Hesiod: A Narrative Analysis

588 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Overall influence of ancient Greece on modern society

In this piece, I intended for the viewer to feel a sense of compatibility between the classical time period and the modern world. At first glance it may just look like seven random men and a monkey, but I hope after a deeper analysis that whoever is looking at it realizes that the first four men are meant to be a representation of the contemporary idea of evolution while the men on the bottom represent Hesiod's idea of evolution, or more appropriately, devolution of humans. Today, we think of evolution as a progression. We started as primates and over time have become the most intelligent creature to ever live on Earth. Hesiod, on the other hand, describes men as having begun in an elite stage and slowly deteriorated to the point of where we are more like beasts that a dominating species. I hoped this point would be further depicted by the symbolism in the men’s positioning as they become closer to the ground and consequently farther from the gods and closer to animals. Beginning in the Golden Age, people lived among the gods and had no troubles or obligations. …show more content…

By doing this, I wanted views to realize that although the classical period was over more than a thousand years ago, we still appreciate these aspects in art. Today we still seek interaction with our art as well as beauty and a little mystery. In modern day, we think of our evolution of consisting of strong men because after all, we consider ourselves to be the best organism to ever exist. The classical artists also understood that physical strength represented greatness and attractiveness and made their art pieces equally as muscular as we do today. Similarly, we still associate a lack of emotion with rational reasoning and consider pieces in which the person looks as though they are in motion to be the most advanced

Show More
Related

  • Tensions In Hesiod's Theogony

    355 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Hesiod’s Theogony, the tensions within a family seem to be an intensified version of issues that are relatable to people. The results of these tensions are also dramatic and have a tendency to have a fulfillment of the fears that were causing the tensions as a result. This implies that there is a natural cycle of destruction between father and son. Tension seems to arise with the implication of the woman’s creative nature juxtaposed to the destructive nature of her husband.

    Read More

  • Wayne White's 'Golden Surf Rossi: The Seventies'

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Florence and the early renaissance, we have the greatest master of art like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli and others. In this period of time the painters almost never show their emotions or feelings, they were more focused on indulging the churches and the wealthy people. In The renaissance period the art provides the work of art with ideal, intangible qualities, giving it a beauty and significance greater and more permanent than that actually found in the modern art. Florence and the early renaissance, the art become very valued where every artist was trying to create art forms consistent with the appearance of the beauty or elegance in a natural perspective. However, Renaissance art seems to focus more on the human as an individual, while Wayne White art takes a broader picture with no humans whatsoever; Wayne, modern three dimensional arts often utilizes a style of painting more abstract than Renaissance art. At this point in the semester these two aspects of abstract painting and the early renaissance artwork have significant roles in the paintings. Wayne White brings unrealistic concepts that provoke a new theme of art, but nevertheless the artistic creations of the piece of art during early renaissance still represent the highest of attainment in the history of

    Read More

  • The Greek Attitude Towards Women as seen in the Works of Hesiod

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hesiod leaves no doubt that the existence of women is on balance a terrible thing for men. Zeus ordered Hephaistos to create women as a punishment for his having been decieved.. Women were to be a poisoned gift for men, which "all shall take to their hearts with delight, an evil to love and embrace" (W&D, 57-59). In the Theogony women are called "a great plague" because they are "ill-suited to Poverty’s curse, but suited to Plenty" (592-93), among other flaws. While Hesiod offers some well-turned phrases in praise of womens’ good qualities, it is unmistakable that these positive attributes are all put there by Zeus for the sole purpose of making woman an "inescapable snare" (589). Women are attractive, they have useful skills and, they provide progeny to help men in their old age, but these qualities are only to prevent men form avoiding the punishment that she brings.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Hesiod And Greek Mythology

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Roman and Greek mythology are filled with multiple interpretations of how the creator, be it the gods or nature, contributed to the birth of the world. These stories draw the backgrounds of the gods and goddesses that govern much of classical mythology. Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Hesiod’s Theogony are two pieces of work that account for how our universe came to be. A comparison of Theogony with Metamorphoses reveals that Hesiod’s creation story portrays the deities as omnipresent, powerful role whose actions triggered the beginning of the universe whereas in Metamorphoses, the deities do not play a significant role; rather the humans are center of the creation. The similarities and differences are evident in the construction of the universe, ages of man, and the creation of men and women on earth.

    Read More

  • Winckelmann Article

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this article Winckelmann states that the good taste in art that is present in contemporary works stems from the work of the ancient Greeks. The beauty in the modern works of artists like Raphael (especially his Madonna and child with St Sixtus and St Barbara) hold such beauty, complexity of emotion, and good taste because he draws on the ideas set up by the great ancient sculptures and society in which they lived and drew inspiration from. Winckelmann categorizes the ancients greatness into two main ideas that are necessary for contemporaries to draw from in order to reach greatness: Natural beauty and noble simplicity and quiet grandeur.

