1.
Culture of Greece
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In ancient times, Greece was the birthplace of Western culture and democracy. Modern democracies owe a debt to Greek beliefs in government by the people, trial by jury, the ancient Greeks pioneered in many fields that rely on systematic thought, including biology, geometry, history, philosophy, and physics. They introduced such important literary forms as epic and lyric poetry, history, tragedy, in their pursuit of order and proportion, the Greeks created an ideal of beauty that strongly influenced Western art. Ancient Greek architecture is best known through its temples and theatres, Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine architecture emphasized a Greek cross layout, the Byzantine capitol style of column, during the Ottoman conquest, the Greek architecture was concentrated mainly on the Greek Orthodox churches of the Greek diaspora. These churches, such as other intellectual centres built by Greeks in Diaspora, was influenced by the western European architecture. After the independence of Greece and during the century, the Neoclassical architecture was heavily used for both public and private building. Regarding the churches, Greece also experienced the Neo-Byzantine revival, in 1933 the Athens Charter, a manifesto of the modernist movement, was signed, and was published later by Le Corbusier. Architects of this movement were among others, the Bauhaus-architect Ioannis Despotopoulos, Dimitris Pikionis, Patroklos Karantinos and Takis Zenetos. After World War II and the Greek civil war, the construction of condominiums in the major Greek city centres, was a major contributory factor for the Greek economy. The first skyscrapers were constructed during the 1960s and 1970s, such as the OTE Tower. During the 1960s and 1970s, Xenia was a hotel construction program initiated by the Hellenic Tourism Organisation to improve the countrys tourism infrastructure. It constitutes one of the largest infrastructure projects in modern Greek history, the first manager of the project was the architect Charalambos Sfaellos and from 1957 the buildings were designed by a team under Aris Konstantinidis. Cinema first appeared in Greece in 1896 but the first actual cine-theatre was opened in 1907, in 1914 the Asty Films Company was founded and the production of long films begun. Golfo, a well known traditional love story, is the first Greek long movie, in 1931, Orestis Laskos directed Daphnis and Chloe, contained the first nude scene in the history of European cinema, it was also the first Greek movie which was played abroad. In 1944 Katina Paxinou was honoured with the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for For Whom the Bell Tolls, the 1950s and early 1960s are considered by many as the Greek Golden age of Cinema. More than sixty films per year were made, with the majority having film noir elements, notable films were Η κάλπικη λίρα, Πικρό Ψωμί, O Drakos, Stella. Cacoyannis also directed Zorba the Greek with Anthony Quinn which received Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, finos Film also contributed to this period with movies such as Λατέρνα, Φτώχεια και Φιλότιμο, Η Θεία από το Σικάγο, Το ξύλο βγήκε από τον Παράδεισο and many more
2.
History of Greece
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The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece, as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied throughout the ages, and, as a result, at its cultural and geographical peak, Greek civilization spread from Greece to Egypt and to the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan. Since then, Greek minorities have remained in former Greek territories, nowadays most Greeks live in the modern states of Greece and Cyprus. The Neolithic Revolution reached Europe beginning in 7000–6500 BC when agriculturalists from the Near East entered the Greek peninsula from Anatolia by island-hopping through the Aegean Sea. The first Greek-speaking tribes, speaking the predecessor of the Mycenaean language, little specific information is known about the Minoans, including their language, which was recorded on the undeciphered Linear A script). They were primarily a people engaged in extensive overseas trade throughout the Mediterranean region. Minoan civilization was affected by a number of natural cataclysms such as the eruption at Thera. In 1425 BC, the Minoan palaces were devastated by fire, the Minoan civilization which preceded the Mycenaean civilization on Crete was revealed to the modern world by Sir Arthur Evans in 1900, when he purchased and then began excavating a site at Knossos. Mycenaean civilization originated and evolved from the society and culture of the Early and it emerged in circa 1600 BC, when Helladic culture in mainland Greece was transformed under influences from Minoan Crete and lasted until the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces in c.1100 BC. Mycenaean Greece is the Late Helladic Bronze Age civilization of Ancient Greece and it is the setting of the epics of Homer and most of Greek mythology. The Mycenaean period takes its name from the archaeological site Mycenae in the northeastern Argolid, Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites. Mycenaean civilization was dominated by a warrior aristocracy, around 1400 BC, the Mycenaeans extended their control to Crete, center of the Minoan civilization, and adopted a form of the Minoan script called Linear A to write their early form of Greek. The Mycenaean-era script is called Linear B, which was deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris, the Mycenaeans buried their nobles in beehive tombs, large circular burial chambers with a high-vaulted roof and straight entry passage lined with stone. They often buried daggers or some form of military equipment with the deceased. The nobility were buried with gold masks, tiaras, armor. Mycenaeans were buried in a position, and some of the nobility underwent mummification. Around 1100–1050 BC, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed, numerous cities were sacked and the region entered what historians see as a dark age. During this period, Greece experienced a decline in population and literacy, the Greeks themselves have traditionally blamed this decline on an invasion by another wave of Greek people, the Dorians, although there is scant archaeological evidence for this view
3.
Greeks
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The Greeks or Hellenes are an ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Turkey, Sicily, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world, many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of ancient Greek colonization. The cultural centers of the Greeks have included Athens, Thessalonica, Alexandria, Smyrna, most ethnic Greeks live nowadays within the borders of the modern Greek state and Cyprus. The Greek genocide and population exchange between Greece and Turkey nearly ended the three millennia-old Greek presence in Asia Minor, other longstanding Greek populations can be found from southern Italy to the Caucasus and southern Russia and Ukraine and in the Greek diaspora communities in a number of other countries. Today, most Greeks are officially registered as members of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Greeks speak the Greek language, which forms its own unique branch within the Indo-European family of languages, the Hellenic. They are part of a group of ethnicities, described by Anthony D. Smith as an archetypal diaspora people. Both migrations occur at incisive periods, the Mycenaean at the transition to the Late Bronze Age, the Mycenaeans quickly penetrated the Aegean Sea and, by the 15th century BC, had reached Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus and the shores of Asia Minor. Around 1200 BC, the Dorians, another Greek-speaking people, followed from Epirus, the Dorian invasion was followed by a poorly attested period of migrations, appropriately called the Greek Dark Ages, but by 800 BC the landscape of Archaic and Classical Greece was discernible. The Greeks of classical antiquity idealized their Mycenaean ancestors and the Mycenaean period as an era of heroes, closeness of the gods. The Homeric Epics were especially and generally accepted as part of the Greek past, as part of the Mycenaean heritage that survived, the names of the gods and goddesses of Mycenaean Greece became major figures of the Olympian Pantheon of later antiquity. The ethnogenesis of the Greek nation is linked to the development of Pan-Hellenism in the 8th century BC, the works of Homer and Hesiod were written in the 8th century BC, becoming the basis of the national religion, ethos, history and mythology. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was established in this period, the classical period of Greek civilization covers a time spanning from the early 5th century BC to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. It is so named because it set the standards by which Greek civilization would be judged in later eras, the Peloponnesian War, the large scale civil war between the two most powerful Greek city-states Athens and Sparta and their allies, left both greatly weakened. Many Greeks settled in Hellenistic cities like Alexandria, Antioch and Seleucia, two thousand years later, there are still communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, like the Kalash, who claim to be descended from Greek settlers. The Hellenistic civilization was the period of Greek civilization, the beginnings of which are usually placed at Alexanders death. This Hellenistic age, so called because it saw the partial Hellenization of many non-Greek cultures and this age saw the Greeks move towards larger cities and a reduction in the importance of the city-state. These larger cities were parts of the still larger Kingdoms of the Diadochi, Greeks, however, remained aware of their past, chiefly through the study of the works of Homer and the classical authors. An important factor in maintaining Greek identity was contact with barbarian peoples and this led to a strong desire among Greeks to organize the transmission of the Hellenic paideia to the next generation
4.
Languages of Greece
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The official language of Greece is Greek, spoken by 99% of the population. In addition, a number of non-official, minority languages and some Greek dialects are spoken as well, the most common foreign languages learned by Greeks are English, German, French and Italian. Modern Greek is the official language of the Hellenic Republic. Standard Modern Greek is the officially used standard, but there are several non-official dialects, regional spoken dialects exist side by side with learned, archaic written forms. All surviving forms of modern Greek, except the Tsakonian language, are descendants of the common supra-regional as it was spoken in late antiquity, as such, they can ultimately be classified as descendants of Attic Greek, the dialect spoken in and around Athens in the classical era. Tsakonian, a dialect spoken today by a dwindling community in the Peloponnese, is a descendant of the ancient Doric dialect. Some other dialects have preserved elements of various ancient non-Attic dialects, cappadocian Greek is a Hellenic language originally spoken in Cappadocia and since the 1920s spoken in Greece. It has very few speakers and was thought to be extinct. The Cappadocians rapidly shifted to Standard Modern Greek and their language was thought to be extinct since the 1960s, cretan Greek is spoken by more than 500,000 people on the island of Crete, as well as in the Greek Diaspora. It is rarely used in language, and differs much less from Standard Greek than other varieties. Cypriot Greek is spoken by Greek Cypriots, settled in many Greek cities, and in other parts of the world including Australia, Canada. The Maniot Greek dialect of the area of Mani. Pontic Greek is a Hellenic language originally spoken in Pontus and by Caucasus Greeks in the South Caucasus region, the little-spoken Tsakonian language is used by some in the Tsakonia region of Peloponnese. The language is split into three dialects, Northern, Southern, and Propontis, the language is spoken by 1,200 people. A Jewish dialect of Greek spoken by the Romaniotes, Yevanic is almost completely extinct today, there are a total of roughly 50 speakers, around 35 of whom now reside in Israel. The language may still be used by some elderly Romaniotes in Ioannina, Greek Sign Language is the sign language of the Greek deaf community. It has been recognised as the official language of the Deaf Community in Greece and is estimated to be used by about 42,000 signers in 1986. Since the 1990s, large numbers of Albanian immigrants have arrived in Greece and it is unofficially claimed that 1,000,000 Greeks are of Albanian descent, either by ancestry, marriage or immigration
5.
Greek mythology
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It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
6.
Greek cuisine
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Greek cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine. It has some characteristics with the traditional cuisines of the Balkans. Contemporary Greek cookery makes wide use of vegetables, olive oil, grains, fish, wine, other important ingredients include olives, cheese, eggplant, zucchini, lemon juice, vegetables, herbs, bread and yoghurt. The most commonly used grain is wheat, barley is also used, common dessert ingredients include nuts, honey, fruits, and filo pastry. Greek cuisine has a tradition of some 4,000 years and is a part of the history. Its flavors change with the season and its geography, Greek cookery, historically a forerunner of Western cuisine, spread its culinary influence - via ancient Rome - throughout Europe and beyond. It has influences from the different peoples cuisine the Greeks have interacted with over the centuries, as evidenced by several types of sweets and it was Archestratos in 320 B. C. who wrote the first cookbook in history. Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality and was founded on the Mediterranean triad, wheat, olive oil and this trend in Greek diet continued in Roman and Ottoman times and changed only fairly recently when technological progress has made meat more available. Wine and olive oil have always been a part of it. Culinary advice was influenced by the theory of humors, first put forth by the ancient Greek doctor Claudius Aelius Galenus, Byzantine cuisine benefited from Constantinople’s position as a global hub of the spice trade. The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cuisine is olive oil and it is produced from the olive trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food, however, they are also widely eaten. The basic grain in Greece is wheat, though barley is also grown, important vegetables include tomato, aubergine, potato, green beans, okra, green peppers, and onions. Honey in Greece is mainly honey from the nectar of fruit trees and citrus trees, lemon, orange, bigarade trees, thyme honey, mastic is grown on the Aegean island of Chios. Greek cuisine uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines do, namely, oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill, other common herbs and spices include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Parsley is also used as a garnish on some dishes, many Greek recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use sweet spices in combination with meat, for example cinnamon, whole spice and cloves in stews. The climate and terrain has tended to favour the breeding of goats and sheep over cattle, fish dishes are common in coastal regions and on the islands. A great variety of types are used in Greek cuisine, including Feta, Kasseri, Kefalotyri, Graviera, Anthotyros, Manouri, Metsovone, Ladotyri, Kalathaki, Katiki-Tsalafouti. Too much refinement is generally considered to be against the hearty spirit of the Greek cuisine, dining out is common in Greece, and has been for quite some time
7.
