Monday, October 31, 2011
A. topsy-turvy world: rebellion, wish-fulfillment
B. cynical interpretation of human character, emphasizing hedonism, selfishness, cunning (ponêria = knavishness, baseness), reversal of orthodox values (comic hero)
C. stereotypes
1. intellectuals, lyric poets, politicians
2. women: uncontrolled sexual libido, fondness for wine and food; reflective of male anxieties and fantasies
D. the grotesque body (mask, padding, phallus, nakedness)
E. obscenity and fertility
A. comic hero and intolerable situation; leap of imaginative fancy to overcome problem; situation set up in prologue scenes
B. agôn = contest (from entry of chorus to the parabasis in many plays)
1. blocking figure(s)
2. choral participation in contest
a. chorus attacks hero
b. chorus supports hero
c. split chorus embodies conflict
3. regular structure of agôn: paired sequences of lyric followed by chanted speeches in symmetrical correspondence
4. triumph by persuasion, by winning debate, or by other effort
C. parabasis = "stepping forward" of the chorus: another large symmetrical composition; often half in voice of the poet, half in character of the chorus; self-justification and rivalry
D. results of success
1. series of iambic scenes with defeating or mockery of enemies; choral interludes with jokes and insults to public figures
2. ending in marriage, kingship, or revelry
3. sometimes, a reversal or a sting in the tail, as in Wasps, Clouds, and perhaps Birds
A. Dikaiopolis
1. name = "just city" or "just in the city"
2. farmer, representative of displaced Athenian country-dweller (cf. Thuc. 2.14-17)
3. critique of city-life, war, and government
4. with separate peace, returns to country and celebrates country-festival (lines 237-279)
B. Acharnians: important deme, with many hoplites and a center of charcoal production; note Thuc. 2.20 on Spartan strategy of damaging Acharnae in first invasion of war
C. vines and libations: damage to vines one consequence of invasions; Dionysos as god of wine and theater; libations = truce; lines 177-203 on 5-yr, 10-yr, 30-yr truces/vintages
D. Euripides (lines 393-479): mockery of the avant-garde, parody of his style and plots, esp. Telephos using baby Orestes as hostage to demand a hearing
E. mockery of Cleon; lines 5-8, 298-302, 370-382, 497-508, 652-664
F. parody of causes of war; lines 515ff.
G. Lamachos ("fight for the people", with pun on "mighty battle"), a real general, later died at Syracuse in 414; used as representative of war, opposite of Dikaiopolis
H. parabasis (lines 626-718)
1. self-praise
2. generational humor: young criticized as rhetorically skilled and unscrupulous
A. Ancient city a very small area within Themistoclean walls (Thuc. 1.93)
B. Acropolis: Athena as city-goddess; Mycenean remains; some very old cults apparently controlled by king; civic religious center by 6th C.
1. Archaic dedications: private offerings such as korai
2. archaic temples dedicated by Peisistratids
C. Agora, crossed by Panathenaic Way
D. Areopagos: used as camp by Persians (Hdt. 8.52) and by legendary Amazons in invasion of Attica, site of trial of Orestes and Athenian homicide court (Aeschylus, Eum. 681-710)
