or Greece, which is its first and original name. ▪ After that, it was named the Greeks, derived from the name of the Garekoi Tribe, while Yawon is the name of the southern coast of Asia Minor, and the Arabs later changed the name to Greece. HELLENIC PERIOD (ANCIENT GREEK) 1200-323 BC ▪ The most important thing that distinguished their people was awareness and culture, as the Greeks were cultured people whose culture spread to many countries while they sailed for trade or explored new lands. Thus, they spread their culture to many countries and lived in different regions, such as Italy and France. ▪ The Greeks benefited from the legacy of the civilizations that preceded them and learned from them, such as the Pharaonic and Phoenician civilizations. PYTHAGORAS - MATHEMATICIAN One of the greatest mathematicians and one of his most famous sayings: ▪ "Anger begins with stupidity and ends with regret. ▪ Anxiety is supposed to push us to work, not to depression, because who cannot control himself is not free. ▪ Friends are like traveling companions; they should help each other persevere on the path to a happier life. ▪ There is nothing easy that does not become difficult when you do it under duress." HIPPOCRATES ‫ أبقراط‬- DOCTOR He is called the father of medicine, and one of his most famous sayings is: ▪ "We eat to live, not to live to eat. Everything in excess is against nature. ▪ Before you heal someone, ask them if they are willing to give up the things that make them sick. ▪ Make it a habit to do two things: offer help, or at least do no harm." EUCLID ‫ – أقليدس‬MATHEMATICIAN One of the greatest mathematicians, he is called the father of geometry. One of his most famous sayings is: "The laws of nature are but the mathematical thought of God“ ‫قوانين الطبيعة ما هي إال أفكار هللا‬.‫الرياضية‬ ARCHIMEDES - MATHEMATICIAN One of the greatest mathematicians, and one of his most famous quotes: ▪ A person always learns from his past; we cannot study history the other way around. ▪ Rise above yourself and understand the world. ▪ He knows how to talk who knows when to be silent. HOMER ‫ هوميروس‬- POET AND WRITER One of his most famous sayings: "Of all the creatures that breathe and move on earth, none is born weaker than human." PLATO ‫ – أفالطون‬PHILOSOPHER One of his most famous quotes: ▪ Love is blind. ▪ Give and you will receive. ▪ The greatest victory a man can win is victory over himself. ▪ The important thing is not to live, but to live well. ARISTOTLE ‫ – أرسطو‬PHILOSOPHER One of his most famous quotes: ▪ Who is no longer your friend was never your friend. ▪ Happiness comes from within ourselves, not from others. ▪ The worst of people is who, through his immorality, harms both himself and others." SOCRATES ‫ سقراط‬- PHILOSOPHER One of his most famous quotes: ▪ who is not satisfied with what he has will never be satisfied with what he wishes to have. ▪ He gave us two ears, two eyes, and one tongue, which indicates that we must listen and see more than we speak. ▪ Be kind to everyone you meet; each of us has his own difficult battle. ▪ Life is not a search for the self, but a journey to create the self. Create something of yourself that is difficult to imitate." HELLENIC PERIOD (ANCIENT GREEK) 1200-323 BC ▪ The Greek era is considered a period full of scientific, political, philosophical, and artistic achievements, leaving an unparalleled impact on Western civilization. ▪ The Greeks conveyed spaces and shapes by focusing on proportion, as strongly demonstrated by the Greek mathematician Pythagoras. Thus, the style of Greek buildings was largely based on dimensions, volume, and their relationship to each other. ▪ As for materials, the Greeks possessed remarkable mastery of stone, building monumental structures and decorating them with artistic brilliance using marble. ▪ The most distinctive architectural elements of the ancient period were the columns. HELLENIC PERIOD (ANCIENT GREEK) 1200-323 BC The buildings of the Classical period of the Greek era (c. 480–320 BC) highlight the maturity and sophistication Greece had reached at that time in terms of architecture. Temples were the most important and widespread type of building in Greek architecture. The most famous building in the ancient Erechtheum ‫معبد ارخثوم‬ Propylaea ‫معبد بروبيليا‬ complex is the Parthenon, which is also the largest temple built during the classical era. TEMPLES IN THE GREEK ERA ▪ The rectangular temple was the most common and well-known form of Greek public architecture. ▪ A temple was a simple rectangular building with side walls, often forming a small portico. ▪ Inside, temples contained a central throne room, a vestibule, two wooden columns, and a portico at the entrance. ▪ The earliest temples were made mostly of mud and