Religion in Greece
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Religion in Greece is dominated by the Greek Orthodox Church, which is within the larger communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It represents the majority of the population and is recognized as the prevailing religion of Greece. Religions with smaller numbers of followers include Islam, Catholicism, Evangelicalism, since 1850, Greek Orthodoxy within Greece is handled by the Church of Greece. Its members comprise between 88% and 95-98% of the population, the most recent Pew report gave a percentage of 88. 1% as 2010 numbers, as a result, many attribute to the modern Greek nation an ethnoreligious identity. The Church of Greece is largely exempt from taxes, compared to religious organizations. Furthermore, the mainstream Orthodox clergys salaries and pensions are paid for by the State at rates comparable to those of teachers, in addition, the Constitution prohibits proselytism from other religions. Indigenous Catholic Greeks number approximately 50,000 and are all over Greece, the majority, however, live in the Cyclades. The presence of Catholics in the Greek islands is mostly a heritage from the time of the Venetian domination from the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic community has increased in size in recent years due to immigration and today number over 200,000. Catholic Greeks of the Byzantine Rite number approximately 5,000, protestants, including Greek Evangelical Church and Free Evangelical Churches, stand at about 30,000. The Free Apostolic Church of the Pentecost was founded by Dr. Leonidas Feggos in 1965, the official church, Eastern Orthodox, and the State reluctantly gave permission for Pentecostal churches to operate legally. The process of receiving permission from the Ministry of Education and Religion to operate as a church is becoming easier, assemblies of God, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and other Pentecostal churches of the Greek Synod of Apostolic Church have 12,000 members. The Independent Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost is the biggest Protestant denomination in Greece with 120 churches, there are no official statistics about Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost, but the Orthodox Church estimates the followers at 20,000. The presence of Armenians in Greece dates back centuries, when Armenians settled in Thessalia, Macedonia, Thrace, the Armenians in Greece acquired the character of a community after the 1920s, when 70,000 to 80,000 survivors of the Armenian Genocide fled to Greece. Today, emigration to North America has diminished the Armenian population of Greece, the number now counts for roughly 20, 000-35,000 Greco-Armenians. Some thousands people are members of the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes, indigenous Turks and Muslims in Greece are mostly of Turkish origin though a community of Greek Muslims exists as well. The number of followers of Islam is estimated to be at 97,604 people or 0. 95% of the total population, immigrant Muslims are estimated between 200, 000-300,000. The number of the followers is not so high amongst the Greeks, today there are three religious centers, in Athens, Thessaloniki and Corinth. Hinduism in Greece has a small following, there is a small Hindu community in Athens
8.
Greek art
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Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods. Greek art is mainly five forms, architecture, sculpture, painting, artistic production in Greece began in the prehistoric pre-Greek Cycladic and the Minoan civilizations, both of which were influenced by local traditions and the art of ancient Egypt. There are three divisions of the stages of later ancient Greek art that correspond roughly with historical periods of the same names. These are the Archaic, the Classical and the Hellenistic, the Archaic period is usually dated from 1000 BC. Of course, different forms of art developed at different speeds in different parts of the Greek world, there was no sharp transition from one artistic period to another. The art of ancient Greece has exercised an influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models, following the Renaissance in Europe, the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists. Pottery was either red with black designs or black with red designs, Byzantine art is the term created for the Eastern Roman Empire from about the 5th century until the fall of Constantinople in 1452. It can also be used for the art of people of the former Byzantine Empire under the rule of Ottoman Empire after 1453, in some respects the Byzantine artistic tradition has continued in Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day. Byzantine art grew from the art of ancient Greece and, at least before 1453, never lost sight of its classical heritage, the most profound of these was that the humanist ethic of ancient Greek art was replaced by the Christian ethic. If the purpose of art was the glorification of man. One of the most important forms of Byzantine art was, and still is, like the Cretan school it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing Western European artistic influence, and also saw the first signiand the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. The Heptanese School of painting succeeded the Cretan School as the school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after Crete fell to the Ottomans in 1669. Like the Cretan school it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing Western European artistic influence, the school was based in the Ionian Islands, which were not part of Ottoman Greece, from the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century. Modern Greek art, after the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, after centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities for an education in the arts existed in the newly independent Greece, so studying abroad was imperative for artists. Munich, as an important international center for the arts at that time, was the place where the majority of the Greek artists of the 19th century chose to study, later on, they would return to Greece and pass on their knowledge. Both academic and personal bonds developed between early Greek painters and Munich artistry giving birth to the Greek Munich School, nikolaos Gysis was an important teacher and artist at the Munich Academy and he soon became a leading figure among Greek artists. Many of these Munich School artists chose subjects such as everyday Greek life, local customs, several important painters emerged at this time
9.
Greek literature
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Greek literature refers to writings composed in areas of Greek influence throughout the period in which the Greek-speaking people have existed. Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in an Ancient Greek dialect and this literature ranges from the oldest surviving written works until works from approximately the fifth century CE. This time period is divided into the Preclassical, Classical, Hellenistic, Preclassical Greek literature primarily revolved around myths and include the works of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Classical period saw the dawn of drama and history. Three philosophers are especially notable, Socrates, Plato, during the Roman era, significant contributions were made in a variety of subjects, including history, philosophy, and the sciences. Byzantine literature refers to literature of the Byzantine Empire written in Atticizing, Medieval, chronicles, distinct from historics, arose in this period. Encyclopedias also flourished in this period, Modern Greek literature refers to literature written in common Modern Greek. The Cretan Renaissance poem Erotokritos is one of the most significant works from time period. Adamantios Korais and Rigas Feraios are two of the most notable figures, Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in Ancient Greek dialects. These works range from the oldest surviving works in the Greek language until works from the fifth century CE. The Greek language arose from the language, roughly two-thirds of its words can be derived from various reconstructions of the tongue. The Greeks created poetry before making use of writing for literary purposes, poems created in the Preclassical period were meant to be sung or recited. Most poems focused on myths, legends that were part folktale, tragedies and comedies emerged around 600 BCE. At the beginning of Greek literature stand the works of Homer, the Iliad, though dates of composition vary, these works were fixed around 800 BCE or after. Another significant figure was the poet Hesiod and his two surviving works are Works and Days and Theogony. During the classical period, many of the genres of western literature became more prominent, the two major lyrical poets were Sappho and Pindar. Of the hundreds of written and performed during this time period. These plays are authored by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the comedy arose from a ritual in honor of Dionysus. These plays were full of obscenity, abuse, and insult, the surviving plays by Aristophanes are a treasure trove of comic presentation
10.
Byzantine literature
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Byzantine literature is the Greek literature of the Middle Ages, whether written in the territory of the Byzantine Empire or outside its borders. It forms the second period in the history of Greek literature, though popular Byzantine literature and early Modern Greek literature and this practice was perpetuated by a long-established system of Greek education where rhetoric was a leading subject. A typical product of this Byzantine education was the Greek Church Fathers, consequently, the vast Christian literature of the 3rd to 6th centuries established a synthesis of Hellenic and Christian thought. In addition, this style was also removed from the Koine Greek language of the New Testament, reaching back to Homer. In this manner, the culture of the Byzantine Empire was marked for over 1000 years by a diglossy between two different forms of the language, which were used for different purposes. However, the relations between the high and low forms of Greek changed over the centuries, the political recovery of the 9th century instigated a literary revival, in which a conscious attempt was made to recreate the Hellenic-Christian literary culture of late antiquity. Simple or popular Greek was avoided in literary use and many of the saints lives were rewritten in an archaizing style. By the 12th century the cultural confidence of the Byzantine Greeks led them to new literary genres, such as romantic fiction, in which adventure. Satire made occasional use of elements from spoken Greek, at the same time there was the beginning of a flourishing literature in an approximation to the vernacular Modern Greek. However the vernacular literature was limited to poetic romances and popular devotional writing, all serious literature continued to make use of the archaizing language of learned Greek tradition. Byzantine literature has two sources, Classical Greek and Orthodox Christian tradition, each of those sources provided a series of models and references for the Byzantine writer and his readers. The oldest of three civilizations is the Greek, centered not in Athens but in Alexandria and Hellenistic civilization. Alexandria through this period is the center of both Atticizing scholarship and of Graeco-Judaic social life, looking towards Athens as well as towards Jerusalem and this intellectual dualism between the culture of scholars and that of the people permeates the Byzantine period. Both tendencies persisted in Byzantium, but the first, as the one officially recognized, retained predominance and was not driven from the field until the fall of the empire, the reactionary linguistic movement known as Atticism supported and enforced this scholarly tendency. Alexandria, the center, is balanced by Rome, the center of government. It is as a Roman Empire that the Byzantine state first entered history, its citizens were known as Romans and its laws were Roman, so were its government, its army, and its official class, and at first also its language and its private and public life. The organization of the state was similar to that of the Roman imperial period, including its hierarchy. It was in Alexandria that Graeco-Oriental Christianity had its birth, on Egyptian soil monasticism began and thrived
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Modern Greek literature
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Modern Greek literature refers to literature written in common Modern Greek, emerging from late Byzantine times in the 11th century AD. During this period, spoken Greek became more prevalent in the tradition, as demotic Greek came to be used more and more over the Attic idiom. These emigres were grammarians, humanists, poets, writers, printers, lecturers, musicians, astronomers, architects, academics, artists, scribes, philosophers, scientists and they brought to Western Europe the far greater preserved and accumulated knowledge of their own civilization. The Cretan Renaissance poem Erotokritos is undoubtedly the masterpiece of early period of modern Greek literature. It is a romance written around 1600 by Vitsentzos Kornaros. The other major representative of the Cretan literature was Georgios Chortatzis and his most notable work was Erofili, adamantios Korais and Rigas Feraios are two of the most notable figures. The years before the Greek Independence, the Ionian islands became the center of the Heptanese School and its main characteristics was the Italian influence, romanticism, nationalism and use of Demotic Greek. Notable representatives were Andreas Laskaratos, Andreas Kalvos, Aristotelis Valaoritis, after the independence the intellectual center was transferred in Athens. A major figure of new era was Kostis Palamas, considered national poet of Greece. He was the figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s. Its main characteristic was the use of Demotic Greek and he was also the writer of the Olympic Hymn. Modern Greek literature is written in polytonic orthography, though the monotonic orthography was made official in 1981 by Andreas Papandreou government. Modern Greek literature is represented by writers, poets and novelists. Cavafy, Demetrius Vikelas, while George Seferis and Odysseas Elytis have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, beaton, An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature, Oxford University Press,1999. M. Vitti, Ιστορία της Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας, ed. Οδυσσέας, Athens,2003
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Music of Greece
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The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts, Greek traditional music and Byzantine music, with more eastern sounds, Music is a significant aspect of Hellenic culture, both within Greece and in the diaspora. Greek musical history extends far back into ancient Greece, since music was a part of ancient Greek theater. Later influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire changed the form, in the 19th century, opera composers, like Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas and Spyridon Samaras and symphonists, like Dimitris Lialios and Dionysios Rodotheatos revitalized Greek art music. In ancient Greece, men usually performed choruses performed for entertainment, celebration, Instruments included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara. Music was an important part of education in ancient Greece, due to Romes reverence for Greek culture, the Romans borrowed the Greek method of enchiriadic notation to record their music, if they used any notation at all. In his lexicographical discussion of instruments, the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih cited the lūrā as an instrument of the Byzantines along with the urghun, shilyani. These genres have certainly reached a degree of evolution. They were forms of a music that had many elements of ancient Greek origin but also. By the beginning of the 20th century, music-cafés were popular in Greek cities like Constantinople and Smyrna, the bands were typically led by a female vocalist and included a violin. The improvised songs typically exclaimed amán amán, which led to the name amanédhes or café-aman, Greek musicians of this period included Marika Papagika, Rosa Eskenazi and Rita Abatzi. This period also brought in the Rebetiko movement, which had local Smyrnaic, Greek folk traditions are said to derive from the music played by ancient Greeks. There are said to be two musical movements in Greek folk music, Acritic songs and Klephtic songs, akritic music comes from the 9th century akrites, or border guards of the Byzantine Empire. Following the end of the Byzantine period, klephtic music arose before the Greek Revolution, developed among the kleftes, Klephtic music is monophonic and uses no harmonic accompaniment. Many of the earliest recordings were done by Arvanites like Yiorgia Mittaki, instrumentalists include clarinet virtuosos like Petroloukas Halkias, Yiorgos Yevyelis and Yiannis Vassilopoulos, as well as oud and fiddle players like Nikos Saragoudas and Yiorgos Koros. Nisiotika is a term denoting folk songs from the Greek islands. Among the most popular types of them is Ikariótiko traghoúdhi, song from Ikaria, ikariótikos is a traditional type of dance, and also the name of its accompanying type of singing, originating in the Aegean island of Ikaria. At first it was a slow dance, but today Ikariotikos is a very quick dance
13.