E. Theatre of Dionysus
F. Pnyx: meeting-place of Assembly; scene of opening of Aristophanes' Acharnians
A. After Marathon victory (490 BCE), new temple begun to Athena Parthenos ("The Virgin") = "Pre-Parthenon"
B. Persian destruction of temples and dedications (480 BCE, Herodotus 8.51-55), including still unfinished Pre-Parthenon
C. top of Acropolis left as ruin for 30 years as real and nominal state of war with Persia continued
D. Treasury of Delian League moved to Athens (ca. 454 BCE); contributions of Athenian "allies" became imperial tribute
E. Peace with Persia (ca. 449 BCE): Pericles proposes public expenditure to rebuild monuments on Acropolis
A. Propylaia ("Entrance gateways"), 437-432 BCE (never finished--because of Peloponnesian War?)
1. Monumental entrance to Acropolis on W side, "liminal space" between sacred and secular
2. Designed by Mnesikles
3. Transformation of pre-480 Propylon, unification of earlier structures
4. Heavy Doric columns in front and at sides; tall, slender Ionic columns along interior passageway through structure
5. Form of building guides, frames and controls views of structures within Acropolis, limits access
B. Parthenon (begun 448 BCE, dedicated 438, completed 432)
1. Used remains of destroyed "pre-Parthenon" as foundations for new, much bigger building; rivalled in size Doric Temple of Zeus at Olympia (460's BCE)
2. Architects were Callicrates and Ictinus
3. Smaller interior room behind cella for use as storeroom/strongroom for treasure
4. "Refinements": columns subtly curve out in middle and slant inwards; stylobate rises in middle; aim to make building appear as if straight and well-proportioned
5. Built entirely of marble from Attica (quarries on Mt. Pentelikon, NW of Athens)
6. All elements of Doric Order used on much bigger scale than ever before, but also use of Ionic-style frieze and Ionic columns inside opisthodomos
7. Spectacular sculptural ornament all over building; whole structure gaudily painted in antiquity despite modern appearance of whiteness
A. Early Classical "Severe Style", persisted ca. 480-450.
1. Apollo from W pediment of Temple of Zeus at Olympia
a. Formal differences from Archaic kouros; movement, "natural" posture, turned head
b. Contrasting moods/emotion in Early Classical sculpture
2. Lapiths and Centaurs: another myth used as allegory of civilization vs barbarism, sophrosyne vs. lack of control
B. Parthenon, on grander scale and more developed Classical style, shows several myths of order vs. disorder
1. Coherent sculptural program; probably centrally planned by Phidias, the leading Athenian sculptor of the 5th century
2. Parthenon pediments, badly damaged in 17th century
a. West pediment: mythical contest between Athena and Poseidon for control of Attica, situated on Akropolis itself: Athena's winning gift was the olive-tree (which stood a few metres away to N, Hdt. 8.55)
b. East pediment: birth of Athena; note transformation of representation of female form, use of "clinging drapery"
3. Metopes, symbolic representation order vs. chaos
a. Amazons on West side
b. Trojan War on North side
c. Battle of Greek gods against the giants on East side
d. Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs on South side (best preserved group, in British Museum)
4. Frieze (ca. 80% preserved, in British Museum), extremely low relief (ca. 5cm/2"), running continuously around walls, from W, heading east on N and S walls, climax on E
a. probably represents Panathenaic procession, leading up to Acropolis; shows Athenian civic body, all participating together and anonymous: equality, sophrosyne
b. style--note ease of representing figures in turned positions (compare kouroi and Olympia statues), athletic nude musculatures
c. Figures on East: "Eponymous Heroes" of 10 Tribes of Athens, surrounding council of seated gods, surrounding scene where Athena's sacred robe is unfolded (or folded?) at climax of Panathenaic procession
5. Statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias within cella
a. "Chryselephantine", i.e. plated with gold & ivory; ca. 12-13m high (39 ft), est. 1.144kg, or around 2500 lbs. of gold on statue
b. Lost, but can be reconstructed from ancient copies and a description by Pausanias (a 2nd C CE Greek travel writer)
c. Winged victory alights on Athena's right hand
d. Birth of Pandora on base; battle of Greeks and Centaurs on soles of her sandals; battle of gods vs giants on inside of her shield; Amazons attacking Akropolis on exterior of shield.
e. Use of interior space in cella: extended width of temple, double-decker row of Doric columns behind statue (new, and purely aesthetic)
f. Phidias later made chryselephantine cult statue for Temple of Zeus at Olympia
A. Erechtheion, 421-405 BCE, on N side of Acropolis; odd shape to accommodate many very old existing cults
1. "Caryatid porch" on S of building, facing Parthenon: columns carved into shape of women (typical "full classical" female form)
2. contained archaic olive-wood statue of Athena Polias (annual cleaning and presentation of robe at Panathenaia)
B. Temple of Athena Nike (= "Victory"): 420's BCE, at SW edge of Acropolis (had once been a Mycenaean defense tower there, but Nike worshipped at least from first half of 6th century)
1. Ionic, so sculpted frieze above architrave on all 4 sides; represented battles of Greeks and others, including Persians
2. Balustrade later added around perimeter of sanctuary: late fifth century sensual style
C. Athena Promachos: bronze statue by Phidias, 440s.
A. Parthenon stood until 17th Century (converted to church, then mosque during period of Turkish control of Athens)
1. sculpture drawn by French diplomat J. Carrey, 1674
2. 1687: Parthenon severely damaged in siege of Venetians against Turks; shortly thereafter Morosini tried to take down some pediment sculptures, but they fell and were shattered
3. Early 19th Century: Lord Elgin removed most of the visible sculpture from the Parthenon and sold it to the British Museum (still there today): modern controversy
B. Until early 19th Century, Greek art only known from Roman copies: display of Parthenon sculpture in London had huge impact on art and artistic taste
C. full-scale reconstruction of the Parthenon in Nashville, TN