brick, set on stone foundations. Later, when columns began to be made of stone or marble, the proportions and spacing were adjusted to accommodate the new materials. ▪ Temples in ancient Greece were considered homes for the gods. However, they did not serve the same function as modern churches, as the altar ‫ المذبح‬stood under the open sky, often directly in front of the temple. TEMPLES IN THE GREEK ERA ▪ Temples acted as sites for worship images, storage rooms for the treasury associated with the god, and places where devotees could leave votive offerings ‫ لترك قرابينهم النذرية‬, such as statues, helmets, and weapons. Some Greek temples were also oriented towards the Astronomy. ▪ The dimensions of Greek temples could reach up to 115 × 55 meters, about the size of an average football field. The columns could reach a height of 20 meters. TEMPLES IN THE GREEK ERA The Greeks developed three architectural systems, known as orders, each with its own distinctive dimensions and details. These classifications serve as indicators of the architectural and aesthetic development of Greek architecture: Doric Ionic Corinthian FIRST: THE DORIC ORDER ▪ The Doric order is the oldest of the three classical orders of architecture and marks a significant moment in architectural history when monumental construction shifted from impermanent materials—such as wood—to permanent materials, specifically stone. ▪ The Doric order is characterized by a simple, undecorated column base, with the column resting directly on the temple structure without a base.  CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLUMNS OF THE DORIC ORDER ▪ Doric columns consisted of a ribbed cylinder and were the simplest and thickest of the Greek styles. ▪ They had no decoration at the base and were simple at the top. ▪ Doric columns are tapered, meaning they are wider at the bottom than at the top. ▪ They are almost always cut with grooves, known as "flutes," which run the length of the column and are typically 20 in number, although sometimes fewer. ▪ The Doric column is topped by a capital with a rounded bottom and convex borders, carrying a square section of slight height. ▪ The proportions of the Doric column are as follows: - The height of the column is about six times the diameter. - The distance between the columns is about one and a half times the diameter of the column. - The horizontal projection is circular, with a diameter of about 1.5 meters. SECOND: THE IONIC ORDER The Ionic order appeared around 450 BC. It originated in Ionia, a coastal region in central Anatolia— modern-day Turkey—where there were several ancient Greek settlements. This order was first used in smaller temples. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLUMNS OF THE IONIC ORDER ▪ The capital of the Ionic column is characterized by a spiral shape with decorative scrolls, known as volutes. Unlike the Doric capital, the Ionic capital does not have four identical faces. ▪ The Ionic column also has a base, unlike the Doric column, which lacks one. ▪ The Ionic order is known for its graceful proportions, giving it a more elegant and refined appearance compared to the Doric order. ▪ The body of the column is divided vertically into 24 deeply carved flutes, separated by rounded edges. ▪ The proportions of the Ionic column are as follows: - The height of the column is about 8 or 9 times the diameter, making it taller and more slender than the Doric column. THE IONIC ORDER THIRD: THE CORINTHIAN ORDER ▪ The Corinthian order is the latest and most elaborate of the Greek architectural orders. ▪ This order was used in both Greek and Roman architecture, with slight variations between the two. ▪ As the name suggests, the origins of the Corinthian order are linked to the Greek city-state of Corinth, where the sculptor Callimachus is said to have depicted a group of acanthus leaves surrounding a votive basket. ▪ The defining feature of the Corinthian order is its elaborately sculpted capital, which includes more vegetal elements than the Ionic and Doric orders. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CORINTHIAN ORDER COLUMNS ▪ The Corinthian order is the most ornate of the three. ▪ The capital is decorated with scrolls and acanthus leaves, surmounted by spiral rosettes. ▪ The height of the column is about 10 times its diameter. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE THREE COLUMNS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE THREE COLUMNS ▪ The Doric column is the most solid and the most massive in proportion. ▪ The Ionic column is the least solid. ▪ The Corinthian column is the tallest, the most slender, and the most richly decorated. KEY ASPECTS OF GREEK ARCHITECTURE 1) Aesthetic aspect: Greek temples are considered architectural masterpieces, showcasing the art and beauty of proportions. They display symmetry, numerical precision in the arrangement of columns, intricate decorations, and harmonious color schemes. 