Media of Greece
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The media of Greece refers to mass media outlets based in the Republic of Greece. Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues, the Constitution of Greece guarantees freedom of speech. Greece is today the EU member state where journalism and the media face their most acute crisis, freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution of Greece since the return to civilian rule in 1975. According to Article 14, everyone may express his thoughts orally, in writing, the same article establishes that the press is free, that censorship and the seizure of publications are forbidden, and that the right to reply to errors is also guaranteed. Art.14 foresees that media ownership and financing are registered, Art.15 states that “protective provisions for the press are not applicable to films, sound recordings, radio, television or any other similar medium for the transmission of speech or images. Radio and television shall be under the control of the state. The control and imposition of administrative sanctions are under the competence of the NCRTV. The law restricts speech that incites fear, violence and public unrest, as well as publication that are obscene, defamation and insults are crimes punished up to imprisonment. Access to information is established by the Constitution, and individual access mechanisms are detailed by a 1999 amendment to the Administrative Procedure Code, access can be restricted for information concerning national security, criminal investigations, as well as privacy concerns. The press is regulated first by Law 1092/1938, which includes obligations to respect privacy and separate news from comments, the press is deemed to respect different opinion and refrain from inciting mass panic. The public service broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation is regulated by Law 1730/1987, ERT is mandated to manage and develop state radio and TV, and broadcast the activities of the Greek Parliament. It should aim at reaching as many social groups possible and cover a range of topics. Commercial radio and TV stations were allowed following Law 1866/1989, the state monopoly was finally abolished with Law 2328/1995, which conditions the granting of licenses by NCRTV for commercial channels to whether they would serve a public interest. Commercial channels have quality requirements to maintain their licences, the same Law 1866/1989 sets limits for media owership, outlawing cross-ownership among the main newspaper publications. Companies are also limited to owning only one TV station, radio station, the 2007 “Law of the Basic Shareholder” allows acquisition of shares in other media companies if for a minor quota in the company and in the market. Foreign companies are limited to acquire maximum 25% shares in a Greek media company. Subscription-based radio and television services are regulated by Law 2644/1998, Terrestrial transmissions require a competitive licensing procedure, licenses are granted only to limited companies, whose shares must be registered. Satellite transmissions must anyway submit an application to NCRTV, licenses are limited to ensure pluralism and prevent dominant market positions
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Cinema of Greece
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The Cinema of Greece has a long and rich history. Though hampered at times by war or political instability, the Greek film industry dominates the market and has experienced international success. Characteristics of Greek cinema include a dynamic plot, strong character development, two Greek films, Missing and Eternity and a Day, have won the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival. Five Greek films have received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, though Greek cinema took root in the early 1900s, the first mature films werent produced until the 1920s, after the end of the Greco-Turkish War. Films during this period, such as Astero by Dimitris Gaziadis and Maria Pentagiotissa by Ahilleas Madras, Orestis Laskoss Daphnis and Chloe, one of the first Greek films to be shown abroad, contained the first voyeuristic nude scene in a European film. During the Axis occupation, the Greek film industry struggled as it was forced to relocate overseas, following the Greek Civil War, Greek cinema experienced a revival. Inspired by Italian neorealism, directors such as Grigoris Grigoriou and Stelios Tatasopoulos created works during this period shot on location using non-professional actors, during the 1950s and 1960s, Greek cinema experienced a golden age, starting with Michael Cacoyanniss Stella, which was screened at Cannes. The 1960 film Never on Sunday was nominated for five Academy Awards, Cacoyanniss Zorba the Greek won three Academy Awards. Censorship policies of the 1967 junta and rising foreign competition led to a decline in Greek cinema, after the restoration of democracy in the mid-1970s, the Greek film industry again flourished, led by director Theo Angelopoulos, whose films frequently captured international awards. The drift toward art-house cinema in the 1980s led to a decline in audiences, in the 1990s, younger Greek filmmakers began experimenting with iconographic motifs. In the spring of 1897, the Greeks of Athens watched the first cinematic ventures, in 1906 Greek Cinema was born when the Manakis brothers started recording in Macedonia, and the French filmmaker Leons produced the first Newscast from the midi-Olympic games of Athens. The first cine-theater of Athens opened about a later and other special projection rooms begun their activity. In 1910-11 the first short comic movies were produced by director Spiros Dimitrakopoulos, in 1911 Kostas Bachatoris presented Golfo, a well known traditional love story, considered the first Greek feature film. In 1912 was founded the first film company and in 1916 the Asty Film, during the First World War, production was limited to documentaries and newscasts only. Directors like George Prokopiou and Dimitris Gaziadis are distinguished for filming scenes from the battlefield and later, during the Greco-Turkish War, the first commercially successful Greek film was Villar in the Womens Baths of Faliro, written, directed by and starring comedian Villar and Nitsa Philosofou. In 1924, Michael Michael, a Greek comedian, presented some short film comedies, in 1926, Gaziadis founded Dag Films and tried to produce the first speaking movies. This company presented its first movie, Love and Waves, in 1927, the company mainly produced historical movies, usually adaptations of novels. In 1930, Dag produced a movie, Apaches of Athens
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Sport in Greece
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Greece has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Football in particular has seen a rapid transformation, with the Greek national football team winning the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, the nation has competed at every Summer Olympic Games, one of the only four countries to have done so, and most of the Winter Olympic Games. During the parade of nations Greece is always called first, as the nation of the ancient precursor of modern Olympics. Having won a total of 110 medals, Greece is ranked 32nd by gold medals in the all-time Summer Olympic medal count, after a long period of poor tallies, the 1992 Summer Olympics marked an uptum and Greece made successive medal-winning records in the three following Olympic Games. Winter sports have not played a role in Greece, thus the country has not won any medal in the Winter Olympics so far. Despite that, Greece leads the Parade of Nations also in the Winter Olympics, Paralympic Sports have grown significantly in Greece since the late 1970s. The first participation of athletes with a disability at Paralympic Games was in 1976, the organisation of the Paralympic Games in Athens led to significant growth. The Hellenic Team participated in 17 of the 19 sports and won 20 medals, at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games the Greek Team made its most successful appearance ever with 24 medals. Greece has won in total 80 medals at the Paralympic Games, Athletics has been another very successful individual sport in Greece. During the semifinals Halkia set an Olympic record of 52.77 seconds, Niki Bakoyianni won a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics after a tough competition with Stefka Kostadinova. Her personal best jump of 2.03 metres is the current Greek record. Iakovakis achieved his personal best of 47.82 seconds on 6 May 2006 in Osaka during the IAAF World Athletics Tour and he became European Champion in Gothenborg, Sweden finishing at 48.46 seconds in the final. Anastasia Kelesidou is a retired Greek discus thrower best known for winning medals at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. During her career she set seven Greek records in discus throw, Konstantinos Kenteris won gold medals in the 200 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and the 2002 European Championships in Athletics. Kenteris became the first White male to win a 200-meter sprinting medal at the Olympics since Pietro Mennea achieved the feat by winning gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He is one of the few elite runners who have run the 200m distance under 20 seconds. Haralabos Papadias won the medal in 60 metres at the 1997 World Indoor Championships, in a time of 6.50 seconds. Voula Patoulidou became a Greek sporting legend in 1992, when she was the winner of the Womens 100 m hurdles race at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Ekaterini Thanou won the medal in the womens 100 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney
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Flag of Greece
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The national flag of Greece, officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross, the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The blazon of the flag is Azure, four bars Argent, the official flag ratio is 2,3. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied throughout its history, from blue to dark blue. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822, the nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word freedom. There is also a different theory, that the nine stripes symbolise the nine Muses, blue and white have many interpretations, symbolising the colours of the famed Greek sky and sea, traditional colours of Greek clothes in the islands and the mainland, etc. The origins of national flag with its cross-and-stripe pattern are a matter of debate. This flag was based on their coat of arms, whose pattern is supposed to be derived from the standards of their claimed ancestor and this pattern included nine stripes of alternating blue and white, as well as a cross, assumed to be placed on the upper left. Although the use of alternating blue and white - or silver - stripes on Kallergis coats of arms is well documented, however, in such cases of flags derived from much older designs, it is very difficult to prove or trace original influences. Flags as they are known today did not exist in Antiquity, instead, a variety of emblems and symbols were used to denote each state and were for example painted on the hoplite shields. The closest analogue to a flag were the vexillum-like banners used by ancient Greek armies, such as the so-called phoinikis. It is not known to have carried any device or decoration though, the Byzantines, like the Romans before them, used a variety of flags and banners, primarily to denote different military units. These were generally square or rectangular, with a number of streamers attached, most prominent among the early Byzantine flags was the labarum. Other common symbols, prominently featuring on seals, were depictions of Christ, the Virgin Mary and saints, Western European-style heraldry was largely unknown until the last centuries of the Empire. The tetragrammatic cross flag, as it appears in quarters II and III in this design, is well documented, in the same Spanish atlas this plain tetragrammatic cross flag is presented as the Flag of Salonika and the real Greece and Empire of the Greeks. Pseudo-Kodinos records the use of the cross on the banner borne by imperial naval vessels. During the Ottoman rule several unofficial flags were used by Greeks, usually employing the Byzantine double-headed eagle, the Christian Greek sipahi cavalry employed by the Ottoman Sultan were allowed to use their own, clearly Christian flag, when within Epirus and the Peloponnese. It featured the blue cross on a white field with the picture of St. George slaying the dragon, and was used from 1431 until 1639
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Coat of arms of Greece
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The coat of arms of Greece displays a white cross on a blue escutcheon, which is surrounded by two laurel branches. The constitution does not specify a tincture for the branches, implying proper, the Greek government normally uses a design in which the laurel branches are monochrome blue. A version with golden laurel leaves is displayed by the military, the first Greek coat of arms was introduced during the reign of the Bavarian King Otto. Based on that of the Kingdom of Bavaria, and supported by two crowned lions rampant and surmounted by the royal crown, the escutcheon of pretence was the coat of arms of Bavaria, as a symbol of the House of Wittelsbach. This emblem was discarded upon the kings exile in 1862, when Greece became a republic in 1924, all external ornamentation was discarded. After Ottos fall, the young Prince William of Denmark was in 1864 chosen as king, the escutcheon remained the same, but the dynastic arms of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg family became the new escutcheon of pretence. The shield remained surmounded by the royal crown, two new male figures were introduced as new supporters, alluding to the legendary Heracles. The Order of the Redeemer was also added, the motto of the dynasty, i. e. Ἰσχύς μου ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ λαοῦ, was also introduced. This achievement remains in use by the current pretender Greek Royal Family, in 1973, the then-ruling military junta abolished the monarchy. 7 June 1975, the current arms was introduced and this is a restoration of the traditional arms, yet with laurel leaves being the sole external ornamentation. The government uses a design by the artist Kostas Grammatopoulos. The first Greek national emblem was provided for by the Constitution of Epidauros of 1 January 1822 and was established by decree on 15 March of the same year and it was the shape of a blue and white circular cockade. Since it was first established the emblem has undergone changes in shape and in design. The original Greek national emblem depicted the goddess Athena and the owl, at the time of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Prime Minister of modern Greece, the phoenix, the symbol of rebirth, was added
