Art of Ancient Greece

The art of ancient Greece was so amazing that it had an effect throughout the ages. Many of the styles have been copied or reproduced. We often look back on Greece art and use it to produce today's art and architecture.


On of the arts of ancient Greece was architecture. An example is the many temples they built. The temples had a religious purpose as well as political purpose. The Greeks developed three architectural systems, called orders, each with their own distinctive proportions and detailing. The Greek orders are: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The Doric style was used in mainland Greece and the colonies in southern Italy and Sicily. The ionic style was fancier and was found in eastern Greece and the islands. The most elaborate of the three was the Corinthian style which was often seen on Roman temples.

Another of Greek's art was sculptures. One of the most important sculptures is the Charioteer of Delphi. It represents the balance between stylized geometric representation and idealized realism, thus capturing the moment in history when western civilization progressed forward to define its own foundations that braced it for the future.

Another of the Greek's sculptures is the Kouros. It was a man in a frontal pose with their left leg moved forward, their arms close to their bodies touching the side of their thighs.

Another of the Greek art was painting. They painted detailed pictures on the vases. The vases changed from place to place and from time to time. (Powell,80)

There were four periods of Greek art: the Geometric Period, the Archaic Period, the Classical Period and the Hellenistic Period. During the Geometric Period large-scale ceramic vessels were produced as grave markers. The first vessels had small portions filled with simple stick-figure people, often attending a funeral. The Archaic Period had two major types of art: vase-painting and sculpture. The vase painting was diverted from the Geometric Period and was the primary technique of Archaic vase-painting; It was known as the black-figure vase-painting technique. The statues of this time were made out of bronze and marble. They were often created for temples. The last Greece art period was the Classical Period. . In vase-painting, the technique changes from black-figures to red-figures, where the backgrounds are now painted in black, and the natural color of the red clay now represents flesh tones. Bronze sculpture was another major art form of Classical Greece. During this time another major event was the building of the Parthenon of Athens. These were the periods of Ancient Greece's art. The Hellenistic Period was the time in which Greek art was extended to their lands. The growth of violence was also extended in this time.

During these periods. there were no sharp changes in artistic style. There, however, was smooth changes between the art periods of Ancient Greece.

One effect of the changes in the periods of art was that the ancient greek artist were learning new techniques and addressing new problems. (Garland,199)

The Ancient Greek art gave birth to the western classical art. It also took influence in the Eastern civilizations and the new religion of Orthodox Christianity in the Byzantine era and absorbed Italian and European ideas during the period of Romanticism.

This is the basis for Ancient Greek art. It was very extraordinary and influenced many people and country in the years that followed.

Garland, Robert. Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. United States, 1998.

Powell, Anton. Ancient Greece, Library of Congress Cataloging Publications, England, 1989.

Alexander the Great's most noteworthy accomplishment

Alexander the Great's most noteworthy accomplishment in my opinion was the conquering of the countries from Greece to western India. In this he grew a well-built army and by using his great brillance suceeded in many military advances.

Before Alexander the Great became a great conqueror he was a boy. He was son of Phillip 2 and Oympias. His father was king of Macedonia. As a child he was tutored by Aristotle in the subjects of rhetoric, literature, science, and medicine. At the early age of eighteen, Alexander had led a group of cavalry in the battle of Chaeronea against the two Greek cities-states Athens and Thebes. This helped his father win this battle and gain control over much of Greece. This shows that Alexander started his military training and practice at a young age. Phillip 2 decided to have a war with the Persians, but before he had the chance he was assassinated in 336B.

Soon after his father's death Alexander took the throne. Once becoming king he quickly executed his father's killer and all who opposed him. Then Along with the throne Alexander also received a highly trained army who were organized around the units of pikemen armed with sarissas, fourteen foot long spears. Alexander assembled thirty thousand pikemen, infantrymen, and engineers. He also assembled five thousand cavalry to carry out his father's plan to invade Asia Minor.

Alexander the Great continued his military passion for the rest of his life. Soon after he assembled his army he sacked Thebes. Then he started his conquest of Asia; this is when the battle of Granicus took place. In 333B.C. Alexander then defeats Darius at the battle of Issus, and captures the Family of Darius. He later lays siege to Tyre and enters Egypt. This is when he founded Alexandria in Egypt. In the same year he defeats Darius at the battle of Guagamela, takes Mesapotamia, and enters Babylon, Persepolis, and Pasargadae. In the next three years he burned Persepolis and campaigned in Sogdiana and Bactria. He started his plan be entering India and crossing the Indus River. Here he wins the battle of Hydaspes. He then sails down the Indus River to the India Ocean. In 325 B.C. Alexander returns through Baluchistan and suffers great hardships. In the next two years Alexander received a fever and died from it in 232 B.C. He died at the age of 32. This is a short biography of Alexander's military life. This is one of the reasons why Alexander's military life was his most noteworthy of his accomplishments.

