The Greek eipiphany
Extract from chapter nineteen of "Primitive Materialism".
The iconography of the archaic period. (a) Kouroi are standing, usually naked, male youths, in an upright walking posture with one leg gently extended before the other, as in walking. The stylised face expresses a slight smile. (b) Herm, a pillar surmounted by bearded representation of Hermes, and adorned with nothing else than an erect penis. (c) Kore, a standing clothed young female figure, wearing a peplos or lighter chiton; the posture is stationary – not rigid, for it implies the potential for motion. The stylised face expresses a smile, perhaps a stronger impression than that of the kouroi. One arm hangs down beside the body in a stately aspect, the other either hangs down likewise, or is sometimes extended as in a slight motion of offering. (d) Sacred aniconic representations of the goddess – Artemis, Athena, Hera – in the form of a plank of wood, black stone, fallen object or pillar. Pillar like images have survived. (e) Pottery is still in the geometric phase – rhythmic meanders with limited figurative representation – where representation does emerge – highly stylised geometric, triangular forms usually in funerary scenes.
Questions
1. How should we interpret the iconography of the Greek archaic period?
2. What did a Greek experience, when he experienced the Olympian gods?
3. What does the pottery of the geometric phase tell us about the conditoin of Greek society and social consciousness during the archaic period?
2. What did a Greek experience, when he experienced the Olympian gods?
3. What does the pottery of the geometric phase tell us about the conditoin of Greek society and social consciousness during the archaic period?