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Cycladic art
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The ancient Cycladic culture flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea from 3300 –1100 BCE. Along with the Minoan civilization and Mycenaean Greece, the Cycladic people are counted among the three major Aegean cultures, Cycladic art therefore comprises one of the three main branches of Aegean art. Almost all information known regarding Neolithic art of the Cyclades comes from the site of Saliagos off Antiparos. Pottery of this period is similar to that of Crete and the Greek mainland, sinclair Hood writes, A distinctive shape is a bowl on a high foot comparable with a type which occurs in the mainland Late Neolithic. These marble figures are scattered around the Aegean, suggesting that these figures were popular amongst the people of Crete. Perhaps the most famous of these figures are musicians, one a harp-player the other a pipe-player, dating to approximately 2500 BCE, these musicians are sometimes considered “the earliest extant musicians from the Aegean. However, this may be a misconception as there is evidence that the idols were originally brightly painted. A majority of the figurines are female, depicted nude, and with arms folded across the stomach, although some archeologists would agree, this interpretation is not generally agreed on by archeologists, among whom there is no consensus on their significance. They have been interpreted as idols of the gods, images of death, childrens dolls. One authority feels they were more than dolls and probably less than sacrosanct idols, suggestions that these images were idols in the strict sense—cult objects which were the focus of ritual worship—are unsupported by any archeological evidence. What the archeological evidence does suggest is that images were regularly used in funerary practice. Yet at least some of them show signs of having been repaired. Furthermore, larger figures were broken up so that only part of them was buried. The figures apparently were buried equally with men and women. Such figures were not found in every grave, while the idols are most frequently found laid on their backs in graves, larger examples may have been set up in shrines or dwelling places. Early Cycladic art is divided into three periods, the art is by no means confined to one of these periods. The art of EC I is best represented on the islands of Paros, Antiparos, and Amorgos, while EC II is primarily seen on Syros, the most important earliest groups are Pelos, Plastiras and Louros. Pelos figurines are of schematic type, both males and females, in standing position with a head and face, compose the Plastiras type, the rendering is naturalistic but also strangely stylized
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Minoan civilization
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The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands which flourished from about 2600 to 1100 BC. It preceded the Mycenaean civilization of Ancient Greece, the civilization was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Arthur Evans. It has been described as the earliest of its kind in Europe, the term Minoan, which refers to the mythical King Minos, originally described the pottery of the period. Minos was associated in Greek mythology with the labyrinth and the Minotaur, according to Homer, Crete once had 90 cities. The Minoan period saw trade between Crete and Aegean and Mediterranean settlements, particularly the Near East, traders and artists, the Minoan cultural influence reached beyond Crete to the Cyclades, Egypts Old Kingdom, copper-bearing Cyprus, Canaan and the Levantine coast, and Anatolia. Some of its best art is preserved in the city of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, although the Minoan language and writing systems remain undecipherable and are subjects of academic dispute, they apparently conveyed a language entirely different from the later Greek. The reason for the end of the Minoan period is unclear, theories include Mycenaean invasions from mainland Greece, the term Minoan refers to the mythical King Minos of Knossos. Its origin is debated, but it is attributed to archeologist Arthur Evans. Minos was associated in Greek mythology with the labyrinth, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos. However, Karl Hoeck had already used the title Das Minoische Kreta in 1825 for volume two of his Kreta, this appears to be the first known use of the word Minoan to mean ancient Cretan, Evans said that applied it, not invented it. Hoeck, with no idea that the archaeological Crete had existed, had in mind the Crete of mythology, although Evans 1931 claim that the term was unminted before he used it was called a brazen suggestion by Karadimas and Momigliano, he coined its archaeological meaning. Instead of dating the Minoan period, archaeologists use two systems of relative chronology, the first, created by Evans and modified by later archaeologists, is based on pottery styles and imported Egyptian artifacts. Evans system divides the Minoan period into three eras, early, middle and late. These eras are subdivided—for example, Early Minoan I, II and III, another dating system, proposed by Greek archaeologist Nicolas Platon, is based on the development of architectural complexes known as palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Kato Zakros. Platon divides the Minoan period into pre-, proto-, neo-, the relationship between the systems in the table includes approximate calendar dates from Warren and Hankey. The Thera eruption occurred during a phase of the LM IA period. Efforts to establish the volcanic eruptions date have been controversial, the eruption is identified as a natural event catastrophic for the culture, leading to its rapid collapse. Although stone-tool evidence exists that hominins may have reached Crete as early as 130,000 years ago, evidence for the first anatomically-modern human presence dates to 10, the oldest evidence of modern human habitation on Crete are pre-ceramic Neolithic farming-community remains which date to about 7000 BC
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Mycenaean Greece
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Mycenaean Greece was the last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece. It represents the first advanced civilization in mainland Greece, with its states, urban organization, works of art. Among the centers of power emerged, the most notable were those of Pylos, Tiryns, Midea in the Peloponnese, Orchomenos, Thebes, Athens in Central Greece. The most prominent site was Mycenae, in Argolid, to which the culture of this era owes its name. Mycenaean and Mycenaean-influenced settlements also appeared in Epirus, Macedonia, on islands in the Aegean Sea, on the coast of Asia Minor, the Levant, Cyprus and Italy. Their syllabic script, the Linear B, offers the first written records of the Greek language, Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. At the head of society was the king, known as wanax. Various theories have proposed for the end of this civilization. Additional theories such as natural disasters and climatic changes have also suggested. The Mycenaean period became the setting of much ancient Greek literature and mythology. The Bronze Age in mainland Greece is generally termed as the Helladic period by modern archaeologists, after Hellas, the Greek name for Greece. This period is divided into three subperiods, The Early Helladic period was a time of prosperity with the use of metals, the Middle Helladic period faced a slower pace of development, as well as the evolution of megaron-type dwellings and cist grave burials. Finally, the Late Helladic period roughly coincides with Mycenaean Greece, the transition period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Greece is known as Sub-Mycenaean. Moreover, it revealed that the bearers of Mycenaean culture were ethnically connected with the populations that resided in the Greek peninsula after the end of this cultural period. Various collective terms for the inhabitants of Mycenaean Greece were used by Homer in his 8th century BC epic, the Iliad, in reference to the Trojan War. The latter was supposed to have happened in the late 13th – early 12th century BC, Homer used the ethnonyms Achaeans, Danaans and Argives, to refer to the besiegers. These names appear to have passed down from the time they were in use to the time when Homer applied them as terms in his Iliad. There is an reference to a-ka-wi-ja-de in the Linear B records in Knossos, Crete dated to c.1400 BC
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Archaic Greece
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According to Anthony Snodgrass, the Archaic period in ancient Greece was bounded by two revolutions in the Greek world. The Archaic period saw developments in Greek politics, economics, international relations, warfare and it laid the groundwork for the Classical period, both politically and culturally. The word archaic derives from the Greek word archaios, which means old and it refers to the period in ancient Greek history before the classical. The Archaic period was considered to have been less important and historically interesting than the classical period. More recently, however, Archaic Greece has come to be studied for its own achievements, with this reassessment of the significance of the Archaic period, some scholars have objected to the term archaic, due to its connotations in English of being primitive and outdated. No term which has suggested to replace it has gained widespread currency, however. Much of our evidence about the period of ancient Greece comes from written histories. By contrast, we have no evidence from the Archaic period. We have written accounts of life in the period in the form of poetry, and epigraphical evidence, including parts of law codes, inscriptions on votive offerings, however, none of this evidence is in the quantity for which we have it in the classical period. What is lacking in evidence, however, is made up for in the rich archaeological evidence from the Archaic Greek world. Indeed, where much of our knowledge of classical Greek art comes from later Roman copies, other sources for the period are the traditions recorded by later Greek writers such as Herodotus. However, these traditions are not part of any form of history as we would recognise it today, indeed, Herodotus does not even record any dates before 480 BC. Politically, the Archaic period saw the development of the polis as the predominant unit of political organisation, many cities throughout Greece came under the rule of autocratic leaders, called tyrants. The period also saw the development of law and systems of communal decision-making, with the earliest evidence for law codes, by the end of the Archaic period, both the Athenian and Spartan constitutions seem to have developed into their classical forms. The Archaic period saw significant urbanisation, and the development of the concept of the polis as it was used in classical Greece. The urbanisation process in Archaic Greece known as synoecism – the amalgamation of small settlements into a single urban centre – took place in much of Greece in the eighth century BC. Both Athens and Argos, for instance, began to coalesce into single settlements around the end of that century and these two factors created a need for a new form of political organisation, as the political systems in place at the beginning of the Archaic period quickly became unworkable. Though in the part of the classical period the city of Athens was both culturally and politically dominant, it was not until the late sixth century that it became a leading power in Greece
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Ancient Greek art
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The rate of stylistic development between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving works is best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations in painting, which have to be reconstructed due to the lack of original survivals of quality. The art of ancient Greece is usually divided stylistically into four periods, the Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. The Geometric age is dated from about 1000 BC, although in reality little is known about art in Greece during the preceding 200 years. The 7th century BC witnessed the development of the Archaic style as exemplified by the black-figure style of vase painting. From some point in the 1st century BC onwards Greco-Roman is used, in reality, there was no sharp transition from one period to another. Forms of art developed at different speeds in different parts of the Greek world, strong local traditions, and the requirements of local cults, enable historians to locate the origins even of works of art found far from their place of origin. Greek art of various kinds was widely exported, the whole period saw a generally steady increase in prosperity and trading links within the Greek world and with neighbouring cultures. The survival rate of Greek art differs starkly between media and we have huge quantities of pottery and coins, much stone sculpture, though even more Roman copies, and a few large bronze sculptures. Almost entirely missing are painting, fine metal vessels, and anything in perishable materials including wood, the stone shell of a number of temples and theatres has survived, but little of their extensive decoration. By convention, finely painted vessels of all sorts are called vases, sculptural or architectural pottery, also very often painted, are referred to as terracottas, and also survive in large quantities. In much of the literature, pottery means only painted vessels, pottery was the main form of grave goods deposited in tombs, often as funerary urns containing the cremated ashes, and was widely exported. Other colours were limited, normally to small areas of white. Within the restrictions of these techniques and other conventions, vase-painters achieved remarkable results, combining refinement. White ground technique allowed more freedom in depiction, but did not wear well and was made for burial. Conventionally, the ancient Greeks are said to have made most pottery vessels for everyday use, not for display. Most surviving pottery consists of vessels for storing, serving or drinking liquids such as amphorae, kraters, hydria, libation bowls, oil and perfume bottles for the toilet, jugs, painted vessels for serving and eating food are much less common. Painted pottery was affordable even by people, and a piece decently decorated with about five or six figures cost about two or three days wages
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Ancient Greek architecture