Another one of the reasons why his military life was his most noteworthy accomplishment is the fact that his father created the military phalanx. The phalanx was a flexible unit well drilled and able to take on a variety of formations. Alexander extended his creation and used it in his long military life. The phalanx usually consisted of 16 men on a side, 256 men in each unit, always and exclusively Macedonian. They were armed with the sarissa and The real strength of the phalanx was its many formations and maneuvers. While the square was the usual formation, it could form a line or wedge or other shapes. The soldiers were trained to respond to flag and trumpet signals. No army in the Western world in the 4th century was its equal. This shows that Alexander had military brilliance in his blood and had a great military teacher in his childhood.

" Philip II was Alexander's father and Alexander inherited Philip's desire to conquer the Persians and to rule as much of the world as possiable." (Morgan, 34)

Another reason why this was Alexander's most noteworthy accomplishments is for the reason that he was passionate about it. You can see this in his bravery. He was always at the front and always in the thick of battle. He also was wounded in many battles, such as: wounded in neck and head at the Granicus River, the shoulder at Gaza, and had his lung pierced by an arrow in India. This hows that he would not give up and keep fighting. Alexander was also more than once was the first man over the wall at the storming of a city. For this reason he never lost a battle and was thought to be invincible by his men and his enemies. All of these factors created an army that simply could not be stopped. Its accomplishments eclipsed anything that had ever been done, Alexander and his Macedonians entered into legend.

"Alexander had spent almost almost all of his 13-year reign at war. In the process, he destroyed forever the power of the Greek sity-states. However wherever he went on his campaigns through Asia, he created city-states on the Greek model. . . He is said to have founded some 70 cities all together." (Ackroyd ,120)

These are a few of the many reasons why I believe that Alexander the Great's most noteworthy accomlishment is his military strength and many won battles that support it.

Ackroyd, Peter. Ancient Greece. DK Publishing, Inc., New York, 2005.

Morgan, Nicola. People Who Made History in Ancient Greece. Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, New York, 2001.

The Era of Pericles

The Era of Pericles was very critical for the Greeks. This was because many significant events occurred during this time. Some of them where the Athens became the most splendid of Greek city-states, both politically and culturally with its fleet, making allies with other city-states in the Delian League against the enemy Persia, and with Pericles many great building projects took place.

Pericles was the son of Xanthippus and Agariste. His father was a military leader in the Persian Wars. His father was also victorious at the battle at Mycale. Pericles came from a high class family and received a good education.

During his childhood he was taught by many great teachers. Some of them include: the philosopher Anaxagoras as well as Zenon of Elea. Pericles started as a statesman; and was a supported of democracy. He wanted all the citizens of Athens to take part in politics.

One of the important events Pericles did for Greece was the building of the Acropolis structures. The Acropolis had temples and was also behind the Pnyx, the place where the assembly of the people gathered. The building of these gave many Athenians jobs. This was one of the importance's of Pericles and his era.

The structures on the acropolis is called the Parthenon. When the Persian invaded Athens in 480 BCE, they destroyed its acropolis. Thus Pericles rebuilt a new temple called the Parthenon on the ashes of the old site in 450 BCE. (Ackroyd, 71)

During the Pericles era he also changes many things. One of them were the changing of the Delian League, a collection of city-states bound together with Athens to stand against Persia, into an Athenian Empire. He also collected annual payments from the member states to maintain a fleet of ships, and the money left over was used to improve Athens. These were a few of the many achievements of Pericles during his era.

As leader of the ruling Democratic party, Pericles changed many aspects of Athenian life. He introduced payments for members of the Assembly, so people no longer needed to be rich to play a part in politics. He spread power more widely, although women and slaves still had no power.

(Morgan, 23)

Pericles died from a plauge that swept over Athenens. The historian wrote, "...The plague seized Pericles, not with sharp and violent fits, but with a dull lingering distemper, wasting the strength of his body and undermining his noble soul. "

This is several of the many accomplishments Pericles made during his lifetime. He changed the city-state Athens and the Athenian lives dramatically.

Ackroyd, Peter, Ancient Greece. DK Publishing, Inc., New York, 2005.

Morgan, Nicola, People Who Made History In: Ancient Greece. Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, New York, 2001.