Ancient Greek Art

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the styles of ancient Greek art and the depiction of mythological and heroic images in art. The paper devotes time to describing the Mykonos amphora, the combination of scenes that depicts acts of Greek brutality and violence. The paper also describes many other pieces of pottery and art that are representations of the Trojan War's climactic events and discusses the tendency to merge together disparate episodes of the Iliad narrative. The writer opines that the images and depictions found on a great variety of ancient Greek pottery provide a fascinating glimpse into the cultural and artistic world of one of the first societies to practice democracy and to explain the natural world in scientific terms.

From the Paper:

"In essence, the oral history of the Trojan War has come down to us through the epic poem the Iliad by the Greek poet Homer who composed this famous account of the conflict between the Trojans and the Greeks sometime during the 8th century BCE and the Ilioupersis ("The Sack of Ilion") by Arktinos of Miletos which survives only in a few ancient references (Magrath, 2002). The basic tale of the Trojan War relates events that allegedly occurred some five hundred years prior to the writing of the Iliad and the Ilioupersis, circa the 13th century BCE during the Mycenaean Period in ancient Greece."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, Michael J. The Fall of Troy in Early Greek Poetry and Art. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
• "Astyanax." Encyclopedia Mythica. Internet. 2007. Retrieved from ???? (URL)
• Magrath, J. "Ilioupersis or the Sack of Ilion by Arktinos of Miletos, 776-7". Muncie, IN: Ball State University, 2006.
• Schefold, Karl. Myth and Legend in Early Greek Art. New York: Henry N. Abrams, 1966.
• Woodford, Susan. The Trojan War in Ancient Art. London: Duckworth, 1993.

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