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Ancient Greek architecture is best known from its temples, many of which are found throughout the region, mostly as ruins but many substantially intact. The second important type of building that all over the Hellenic world is the open-air theatre. Ancient Greek architecture is distinguished by its highly formalised characteristics, both of structure and decoration, nikolaus Pevsner refers to the plastic shape of the temple. placed before us with a physical presence more intense, more alive than that of any later building. The architecture of ancient Rome grew out of that of Greece, the successive styles of Neoclassical architecture and Greek Revival architecture followed and adapted Ancient Greek styles closely. The mainland and islands of Greece are rocky, with deeply indented coastline, the most freely available building material is stone. Limestone was readily available and easily worked, there is an abundance of high quality white marble both on the mainland and islands, particularly Paros and Naxos. This finely grained material was a contributing factor to precision of detail. Deposits of high quality potters clay were found throughout Greece and the Islands and it was used not only for pottery vessels, but also roof tiles and architectural decoration. The climate of Greece is maritime, with both the coldness of winter and the heat of summer tempered by sea breezes and this led to a lifestyle where many activities took place outdoors. Colonnades encircling buildings, or surrounding courtyards provided shelter from the sun, the light of Greece may be another important factor in the development of the particular character of ancient Greek architecture. The light is extremely bright, with both the sky and the sea vividly blue. The clear light and sharp shadows give a precision to the details of landscape, pale rocky outcrops and this clarity is alternated with periods of haze that varies in colour to the light on it. In this characteristic environment, the ancient Greek architects constructed buildings that were marked by precision of detail, the gleaming marble surfaces were smooth, curved, fluted, or ornately sculpted to reflect the sun, cast graded shadows and change in colour with the ever-changing light of day. Historians divide ancient Greek civilization into two eras, the Hellenic period, and the Hellenistic period, during the earlier Hellenic period, substantial works of architecture began to appear around 600 BC. Before the Hellenic era, two cultures had dominated the region, the Minoan, and the Mycenaean. The Mycenaean culture, which flourished on the Peloponnesus, was different in character. Its people built citadels, fortifications and tombs rather than palaces, following these events, there was a period from which few signs of culture remain. This period is often referred to as a Dark Age
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Pottery of ancient Greece
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The shards of pots discarded or buried in the 1st millennium BC are still the best guide available to understand the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks. There were various specific regional varieties, such as the South Italian ancient Greek pottery, throughout these places, various types and shapes of vases were used. Some were highly decorative and meant for consumption and domestic beautification as much as serving a storage or other function. As the culture recovered Sub-Mycenaean pottery finally blended into the Protogeometric style, the rise of vase painting saw increasing decoration. Geometric art in Greek pottery was contiguous with the late Dark Age and early Archaic Greece, the pottery produced in Archaic and Classical Greece included at first black-figure pottery, yet other styles emerged such as red-figure pottery and the white ground technique. Styles such as West Slope Ware were characteristic of the subsequent Hellenistic period, interest in Greek art lagged behind the revival of classical scholarship during the Renaissance and revived in the academic circle round Nicholas Poussin in Rome in the 1630s. Though modest collections of vases recovered from ancient tombs in Italy were made in the 15th and 16th centuries these were regarded as Etruscan. It is possible that Lorenzo de Medici bought several Attic vases directly from Greece and it was Gerhard who first outlined the chronology we now use, namely, Orientalizing, Black Figure, Red Figure, Polychromatic. Where the 19th century was a period of discovery and the out of first principles the 20th century has been one of consolidation. Efforts to record and publish the totality of public collections of vases began with the creation of the Corpus vasorum antiquorum under Edmond Pottier, Beazley and others following him have also studied fragments of Greek pottery in institutional collections, and have attributed many painted pieces to individual artists. Scholars have called these fragments disjecta membra and in a number of instances have been able to identify fragments now in different collections that belong to the same vase, some vase shapes were especially associated with rituals, others with athletics and the gymnasium. Within each category the forms are roughly the same in scale and whether open or closed, some have a purely ritual function, for example white ground lekythoi contained the oil used as funerary offerings and appear to have been made solely with that object in mind. Many examples have a second cup inside them to give the impression of being full of oil. There was a market for Greek pottery since the 8th century BC. An idea of the extent of trade can be gleaned from plotting the find maps of these vases outside of Greece. Only the existence of a second hand market could account for the number of found in Etruscan tombs. South Italian wares came to dominate the trade in the Western Mediterranean as Athens declined in political importance during the Hellenistic period. The process of making a pot and firing it is fairly simple, the first thing a potter needs is clay
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Ancient Greek sculpture
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Ancient Greek sculpture is the sculpture of ancient Greece. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages, frequent subjects were the battles, mythology, and rulers of the area historically known as Ancient Greece. Smaller works were in a variety of materials, many of them precious. The ores for bronze were also easy to obtain. Marble was mostly found around the Parthenon and other major Greek buildings, many copies of the Roman period are marble versions of works originally in bronze. Ordinary limestone was used in the Archaic period, but thereafter, except in areas of modern Italy with no local marble, only for architectural sculpture, plaster or stucco was sometimes used for the hair only. Many statues were given jewellery, as can be seen from the holes for attaching it, by the early 19th century, the systematic excavation of ancient Greek sites had brought forth a plethora of sculptures with traces of notably multicolored surfaces, some of which were still visible. It was not until published findings by German archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann in the late 20th and he analyzed the pigments of the original paint to discover their composition. Brinkmann made several painted replicas of Greek statues that went on tour around the world, museums that hosted the exhibit included the Glyptotek Museum in Munich, the Vatican Museum, and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, et al. The collection made its American debut at Harvard University in the Fall of 2007 and it is commonly thought that the earliest incarnation of Greek sculpture was in the form of wooden cult statues, first described by Pausanias as xoana. No such statues survive, and the descriptions of them are vague, the first piece of Greek statuary to be reassembled since is probably the Lefkandi Centaur, a terra cotta sculpture found on the island of Euboea, dated c.920 BCE. The statue was constructed in parts, before being dismembered and buried in two separate graves, the centaur has an intentional mark on its knee, which has led researchers to postulate that the statue might portray Cheiron, presumably kneeling wounded from Herakles arrow. If so, it would be the earliest known depiction of myth in the history of Greek sculpture, the forms from the geometrical period were chiefly terra cotta figurines, bronzes, and ivories. The bronzes are chiefly tripod cauldrons, and freestanding figures or groups, typical works of the era include the Karditsa warrior and the many examples of the equestrian statuette. The repertory of this work is not confined to standing men and horses, however, as vase paintings of the time also depict imagery of stags, birds, beetles, hares. There are no inscriptions on early-to-middle geometric sculpture, until the appearance of the Mantiklos Apollo of the early 7th century BCE found in Thebes, the inscription is a declaration of the statuette to Apollo, followed by a request for favors in return. Apart from the novelty of recording its own purpose, this sculpture adapts the formulae of oriental bronzes, as seen in the shorter more triangular face and slightly advancing left leg. This is sometimes seen as anticipating the greater freedom of the 7th century BCE and, as such
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Hellenistic art
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A number of the best-known works of Greek sculpture belong to this period, including Laocoön and His Sons, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It follows the period of Classical Greek art, while the succeeding Greco-Roman art was largely a continuation of Hellenistic trends. The term Hellenistic refers to the expansion of Greek influence and dissemination of its ideas following the death of Alexander – the Hellenizing of the world, in artistic terms this means that there is huge variety which is often put under the heading of Hellenistic Art for convenience. Each of these dynasties practiced a royal patronage which differed from those of the city-states, in Alexanders entourage were three artists, Lysippus the sculptor, Apelles the painter, and Pyrgoteles the gem cutter and engraver. The period after his death was one of prosperity and considerable extravagance for much of the Greek world. Royalty became important patrons of art, Sculpture, painting and architecture thrived, but vase-painting ceased to be of great significance. Metalwork and a variety of luxury arts produced much fine art. Some types of art were increasingly sophisticated. There has been a trend in writing history to depict Hellenistic art as a decadent style, the 18th century terms Baroque and Rococo have sometimes been applied to the art of this complex and individual period. A renewed interest in historiography as well as recent discoveries, such as the tombs of Vergina. In the architectural field, the dynasties following Hector resulted in vast urban plans, the Doric Temple was virtually abandoned. This city planning was quite innovative for the Greek world, rather than manipulating space by correcting its faults, One notes the appearance of many places of amusement and leisure, notably the multiplication of theatres and parks. The Hellenistic monarchies were advantaged in this regard in that often had vast spaces where they could build large cities, such as Antioch, Pergamon. It was the time of gigantism, thus it was for the temple of Apollo at Didyma. It was designed by Daphnis of Miletus and Paionios of Ephesus at the end of the fourth century BC, the Corinthian order was used for the first time on a full-scale building at the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Pergamon in particular is an example of Hellenistic architecture. Starting from a fortress located on the Acropolis, the various Attalid kings set up a colossal architectural complex. The buildings are fanned out around the Acropolis to take account the nature of the terrain
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Greco-Buddhist art
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It is also a strong example of cultural syncretism between eastern and western traditions. The influence of Greco-Buddhist art also spread northward towards Central Asia, strongly affecting the art of the Tarim Basin, and ultimately the arts of China, Korea, and Japan. The clearest examples of Hellenistic art are found in the coins of the Greco-Bactrian kings of the period, fortified Greek cities, such as Sirkap in northern Pakistan, were established. Architectural styles used Hellenistic decorative motifs such as fruit garland and scrolls, stone palettes for aromatic oils representing purely Hellenistic themes such as a Nereid riding a Ketos sea monster are found. In Hadda, Hellenistic deities, such as Atlas are found, wind gods are depicted, which will affect the representation of wind deities as far as Japan. Dionysiac scenes represent people in Classical style drinking wine from amphoras and this artistic trend then developed for several centuries and seemed to flourish further during the Kushan Empire from the 1st century AD. Greco-Buddhist art depicts the life of the Buddha in a manner, probably by incorporating the real-life models. The Bodhisattvas are depicted as bare-chested and jewelled Indian princes, the buildings in which they are depicted incorporate Greek style, with the ubiquitous Indo-Corinthian capitals and Greek decorative scrolls. Surrounding deities form a pantheon of Greek and Indian gods, stucco as well as stone was widely used by sculptors in Gandhara for the decoration of monastic and cult buildings. Stucco provided the artist with a medium of great plasticity, enabling a high degree of expressiveness to be given to the sculpture, sculpting in stucco was popular wherever Buddhism spread from Gandhara - India, Afghanistan, Central Asia and China. It then lost this sophisticated realism, becoming progressively more symbolic, the style is Greek, adorned with Corinthian columns in excellent Hellenistic execution. Later in Hadda, the Greek divinity Atlas is represented holding Buddhist monuments with decorated Greek columns, the motif was adopted extensively throughout the Indian sub-continent, Atlas being substituted for the Indian Yaksa in the monuments of the Shunga Empire around the 2nd century BC. Sometime between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, the first anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha were developed. These were absent from earlier strata of Buddhist art, which preferred to represent the Buddha with symbols such as the stupa, the Bodhi tree, the empty seat, the wheel, or the footprints. But the innovative anthropomorphic Buddha image immediately reached a high level of sculptural sophistication. Most of the images of the Buddha are anepigraphic, which makes it difficult to have a definite dating. The next Greco-Buddhist findings to be strictly datable are rather late, AD120 Kanishka casket and Kanishkas Buddhist coins. These works at least indicate though that the representation of the Buddha was already extant in the 1st century AD
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Byzantine art