2) Functional aspect: Greek temples fulfilled their primary purpose—worshiping the gods—through the presence of dedicated worship halls designed for that purpose. 3) Economic aspect: Greek temples were built from locally available materials such as sandstone and limestone. The paints used were made from lime powder and marble, all of which were inexpensive resources found in the Greek environment. 4) Structural aspect: The Greeks paid great attention to the structural integrity of their temples. For instance, the diameters of the columns taper as they rise, creating a sense of strength and solidity in the construction. FURNITURE IN THE GREEK ERA (ANCIENT GREEK) ▪ The Greek Klismos Chair is a distinctive piece of Greek furniture. While no original examples have survived, Greek artwork, such as pottery decorations and friezes, depicts everyday life in their homes. ▪ What we know about classical Greek furniture comes from its depiction in artwork—painted pottery (including black-figure and red-figure wares), reliefs, and sculpture. ▪ The Greeks used wood extensively to make furniture, employing various species such as oak, maple, cedar, boxwood, olive, citron, and beech. There is also evidence of metal being used in furniture construction. ▪ Some surviving pieces or parts of furniture are made from copper, bronze, or iron. ▪ Evidence suggests that for the wealthy, wooden furniture was often finished with metalwork.  FURNITURE IN THE GREEK ERA (KLISMOS CHAIR) ▪ Since few actual Greek furniture pieces have survived, scholars have turned to sources such as vase paintings to identify the form. ▪ In one such depiction, Xanthippus ‫ زانثيبوس‬is shown seated on a Klismos chair, with two girls, possibly his daughters, beside him. ▪ The relief clearly illustrates the graceful quality of the chair, with its splayed front and back legs. ▪ Although the back of the chair is not visible, the contour of Xanthippus’s body suggests a curved backrest, consistent with the Tomb of Xanthippos, Athens, ergonomic design of the Klismos chair. Greece, ca. 420 BC. Source: British Museum, London England, Egypt Gallery. FURNITURE IN THE GREEK ERA (KLISMOS CHAIR) ▪ Replica of the Klismos Chair, 1961, Athens, Greece, designed by Terence Harold Robjohn-Gibbings. This replica was manufactured by Eleftherios Saridis, the "House of Saridis," founded in 1867 in Athens, Greece. ▪ In the early 1960s, Robjohn-Gibbings collaborated with the House of Saridis to design a complete line of furniture, known as the Klismos Furniture Line. These pieces are highly prized and continue to be collected today. While Saridis reproduced authentic furniture from various styles and periods, his fame largely came from recreating classical Greek furniture. ▪ The Robjohn-Gibbings design is now part of the collection at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York. Examining the Robjohn-Gibbings Klismos design, we can see that it embodies elegance and grace, maintaining the perfect classical form.  FURNITURE IN THE GREEK ERA (KLISMOS CHAIR) ▪ The chair is light in form and crafted from walnut with a leather seat. Starting from the top of the chair's back, we notice that the upper portion is rectangular and curves forward on the sides, suggesting a design that wraps around the user. ▪ This back piece is supported by a central circular section, slightly concave, with two columns flanking it on either side. ▪ The back pieces extend down to the rear legs, tapering and ending in flattened feet. ▪ Both the back and front legs have tapered top corners at seat level, and the seat rail connects the legs along all four sides, forming a trapezoidal frame (wider at the front). ▪ The seat is made of strips of leather cord, loosely woven between the frame. Each cord wraps around the bottom of the seat rail and is secured with nails.  CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK FURNITURE ▪ Although the Greeks drew inspiration for their furniture design from the culture of the Egyptians and other surrounding peoples, the style of furniture was changed by the Greeks and Greek furniture pieces became more simple and elegant. ▪ Greek furniture pieces were characterized by the adjustment of form with function and by the interest in line more than decoration. ▪ The use of delicate and elegant curves and an interest in physical comfort. ▪ Houses were not crowded with a lot of furniture. ▪ The typical material used in furniture design was wood because it was durable and easy to design. MODERN FURNITURE INSPIRED BY THE GREEK ERA THANKS! Do you have any question?