Geometric
Period, ca. 750 B.C.
Things began to change in
the 8th century B.C. Economic
conditions improved, and the population began to increase.
The Greeks began to trade again, and the
written record was reestablished. For
instance, in the year 776 B.C., we know who won the games at Olympia that
year.
Greece was not, however, a
unified culture. It was comprised
of different city-states — Delphi, Marathon, Athens, Sparta, Corinth.
Athens emerged as the cultural center of Greece.
Also in the early 700's B.C., the Greeks began to colonize other areas
— Italy, Sicily, Spain, and North Africa.
At this time, a new social
structure was adopted — democracy. It
was not the form of government that we know today because it allowed slavery
and secluded women. Still, an
ideal emerged which has been profoundly important in the evolution of Western
Civilization.
The Greeks borrow their
alphabet from the Phoenicians. Through
the Greeks, written language was reinvented to write poetry (rather than just
for record keeping).
As we discussed in the
context of the Mycenaeans, Homer lived in the 8th century B.C.; The Iliad was written in 750 B.C.
and The Odyssey in 725
B.C. This is yet another example
the emergence of a new Greek culture. The
tradition of Homer’s poetry goes back to the era of the Mycenaean War
against Troy. However, it is
Homer, “the blind poet who can see everything,” who conceives of the idea of
the epic poem in written form.
Both the Iliad and
Odyssey
are set in the Bronze Age during the Trojan Wars.
That is, they record events that had happened 500 years earlier.
Homer’s work was used for education and to create a representation of
the ideal world. It also helped to
create the idea of a united culture — individual Greek city-states with a
common history.
Geometric Krater from Dipylon Cemetary, Athens, Greece, ca 740 B.C.
These piece were made in
sections on a potter's wheel; the sections were slipped together and then fired in one
piece. This particular form is a
“krater” — which was used for mixing water and wine (forms of Greek
pottery will be discussed a little later).
Note that the entire vase
is covered with decoration. Prominent
at the top (along the neck) is the Greek Key motif or “meander.” Other
geometric motifs appear in bands which circle the body and the foot of the
krater. Because of his
ornamentation, this period of Greek history is called the Geometric Period.
The body of the krater is
decorated with two registers of figural decoration.
The paneled area between the handles is the important scene — the
Prosthesis or the laying out of
the dead. The patterned decoration above the deceased could be death shroud.
In this case, we know that the deceased is male because the penis is
rendered. On either side, are
mourning women, and we know that they are women because of the nipples which
appear under their arms. Their
gesture indicates that they are tearing their hair in grief.
Their bodies are frontal; their heads are in profile.
The figures are flat; their torsos are
triangular. Basically, this
is a very abstract rendering of the human figure.
Likewise, there is no sense of space. These figures do not follow each
other round and round and they are not all exactly the same.
They face each other and communicate.
This is an important facet of Western Art.
The second register is a
battle scene — chariot, horses, warriors with their shields.
This indicates the heroism of the deceased.
Note how the artist conceived the horses.
The intent was to show three horses pulling the chariot.
It is s an odd composite creature, but still rational — note
the three heads with two
front legs and two hind legs per head. It
is meant
to suggest overlapping, but appears very flat.
Also note the clarity of
parts, the rationality of the organization, and (like Homer) the scant
relationship to the natural world.
Hero and Centaur, 4 ˝ inches high
During the Geometric
period, we do find a lot of small, solid-cast bronzes.
This is an early version of a centaur (that is, a man with an attached
hind quarters of a horse). Although
we have seen composite creatures before (like the Egyptian sphinx or the
Sumerian man-headed lions), this particular creature was invented by the
Greeks. The centaur stands
in front of another man — they appear to be struggling.
This bronze was found at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, and so it was
assumed to represent Zeus, but it may be Herakles.
In the mythology of
Herakles, the centaur Nessos carried Herakles’ bride across a river, then
tries to rape her. Nessos then
told Herakles’s wife that she should take her garment and wash it in the centaur’s
blood. According to Nessos, she
could then use the robe to make Herakles fall in love with her again should he
ever be unfaithful. But, in fact, this
robe was poisoned by the blood, and the robe actually kills Herakles.
Herakles, however, comes back as an immortal god.