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Byzantine art is the name for the artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. A number of states contemporary with the Byzantine Empire were culturally influenced by it, after the fall of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 1453, art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire was often called post-Byzantine. Byzantine art never lost sight of this classical heritage, the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, was adorned with a large number of classical sculptures, although they eventually became an object of some puzzlement for its inhabitants. And indeed, the art produced during the Byzantine Empire, although marked by periodic revivals of an aesthetic, was above all marked by the development of a new aesthetic. The most salient feature of new aesthetic was its abstract. The nature and causes of this transformation, which took place during late antiquity, have been a subject of scholarly debate for centuries. Giorgio Vasari attributed it to a decline in skills and standards. Although this point of view has been revived, most notably by Bernard Berenson. Alois Riegl and Josef Strzygowski, writing in the early 20th century, were all responsible for the revaluation of late antique art. Riegl saw it as a development of pre-existing tendencies in Roman art. In any case, the debate is purely modern, it is clear that most Byzantine viewers did not consider their art to be abstract or unnaturalistic, religious art was not, however, limited to the monumental decoration of church interiors. One of the most important genres of Byzantine art was the icon, an image of Christ, the illumination of manuscripts was another major genre of Byzantine art. The most commonly illustrated texts were religious, both scripture itself and devotional or theological texts, secular texts were also illuminated, important examples include the Alexander Romance and the history of John Skylitzes. Small ivories were also mostly in relief, Byzantine ceramics were relatively crude, as pottery was never used at the tables of the rich, who ate off silver. Two events were of importance to the development of a unique. First, the Edict of Milan, issued by the emperors Constantine I and Licinius in 313, allowed for public Christian worship, second, the dedication of Constantinople in 330 created a great new artistic centre for the eastern half of the Empire, and a specifically Christian one. Major Constantinopolitan churches built under Constantine and his son, Constantius II, included the foundations of Hagia Sophia. The next major building campaign in Constantinople was sponsored by Theodosius I, the most important surviving monument of this period is the obelisk and base erected by Theodosius in the Hippodrome
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Macedonian art (Byzantine)
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Macedonian art is the art of the Macedonian Renaissance in Byzantine art. It coincided with the Ottonian Renaissance in Western Europe, in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Byzantine Empires military situation improved, and art and architecture revived. New churches were commissioned, and the Byzantine church mosaic style became standardised. The best preserved examples are at the Hosios Lukas Monastery in mainland Greece, the very freely painted frescos at Castelseprio in Italy are linked by many art historians to the art of Constantinople of the period also. There was also a style and more complex techniques from ancient Greek. Although monumental sculpture is extremely rare in Byzantine art, the Macedonian period saw the flourishing of the art of ivory sculpture. Many ornate ivory triptychs and diptychs survive, with the panel often representing either deesis or the Theotokos. On the other hand, ivory caskets often feature secular motifs true to the Hellenistic tradition, there are few important surviving buildings from the period. Joshua Roll Gunthertuch J. Durand, Lart byzantin, Terrail, spieser, Lart de Byzance, in C. Heck Moyen âge, chrétienté et Islam, flammarion, Paris,1996 Evans, the glory of Byzantium, art and culture of the Middle Byzantine era, A. D. 843-1261. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, media related to Paris psalter at Wikimedia Commons
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Cretan School
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There was a substantial demand for Byzantine icons in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and, as a Venetian possession since 1204, Crete had a natural advantage and soon came to dominate the supply. A probable early example is the icon of the Virgin in Rome known as Our Mother of Perpetual Help. At this date there is little to distinguish Cretan work from other Byzantine icons stylistically, the most famous artist of the period was Andreas Ritzos, whose son Nicholas was also well known. Andreas Pavias and his pupil Angelos Bizamanos, and Nicholas Tzafuris were other leading artists, even before the fall of Constantinople there is evidence that leading Byzantine artists were leaving the capital in order to settle in Crete. Cretan icons were commissioned for monasteries on Mount Athos and elsewhere, the Cretan school had a smaller rival, until it fell to the Turks in 1522, Rhodes also had a community of artists, but not so large or significant. The Venetian archives preserve considerable documentation on the trade of artistic icons between Venice and Crete, which by the end of the 15th century had one of mass production. There is documentation of an order in 1499, of 700 icons of the Virgin,500 in a Western style. The order was placed with three artists by two dealers, one Venetian and one from mainland Greece, and the time between contract date and delivery was set at only forty-five days. But at the top end of the market Cretan icons were now the finest in the Byzantine world, about 120 artists can be documented working in Candia, in the period 1453–1526, and they had organized a Schuola di San Luca painters guild, based on the Italian model. Some of these chose to continue the Byzantine tradition of Constantinople, while others were influenced by the masters of the Venetian Renaissance, such as Giovanni Bellini. Later Veronese was to be a particular influence, indeed, sometimes both styles could be found in the same icon, the one right next to the other. The fame of the most prominent Cretan painters spread throughout Greece, to an extent quantity was probably replaced by quality compared with the previous century. Apart from El Greco, the most famous Cretan artists during the century were Theophanis Strelitzas, known as Theophanes the Cretan, Michael Damaskenos, various members of the Lambardos family were also significant artists. Fortunately for art historians, many Cretan painters adopted the practice, perhaps as early as Western painters, of signing their work, which was not a traditional Byzantine practice. Theophanes the Cretan] was a relatively conservative Cretan artist, whose first dated work is from 1527 and he was the most important Greek wall painter of his day, incorporating some Western iconographic and stylistic elements, but remaining essentially Byzantine in spirit. The intellectual and artistic personality of the young El Greco was formed in this artistic environment. In 1563, at the age of twenty-two, El Greco was described in a document as a master, meaning he was already a master of the local guild. He left for Venice a few later, and never returned to Crete
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Heptanese School (painting)
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The Heptanese School of painting succeeded the Cretan School as the leading school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after Crete fell to the Ottomans in 1669. Like the Cretan school it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing Western European artistic influence, the school was based in the Ionian Islands, which were not part of Ottoman Greece, from the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century. The Ionian Islands or Heptanese from the 17th to the 19th century were under successive Venetian, French, another reason for the regional blossoming of arts is the migration of artists from mainland Greece and especially Crete to the Heptanese wanting to avoid the Ottoman rule. The main representatives of the fusion of Heptanese and Cretan Schools are Michael Damaskinos, Dimitrios Moschos and George Moschos, Manolis Tzanes and Konstantinos Tzanes and Stefanos Tsangarolas. Art in the Heptanese shifted towards Western styles by the end of the 17th century with the abandonment of strict Byzantine conventions. Artists were now increasingly influenced by the Italian Baroque and Flemish painters rather than from their Byzantine heritage, such changes were also reflected on the technique of oil painting on canvas which replaced the Byzantine technique of egg tempera on panel. Subjects included secular portraits of the bourgeoisie, which more common than religious scenes. Bourgeois portraiture had a character which emphasised the class, profession and position of the individual in society. Frequently, however, these works also constitute penetrating psychological studies, the mature phase of the School of the Ionian Islands echoes the social developments as well as the changes that had occurred in the visual arts. Portraits began to lose their emblematic character, the early rigid poses were then succeeded by more relaxed attitudes. Other subjects from the School of the Ionian Islands includes genre scenes, landscapes, the first examples of the new western influenced art can be seen at the roofs of churches which were known as ourania or sofita. A pioneer in this change was Panagiotis Doxaras, a Maniot who was taught Byzantine iconography from the Cretan Leo Moschos, later Doxaras would travel to Venice to study painting and he would abandon Byzantine iconography to dedicate himself to western art. Having as a quide the works of Paolo Veronese he would paint the roof of the church of Saint Spyridon in Corfu. His article even today is the subject of discussion in Greece. Nikolaos Doxaras, son of Panagiotis Doxaras continues the legacy of his father. In 1753–1754 he painted the roof of Saint Faneromeni in Zate that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1953, only a part of it has been saved and is exhibited today at the Zante Museum. Other contemporary artists of Doxaras were the Zante painter Ieronymos Stratis Plakotos, Dionysios Kalivokas and Dionysios Tsokos are considered the last perhaps painters of the Heptanese School. The sculptor and painter Pavlos Prosalentis is the first neoclassical sculptor of modern Greece, Ioannis Kalosgouros, a sculptor, architect and painter produced the marble bust of Countess Helen Mocenigo, a portrait of Nikolaos Mantzaros and a portrait of Ioannis Romanos
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Modern Greek art
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Modern Greek art is art from the period between the emergence of the new independent Greek state and the 20th century. As Mainland Greece was under Ottoman rule for all four centuries, it missed the Renaissance, the Cretan School and in particular the Heptanese School of art are two typical examples of artistic movements in Greece that followed parallel routes to Western Europe. As such, there were different artistic trends in the emerging Greek society, the School of Munich Modern Greek art began to be developed around the time of Romanticism. After centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities for an education in the arts existed in the newly independent Greece, so studying abroad was imperative for artists. Munich, as an important international center for the arts at that time, was the place where the majority of the Greek artists of the 19th century chose to study, later on, they would return to Greece and pass on their knowledge. Some of them remained in Munich, the so-called Athens on the Isar, both academic and personal bonds developed between early Greek painters and Munich artistry giving birth to the Greek Munich School of painting. Nikolaos Gysis was an important teacher and artist at the Munich Academy, early 20th century modernism is also represented by significant Greek artists in Munich. Many of these Munich School artists chose subjects such as everyday Greek life, local customs, several important painters emerged at this time. Theodoros Vryzakis specialized in painting and especially inspired by the 1821 Greek War of Independence. Nikiphoros Lytras concentrated on depictions of Greek life. Georgios Jakobides devoted his attention to infants and children and he would become the first Director of the new National Gallery of Athens. Georgios Roilos was another leading painter of the closely associated with the Munich School. Konstantinos Volanakis was inspired mostly by the Greek sea, notable sculptors of the new Greek Kingdom were Leonidas Drosis, Lazaros Sochos, Georgios Vitalis, Dimitrios Filippotis, Ioannis Kossos, Yannoulis Chalepas, Georgios Bonanos and Lazaros Fytalis. The School of Paris A few Greek painters studied in Paris, despite residing in the French capital and following the guidelines of the French Art Academy, they invariably had their own interpretations. Jacob Rizos was involved with the rendering of female grace, Theodoros Rallis with scenes from the Orthodox East and Nikolaos Xydias Typaldos with portraiture, still life and genre painting. The first Greek impressionist was Périclès Pantazis who, after Paris, settled in Belgium, themes-artistic depictions Many Greek artists of this period also drew upon El Grecos style for inspiration, particularly when creating art based on religious themes. This tied in with the idea of modern secular Greek art of the period referencing more classical styles, while religious art referenced Byzantine, at the beginning of the 20th century landscape painting held sway and the interest of painters turned toward the study of light and color. The dependence of Munich slackened and Paris became the pole of attraction for the artists of the period, the further development of these painters led to other roads, but always within the framework of the avantgarde movement albeit with a Greek dimension
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Modern Greek architecture
