Art and Philosophy in Ancient Greece

Catalog description

Ancient Greece provided Western Civilization much in terms of art and philosophy. The influence of the Greeks can be seen in such areas as architecture, sculpture, concepts of beauty, literature, etc. These are independent domains, but there is often integration between the two disciplines. This course will uncover the ways in which philosophy informed Greek ideals and the role played by both visual art and literary art. To that end, sections will focus on each of those two disciplines. Study will also display how the disciplines come together in the following areas: 1) Beauty and 2) The interrelation of art, religion, philosophy and the state. Early in the course, students will thoroughly examine the concept of Beauty, with an emphasis on Ideal Beauty. Students will explore objective and subjective definitions by developing models of each and then synthesizing competing ideas in their own unconventional definitions of Beauty. Foundational work will include study of specific Greek artists/thinkers, and involve students in working toward identifying traces of early thinking in contemporary society. This will include both written and visual work. Analyses will target philosophical thought, sculpture and architecture primarily from Early Classical and High Classical/Golden Age works as students explore the Greek search for perfection. The periods and styles that will be covered include: Geometric which includes the Orientalizing period; Archaic; Classical (Early, High, and Late); and Hellenistic. Next students will examine and discuss different philosophical topics such as metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, etc. An emphasis will be placed on Plato and Aristotle but the Pre-Socratics may also be considered. Art and philosophy are also integrated in Ancient Greece. Plato considered beauty, art, the artist and tragedy in works such as The Republic, Philebus, Ion and Hippias Major. Aristotle's major contribution to aesthetics is in the Poetics. The last section will consider the relationship between literary art (plays) and the Greek understanding of authority, particularly the gods, the state and the individual. Much of the art in the Greek culture (as it is in most cultures) is best understood in terms of the dominant religion. The themes developed gave rise to a great deal of philosophical reflection in terms of the place of religion, and how the individual saw themselves in relation to the gods and the state. Through an examination of plays and philosophical texts, students will explore this relation between the individual and an authority (gods or rulers).