Classical Socities

The Arts and Culture of Classical Societies

The Arts and Culture of Classical Societies

Civilizations throughout history reveal the most about themselves through their artwork. Each of these Classical societies, Classical Greece, Hellenistic Greece, Roman Republic, and Roman Empire, offer an insight into their worlds, their lives, beliefs, and politics, through their artwork. The artwork reflects the values and culture of these civilizations and is largely our source of information about them.

Classical Greece

This sculpture of Hermes, the Olympian messenger god, with the infant Dionysus is dated mid- fourth century B.C.E. This artwork reveals a significant change in the views on family and sentiment. The sculptures of this period focus less on war and death. The “S curve” of the spine and accurate anatomical detail are developed in this period. Sculptures are done in the “contraposto” pose with more natural form. This artwork reveals that people in this period were becoming more aware of the human anatomy, including muscle tone and bone structure. This artwork, along with most from this era, expresses the culture of this civilization to be a peaceful and loving one. The inclusion of the infant reveals more about the care and consideration of these figures, and their casual lifelike stance reflects what was referred to in the textbook as “Classical balance between idealism and naturalism” (Benton & DiYanni, 2008, p. 71). This artwork, by depicting gods as human forms and as peaceful, causes the relationship of the people with the gods to be one of peace rather than fear. The gods were invoked less and the people spent more time living and enjoying life. This artwork was influenced by the precision of the culture, demonstrated by the perfect proportions of the body, which were present in all art from this period. Sculptures of Classical Greece would set the standard for human sculpture in civilizations to...