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After the Fall of Constantinople and the following trends of Greek migration to the diaspora, Greek architecture was concentrated mainly on the Greek Orthodox churches of Diaspora. These churches, such as other intellectual centres built by Greeks, was used also as a meeting-place, the architectural style of these buildings was heavily influenced by the western European architecture. After the Greek Independence, the modern Greek architects tried to combine traditional Greek and Byzantine elements and motives with the western European movements, Patras was the first city of the modern Greek state to develop a city plan. In January 1829, Stamatis Voulgaris, a Greek engineer of the French army, presented the plan of the new city to the Governor Kapodistrias, Voulgaris applied the orthogonal rule in the urban complex of Patras. Two special genres can be considered the Cycladic architecture, featuring white-colour houses, in the Cyclades, after the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, the architecture of Athens and other cities was mostly influenced by the Neoclassical architecture. For Athens, the first King of Greece, Otto of Greece, commissioned the architects Stamatios Kleanthis, in 1917 most of Thessalonikis old center of the city was destroyed by the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917. In 1933 was signed the Athens Charter, a manifesto of the modernist movement which published later by Le Corbusier, architects of this movement were among others, The Bauhaus-architect Ioannis Despotopoulos, Dimitris Pikionis, Patroklos Karantinos and Takis Zenetos. The first scycrapers were also constructed during the 1960s and 1970s, such as the OTE Tower, during the 1960s and 1970s, Xenia was a nationwide hotel construction program initiated by the Hellenic Tourism Organisation to improve the countrys tourism infrastructure. It constitutes one of the largest infrastructure projects in modern Greek history, the first manager of the project was the architect Charalambos Sfaellos and from 1957 the buildings were designed by a team under Aris Konstantinidis. Famous foreign architects who have designed buildings in Greece during the 20th and 21st century, include Walter Gropius, Eero Saarinen. Several new buildings were constructed by Santiago Calatrava for the 2004 Athens Olympics
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Greek academic art of the 19th century
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The creation of romantic art in Greece can be explained mainly due to the particular relationships that were created between recently liberated Greece and Bavaria during King Ottos years. In this period the Greek state was encouraging young artists to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and in particular study painting. In addition, after centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities existed for young artist in Greece itself, immediately after independence, so studying abroad was imperative for them. Munich, was an important international center for the arts and is the place where the majority of Greek artists of the 19th century would choose to study and a minority would go to Paris. Both academic and personal bonds developed between early Greek painters and Munich artistry, giving birth to the Greek Munich School of painting. Many of these young artists later returned to Greece to teach at the Polytechnic School and later Athens School of Fine Arts, some of them, like Nikolaus Gysis, chose to remain in Munich, the so-called Athens on the Isar. The works of the Munich school painters are characterised by an expert. scenes were depicted in a pompous and theatrical way, although not lacking in emotional tension. Munich School painters were specialised on portraiture, landscape painting and still life, artists belonging to the Munich School include the first painters of free Greece, such as Theodoros Vryzakis and Dionysios Tsokos. Even more dramatic in their depictions were the later Konstantinos Volanakis and Ioannis Altamouras, in his mature career Roilos went beyond the principles of the Munich School and introduced impressionism into Greek painting. Gysis stayed at the Academy in Germany while the others have returned to teach at the Athens School of Fine Arts and their teaching and artistry have marked the 19th-century artistic era in Greece. Nikiphoros Lytras is considered the pope of Greek painting and the major iconographer of Greek life during the 19th century, paintings such as The milkman or The awaiting consist reference points in Greek Art. Gysis worked mainly on ethography while at the maturity of his career he shifted towards the iconography of visions, allegories, iacovidis paintings were mainly portraiture and depiction of children scenes. The latter was the founder and first curator of the National Gallery of Greece in Athens, other painters include Epameinondas Thomopoulos, Ioannis Koutsis, Stylianos Miliadis, Nikolaos Vokos, Ioannis Zacharias and Polychronis Lembesis. Influences of academic realism can also be seen in the work of many Greek artists such as Spyridon Vikatos, Nikolaos Davis, Thalia Flora-Karavia, Ioannis Doukas and Ektor Doukas. Art in modern Greece National Gallery of Athens Greek Art National Gallery of Athens The Emergence of Modern Greek Painting, 1830-1930 From the Bank of Greece collection
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Cycladic culture
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Cycladic civilization is an Early Bronze Age culture of the Cyclades, Greece, in the Aegean Sea, spanning the period from approximately 3200–2000 BC. These figures have been stolen from burials to satisfy the Cycladic antiquities market since the early 20th century, only about 40% of the 1,400 figurines found are of known origin, since looters destroyed evidence of the rest. Excavated sites include Saliagos and Kephala, which showed signs of copper-working, each of the small Cycladic islands could support no more than a few thousand people, though Late Cycladic boat models show that fifty oarsmen could be assembled from the scattered communities. The chronology of Cycladic civilization is divided into three sequences, Early, Middle and Late Cycladic. The early period, beginning c.3000 BC segued into the archaeologically murkier Middle Cycladic c.2500 BC, by the end of the Late Cycladic sequence there was essential convergence between Cycladic and Minoan civilization. There is some tension between the systems used for Cycladic civilization, one cultural and one chronological. Interest then lagged, but picked up in the mid-20th century, sites were looted and a brisk trade in forgeries arose. The context for many of these Cycladic Figurines has thus been mostly destroyed, another intriguing and mysterious object is that of the Cycladic frying pans. Early Cycladic culture evolved in three phases, between c.3300 and 2000 BC, when it was submerged in the rising influence of Minoan Crete. Excavations at Knossos on Crete reveal an influence of Cycladic civilization upon Knossos in the period 3400 to 2000 BC as evidenced from pottery finds at Knossos, Cycladic art Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art History of the Cyclades
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Classicism
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Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. Classicism is a genre of philosophy, expressing itself in literature, architecture, art, and music, which has Ancient Greek and Roman sources. It was particularly expressed in the Neoclassicism of the Age of Enlightenment, Classicism is a recurrent tendency in the Late Antique period, and had a major revival in Carolingian and Ottonian art. Until that time the identification with antiquity had been seen as a history of Christendom from the conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine I. Renaissance classicism introduced a host of elements into European culture, including the application of mathematics and empiricism into art, humanism, literary and depictive realism, importantly it also introduced Polytheism, or paganism, and the juxtaposition of ancient and modern. The classicism of the Renaissance led to, and gave way to and this period sought the revival of classical art forms, including Greek drama and music. Opera, in its modern European form, had its roots in attempts to recreate the combination of singing and dancing with theatre thought to be the Greek norm, examples of this appeal to classicism included Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare in poetry and theatre. Tudor drama, in particular, modeled itself after classical ideals, studying Ancient Greek became regarded as essential for a well-rounded education in the liberal arts. They also began reviving plastic arts such as bronze casting for sculpture, for example, the painting of Jacques-Louis David which was seen as an attempt to return to formal balance, clarity, manliness, and vigor in art. Various movements of the period saw themselves as classical revolts against a prevailing trend of emotionalism and irregularity. The 20th century saw a number of changes in the arts, thus, both pre-20th century disciplines were labelled classical and modern movements in art which saw themselves as aligned with light, space, sparseness of texture, and formal coherence. Examples of classicist playwrights are Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine and Moliere, the influence of these French rules on playwrights in other nations is debatable. In the English theatre, Restoration playwrights such as William Wycherly and those of Shakespeares plays that seem to display the unities, such as The Tempest, probably indicate a familiarity with actual models from classical antiquity. Classicism in architecture developed during the Italian Renaissance, notably in the writings and designs of Leon Battista Alberti and this style quickly spread to other Italian cities and then to France, Germany, England, Russia and elsewhere. In the 16th century, Sebastiano Serlio helped codify the classical orders, building off of these influences, the 17th-century architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren firmly established classicism in England. For the development of classicism from the mid-18th-century onwards, see Neoclassical architecture, for Greek art of the 5th century B. C. E. See Classical art in ancient Greece and the Severe style Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture are marked by their renewal of classical forms, motifs and subjects. In the 15th century Leon Battista Alberti was important in theorizing many of the ideas for painting that came to a fully realised product with Raphaels School of Athens during the High Renaissance
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Geometric art
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Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterized largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, circa 900 BC –700 BC. Its centre was in Athens, and from there the style spread amongst the cities of the Aegean. In the Early Geometric period, the height of the vessels had been increased, the remaining surface is covered by a thin layer of clay, which during the cooking takes a dark, shiny, metallic color. That was the period when the theme of the meander was added to the pottery design. One of the examples of the Late Geometric style is an oldest surviving signed work of a Greek potter Aristonothos. The vase was found at Cerveteri in Italy and illustrates the blinding of Polyphemus by Odysseus, – that led to the Orientalizing Period style, in which the pottery style of Corinth distinguished. Vases in the Geometric style are characterized by horizontal bands about the circumference covering the entire vase. Between these lines the geometric artist used a number of decorative motifs such as the zigzag, the triangle, the meander. Besides abstract elements, painters of this era introduced stylized depictions of humans, linear designs were the principal motif used in this period. The meander pattern was often placed in bands and used to frame the now larger panels of decoration, the first human figures appeared around 770 BC on the handles of vases. The male was depicted with a torso, an ovoid head with a blob for a nose and long cylindrical thighs. Their long hair was depicted as a series of lines, as were their breasts, new York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Geometric Art in Ancient Greece Greek Geometric period
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Classical Greece
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Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years in Greek culture. This Classical period saw the annexation of much of modern-day Greece by the Persian Empire, Classical Greece had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and on the foundations of western civilization. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, scientific thought, theatre, literature, in the context of the art, architecture, and culture of Ancient Greece, the Classical period, sometimes called the Hellenic period, corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The Classical period in this sense follows the Archaic period and is in turn succeeded by the Hellenistic period and this century is essentially studied from the Athenian outlook because Athens has left us more narratives, plays, and other written works than the other ancient Greek states. From the perspective of Athenian culture in Classical Greece, the period referred to as the 5th century BC extends slightly into the 4th century BC. In this context, one might consider that the first significant event of this occurs in 508 BC, with the fall of the last Athenian tyrant. However, a view of the whole Greek world might place its beginning at the Ionian Revolt of 500 BC. The Persians were defeated in 490 BC, the Delian League then formed, under Athenian hegemony and as Athens instrument. Athens excesses caused several revolts among the cities, all of which were put down by force. After both forces were spent, a brief peace came about, then the war resumed to Spartas advantage, Athens was definitively defeated in 404 BC, and internal Athenian agitations mark the end of the 5th century BC in Greece. Since its beginning, Sparta had been ruled by a diarchy and this meant that Sparta had two kings ruling concurrently throughout its entire history. The two kingships were both hereditary, vested in the Agiad dynasty and the Eurypontid dynasty, according to legend, the respective hereditary lines of these two dynasties sprang from Eurysthenes and Procles, twin descendants of Hercules. They were said to have conquered Sparta two generations after the Trojan War, in 510 BC, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their king, the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratos. Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy headed by Isagoras, but his rival Cleisthenes, with the support of the middle class and aided by democrats, took over. Cleomenes intervened in 508 and 506 BC, but could not stop Cleisthenes, through his reforms, the people endowed their city with isonomic institutions — i. e. with equal rights for all —and established ostracism. The isonomic and isegoric democracy was first organized into about 130 demes, the 10,000 citizens exercised their power as members of the assembly, headed by a council of 500 citizens chosen at random. The territory of the city was divided into thirty trittyes as follows, ten trittyes in the coastal region ten trittyes in the ἄστυ. A tribe consisted of three trittyes, selected at random, one each of the three groups
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Hellenistic period
