Greek Art and Architecture
FA/VISA 2520 3.0
TAKE HOME QUIZ
By: Svjetlana Stikic
Student #: 206668164
Prof.: G.P.R. Metraux
Topic # 3
Greek society was centered on the "polis" or city-state, and it dictated what was acceptable and not. It had limitations that prevented certain members of society to partake in social life, like the women. They were not granted citizenship; it was reserved only for males. This gendered perception led to various by-products. Women had to be fully clothed and males did not. Evidence of this can be seen through art of Archaic and Classical origin in Greece. Through sculpture it can be seen that men are by nature nude and women become nude under certain conditions.
In Andrew Stewart's book Art, Desire and the Body in Ancient Greece, he implies that nudity originated in the athletic facet of Greek life, specifically in the Olympics of the eight century.1 The story of a runner named Orsippos of Megara who was running a race and his loincloth fell off. Art after this occurrence appears to have picked up on this and from sculptures of this period men start to appear naked. The figure of Kouros of Anavysos (Figure 1) is one such example of this archaic period. From this point it became popular and very desirable for men to perform athletics in the nude. Andrew Stewart is quoted as saying that, "they saw the custom as a concrete manifestation of such desirable manly attributes as courage, strength, speed, fitness, and so on, all of which 'naturally' create a handsome body."2 From this it is evident that the nude male becomes a representation beauty, strength and the perfect body. Artists, from this new concept, wanted to depict the bodies of their figures as idealistic and beautiful. Women did appear, rarely, nude when participating in sporting events or at festivals and as a result of this could not be married. Stewart states that, "unmarried Spartan girls or pathenoi...practiced athletics, singing and dancing naked at certain festivals; and participated in some processions naked as well."3 Women did not have such a heavy following as their bodies were not permitted to be seen in such a manner. A married woman was not to be naked for social, familial and modesty reasons. The only naked figured were those of goddesses. "Peplos Kore" (Figure 2) from 530 BCE is what a typical woman form this period would be wearing. She is modest by wearing this and the belt that gave a figure by being tied at her waist.
FA/VISA 2520 3.0
TAKE HOME QUIZ
By: Svjetlana Stikic
Student #: 206668164
Prof.: G.P.R. Metraux
Topic # 3
Greek society was centered on the "polis" or city-state, and it dictated what was acceptable and not. It had limitations that prevented certain members of society to partake in social life, like the women. They were not granted citizenship; it was reserved only for males. This gendered perception led to various by-products. Women had to be fully clothed and males did not. Evidence of this can be seen through art of Archaic and Classical origin in Greece. Through sculpture it can be seen that men are by nature nude and women become nude under certain conditions.
In Andrew Stewart's book Art, Desire and the Body in Ancient Greece, he implies that nudity originated in the athletic facet of Greek life, specifically in the Olympics of the eight century.1 The story of a runner named Orsippos of Megara who was running a race and his loincloth fell off. Art after this occurrence appears to have picked up on this and from sculptures of this period men start to appear naked. The figure of Kouros of Anavysos (Figure 1) is one such example of this archaic period. From this point it became popular and very desirable for men to perform athletics in the nude. Andrew Stewart is quoted as saying that, "they saw the custom as a concrete manifestation of such desirable manly attributes as courage, strength, speed, fitness, and so on, all of which 'naturally' create a handsome body."2 From this it is evident that the nude male becomes a representation beauty, strength and the perfect body. Artists, from this new concept, wanted to depict the bodies of their figures as idealistic and beautiful. Women did appear, rarely, nude when participating in sporting events or at festivals and as a result of this could not be married. Stewart states that, "unmarried Spartan girls or pathenoi...practiced athletics, singing and dancing naked at certain festivals; and participated in some processions naked as well."3 Women did not have such a heavy following as their bodies were not permitted to be seen in such a manner. A married woman was not to be naked for social, familial and modesty reasons. The only naked figured were those of goddesses. "Peplos Kore" (Figure 2) from 530 BCE is what a typical woman form this period would be wearing. She is modest by wearing this and the belt that gave a figure by being tied at her waist.