    Read More

  • Hephaestus In The Odyssey

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hephaestus, was one of the twelve Greek Gods, the lame God of blacksmiths, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanos. He is symbolised with a hammer, anvil, or a pair of tongs. As stated in Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, he is the son of Zeus, the king of gods, and Hera, the goddess of women and marriage. Contradicting that, according to Hesiod Hera had Hephaestus alone; because she was jealous that Zeus bred Aphrodite by himself. Hera reportedly after Hephaestus was born threw him off Mount. Olympus because he was ugly, when he fell Hephaestus broke both his legs, leaving him crippled. He fell into the ocean and was brought up by Thetis and Eurynome, the goddesses of the sea. Hephaestus never forgave Hera. As revenge he fashioned

    Read More

  • Works and Days by Hesiod

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schlegel, Catherine. "Introduction to Hesiod." Introduction. Theogony and Works and Days. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 2006. 1-10. Print.

    Read More

  • Moral Decay in Hesiod's Tales

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Different theories have been developed which relate to this theme of moral decay throughout history, even several centuries after Hesiod's life. This idea of evolutionary decay seems to corroborate with the widely received, contemporary theory of evolution, or Darwinism, brought forth through the designs and beliefs of Charles Darwin in which he states that, in nature, only the fittest creatures will survive ...

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    The role of women in Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days is outstandingly subordinate. There are a number of times in Hesiod's text that despises women, being mortal, immortal, or flesh-eating monsters. The overall impression of women from Theogony and Works and Days, leads one to believe that Hesiod is a misogynist.

    Read More

  • The Importance In Hesiod's Theogony, The Muses?

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Hesiod’s Theogony, the Muses, which are the nine singing goddesses who he came across one day while taking care of his lambs, serve as a guide to the poet’s genealogy and organization of the origins of the gods by inspiring him to write down the lineage as they sing it. Using their angelic voices, the Muses presented Hesiod with the history of the cosmos in order. Thus, inspiring him to become a poet; he made this major change in his life and that resulted in Theogony, a chronological poem that consists of short life lessons, punishments, and roots of many Greek gods and goddesses. In this poem, Hesiod described these accounts as songs, when in fact, they were long verbal stories of how the gods of Olympus came to be. The sole purpose of

    Read More

  • Artistic comparison

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    Modern art serves to immerse us more thoroughly in a scene by touching on more than just our sight. Artists such as Grosz, and Duchamp try to get us to feel instead of just see. It seems that this concept has come about largely as a way to regain identity after shedding the concepts of the Enlightenment. “Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness...” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.

    Read More

  • Platos "The Symposium"

    2183 Words  | 5 Pages

    world and this value of form and thought can be seen throughout many of the works of art.

    Read More

  • The French Revolution & Art

    2050 Words  | 5 Pages

    Additionally, the styles changed; from Rococo, which was meant to represent the aristocratic power and the “style that (…) and ignored the lower classes” (Cullen), to Neoclassicism, which had a special emphasis on the Roman civilization’s virtues, and also to Romanticism, which performs a celebration of the individual and of freedom. Obviously, also the subject matter that inspired the paintings has changed as wel...

    Read More

  • Plato Vs. Aristotle on Art

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the ancient times in Greece, Plato was the first human to document and criticize the existence of art and artists. He mentioned that human art was always in a form of a representation of something else. In one of Plato’s famous works, he demonstrates the idea of art is like an “imitation of nature” (Blocker 3). In other words, the purpose of art was to represent nature and nothing else. Art was not created for the sake of its own self nor was it created to appreciate its own beauty by any means. Instead, art, usually in forms of writings, paintings, or sculptures, was created to only to represent nature, Gods, emperors, families, or other important individuals. Furthermore, Plato had a very critical view towards the existence art in our society because art makes us more emotional, and our emotions lead to many errors about life. He believed it is our rational thinking, not our emotions or senses, which helps us und...

    Read More

  • Fine Art Essay

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    At an essential human level there is recognition of beauty and creation, as Plotinus believed. There is potential for subjectivity in art and personal preference, but the principles of universality and the ability to incite emotion set apart fine art. Beauty, in the traditional concept, is irrelevant to fine art. What is beautiful changes and is subjective, so the artist does not have to capture what is beautiful in the traditional sense, but rather an idea or concept that possesses merit. Art may not be beautiful but can still possess meaning, such as Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Though the subject itself may not be objectively pretty, capturing the expression and mystery makes the painting itself valuable and meaningful. Beauty in fine art is not a matter of the physical image as much as the expression, message, or emotion it incites. For that reason, beauty can be frightening or sad, as well as happy and peaceful. In fine art, the artist seeks not to capture the beauty of an object or item, but the feeling that viewing this brings. This is the concept of experiencing what the artist feels and thinks, beyond the physical work

    Read More

More about Hesiod: A Narrative Analysis

Open Document