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It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decadence or degeneration, compared to the enlightenment of the Greek Classical era. The Hellenistic period saw the rise of New Comedy, Alexandrian poetry, the Septuagint, Greek science was advanced by the works of the mathematician Euclid and the polymath Archimedes. The religious sphere expanded to include new gods such as the Greco-Egyptian Serapis, eastern deities such as Attis and Cybele, the Hellenistic period was characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa. This resulted in the export of Greek culture and language to new realms. Equally, however, these new kingdoms were influenced by the cultures, adopting local practices where beneficial, necessary. Hellenistic culture thus represents a fusion of the Ancient Greek world with that of the Near East, Middle East and this mixture gave rise to a common Attic-based Greek dialect, known as Koine Greek, which became the lingua franca through the Hellenistic world. Scholars and historians are divided as to what event signals the end of the Hellenistic era, Hellenistic is distinguished from Hellenic in that the first encompasses the entire sphere of direct ancient Greek influence, while the latter refers to Greece itself. The word originated from the German term hellenistisch, from Ancient Greek Ἑλληνιστής, from Ἑλλάς, Hellenistic is a modern word and a 19th-century concept, the idea of a Hellenistic period did not exist in Ancient Greece. Although words related in form or meaning, e. g, the major issue with the term Hellenistic lies in its convenience, as the spread of Greek culture was not the generalized phenomenon that the term implies. Some areas of the world were more affected by Greek influences than others. The Greek population and the population did not always mix, the Greeks moved and brought their own culture. While a few fragments exist, there is no surviving historical work which dates to the hundred years following Alexanders death. The works of the major Hellenistic historians Hieronymus of Cardia, Duris of Samos, the earliest and most credible surviving source for the Hellenistic period is Polybius of Megalopolis, a statesman of the Achaean League until 168 BC when he was forced to go to Rome as a hostage. His Histories eventually grew to a length of forty books, covering the years 220 to 167 BC, another important source, Plutarchs Parallel Lives though more preoccupied with issues of personal character and morality, outlines the history of important Hellenistic figures. Appian of Alexandria wrote a history of the Roman empire that includes information of some Hellenistic kingdoms, other sources include Justins epitome of Pompeius Trogus Historiae Philipicae and a summary of Arrians Events after Alexander, by Photios I of Constantinople. Lesser supplementary sources include Curtius Rufus, Pausanias, Pliny, in the field of philosophy, Diogenes Laertius Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is the main source. Ancient Greece had traditionally been a collection of fiercely independent city-states. After the Peloponnesian War, Greece had fallen under a Spartan hegemony, in which Sparta was pre-eminent but not all-powerful
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Orthodoxy
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Orthodoxy is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. In the Christian sense the term means conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early Church, the first seven Ecumenical Councils were held between the years of 325 and 787 with the aim of formalizing accepted doctrines. In classical Christian usage, the term refers to the set of doctrines which were believed by the early Christians. A series of councils, also known as the First seven Ecumenical Councils, were held over a period of several centuries to try to formalize these doctrines. The most significant of these decisions was that between the Homoousian doctrine of Athanasius and Eustathius and the Heteroousian doctrine of Arius and Eusebius. The earliest recorded use of the term orthodox is in the Codex Iustinianus of 529–534, following the 1054 Great Schism, both the Western and Eastern Churches continued to consider themselves uniquely orthodox and catholic. Over time, the Western Church gradually identified with the Catholic label and this was in note of the fact that both Catholic and Orthodox were in use as ecclesiastical adjectives as early as the 2nd and 4th centuries respectively. Today the two largest Orthodox Christian communions are the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy, Orthodox Judaism is split into various different movements and factions. They have different ways of interpreting and following the laws and traditions of Judaism, Orthodox Judaism is distinct from Conservative Judaism. The term Orthodox Islam generally refers to the teachings and religious practices of traditional Sunni Islam. The term Orthodox Hinduism commonly refers to the teachings and practices of Sanātanī. In this sense, the term has a pejorative connotation. Among various orthodoxies in distinctive fields, most common terms are, Political orthodoxy, Social orthodoxy, Economic orthodoxy, Scientific orthodoxy, Orthodoxy is opposed to heterodoxy or heresy. A deviation lighter than heresy is commonly called error, in the sense of not being enough to cause total estrangement. Sometimes error is used to cover both full heresies and minor errors. The concept of orthodoxy is prevalent in many forms of organized monotheism, syncretism, for example, plays a much wider role in non-monotheistic religion. The prevailing governing norm within polytheism is often rather than the right belief of orthodoxy. Henderson, The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy, Neo-Confucian, Islamic, Jewish, and Early Christian Patterns, SUNY Press 1998
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Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
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Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
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Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
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Romanticism
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Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. It was embodied most strongly in the arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education. It elevated folk art and ancient custom to something noble, Romanticism assigned a high value to the achievements of heroic individualists and artists, whose examples, it maintained, would raise the quality of society. It also promoted the individual imagination as a critical authority allowed of freedom from classical notions of form in art, there was a strong recourse to historical and natural inevitability, a Zeitgeist, in the representation of its ideas. In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was offered as a polar opposite to Romanticism, the decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes, including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism. Defining the nature of Romanticism may be approached from the point of the primary importance of the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on emotion is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich that the feeling is his law. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others believed there were laws that the imagination—at least of a good creative artist—would unconsciously follow through artistic inspiration if left alone. As well as rules, the influence of models from other works was considered to impede the creators own imagination, so that originality was essential. The concept of the genius, or artist who was able to produce his own work through this process of creation from nothingness, is key to Romanticism. This idea is called romantic originality. Not essential to Romanticism, but so widespread as to be normative, was a strong belief, however, this is particularly in the effect of nature upon the artist when he is surrounded by it, preferably alone. Romantic art addressed its audiences with what was intended to be felt as the voice of the artist. So, in literature, much of romantic poetry invited the reader to identify the protagonists with the poets themselves. In both French and German the closeness of the adjective to roman, meaning the new literary form of the novel, had some effect on the sense of the word in those languages. It is only from the 1820s that Romanticism certainly knew itself by its name, the period typically called Romantic varies greatly between different countries and different artistic media or areas of thought. Margaret Drabble described it in literature as taking place roughly between 1770 and 1848, and few dates much earlier than 1770 will be found. In English literature, M. H. Abrams placed it between 1789, or 1798, this latter a very typical view, and about 1830, however, in most fields the Romantic Period is said to be over by about 1850, or earlier
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Greek Revolution
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The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution, was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1832 against the Ottoman Empire. Even several decades before the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, during this time, there were several revolt attempts by Greeks to gain independence from Ottoman control. In 1814, an organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, the first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events in the north urged the Greeks in the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March 1821 and this declaration was the start of a spring of revolutionary actions from other controlled states against the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in revolt against the Turks and by October 1821. The Peloponnesian revolt was followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea, tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars. In the meantime, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese, and Athens had been retaken. Following years of negotiation, three Great Powers—Russia, Britain and France—decided to intervene in the conflict and each sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the battle began after a tense week-long standoff, ending in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. As a result of years of negotiation, Greece was finally recognized as an independent nation in the Treaty of Constantinople of May 1832, the Revolution is celebrated by the modern Greek state as a national day on 25 March. The Fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453 and the subsequent fall of the states of the Byzantine Empire marked the end of Byzantine sovereignty. After that, the Ottoman Empire ruled the Balkans and Anatolia, Orthodox Christians were granted some political rights under Ottoman rule, but they were considered inferior subjects. The majority of Greeks were called Rayah by the Turks, a name referred to the large mass of non-Muslim subjects under the Ottoman ruling class. Demetrius Chalcondyles called on Venice and all of the Latins to aid the Greeks against the abominable, monstrous, however, Greece was to remain under Ottoman rule for several more centuries. The Greek Revolution was not an event, numerous failed attempts at regaining independence took place throughout the history of the Ottoman era. Throughout the 17th century there was resistance to the Ottomans in the Morea and elsewhere
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Modernism
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Among the factors that shaped modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by reactions of horror to World War I. Modernism also rejected the certainty of Enlightenment thinking, and many modernists rejected religious belief, the poet Ezra Pounds 1934 injunction to Make it new. Was the touchstone of the approach towards what it saw as the now obsolete culture of the past. In this spirit, its innovations, like the novel, atonal and twelve-tone music, divisionist painting and abstract art. Modernism explicitly rejected the ideology of realism and makes use of the works of the past by the employment of reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision, others focus on modernism as an aesthetic introspection. While J. M. W. Art critic Clement Greenberg describes the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as proto-Modernists, There the proto-Modernists were, of all people, the Pre-Raphaelites actually foreshadowed Manet, with whom Modernist painting most definitely begins. They acted on a dissatisfaction with painting as practiced in their time, rationalism has also had opponents in the philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and later Friedrich Nietzsche, both of whom had significant influence on existentialism. A major 19th-century engineering achievement was The Crystal Palace, the huge cast-iron, Glass and iron were used in a similar monumental style in the construction of major railway terminals in London, such as Paddington Station and Kings Cross Station. These technological advances led to the building of structures like the Brooklyn Bridge. The latter broke all previous limitations on how tall man-made objects could be and these engineering marvels radically altered the 19th-century urban environment and the daily lives of people. Arguments arose that the values of the artist and those of society were not merely different, but that Society was antithetical to Progress, the philosopher Schopenhauer called into question the previous optimism, and his ideas had an important influence on later thinkers, including Nietzsche. Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection undermined religious certainty and the idea of human uniqueness, in particular, the notion that human beings were driven by the same impulses as lower animals proved to be difficult to reconcile with the idea of an ennobling spirituality. Karl Marx argued that there were fundamental contradictions within the capitalist system, historians, and writers in different disciplines, have suggested various dates as starting points for modernism. Everdell also thinks modernism in painting began in 1885–86 with Seurats Divisionism, the poet Baudelaires Les Fleurs du mal, and Flauberts novel Madame Bovary were both published in 1857. In the arts and letters, two important approaches developed separately in France, the first was Impressionism, a school of painting that initially focused on work done, not in studios, but outdoors. Impressionist paintings demonstrated that human beings do not see objects, the school gathered adherents despite internal divisions among its leading practitioners, and became increasingly influential. A significant event of 1863 was the Salon des Refusés, created by Emperor Napoleon III to display all of the paintings rejected by the Paris Salon. While most were in standard styles, but by artists, the work of Manet attracted tremendous attention
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