Greek Nakedness

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To the Greeks, nakedness is considered as an ideal form to express their civilization. In the English language, the naked and the nude carries different meaning. John Berger’s well-known dictum in Ways of Seeing is useful here - “To be nude is to be seen by others and yet not recognized for oneself. And naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become a nude… Nakedness reveals itself… Nudity is on display... To be naked is to be without disguise… Nudity is a form of dress”. In the Greek society, when being clothed is norm, then nakedness is special, and also can be viewed as a “costume” to elevate certain virtues. The Greek nudity is considered to be a marker to distinguish Greek and non-Greek, and also between men and women.

From the portrayals of earlier kouroi to the “canonical” nudes, the meaning underlies the nudity of Greek sculptures from different periods of time has been changed as time gone by. …show more content…

These male bodies were portrayed in geometric shapes, which divorce from human anatomy and naturalism. For instance, the ribcage of the Kouros of Tenea was simply outlined by a single hoop, and a triangular groin. Most of the archaic kouroi share generic archaic smile and stand in stiff posture; function as a symbol to celebrate aristocracy or athletic practice, or as grave markers to stand for immortality. They aimed to be iconographic symbols rather than conveying any emotions or being narrative by being anatomically

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