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Gods and goddesses of Greece and their relationship with mortals
Gods and goddesses of Greece and their relationship with mortals
Relationship of the Greeks to their gods
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Aphrodite is one of the most well known gods to the Greek people (called Venus to Romans). She is known to be the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. So being the goddess of love and beauty, one would only want to make a beautiful sculpture to honor the goddess, hence the creation of the Venus de Milo. This paper will examine the history of the sculpture. Firstly, I will give a brief history of the sculpture. Secondly, I will give a formal analysis of the sculpture. Finally, I will discuss why this sculpture is known to be one of the most famous sculptures from the Hellenistic period.
Venus De Milo stands to be 6ft, 8in high. She was made around the late years of the Hellenistic period in the year 150 B.C.E. by Alexandros of Antioch, and she is made from marble. She was first discovered on April 8th, 1820 on the Island of Melos (Milo in modern Greek), by a peasant and or farmer who was digging in his field and he began to unearth the statue. There happened to be a French sailor by the name of Olivier Voutier, who was present at the time that this farmer began to unearth the stature and asked him to dig it up completely. Later it was bought by the French navel officers, then presently to Louis XVII, who in turned gave it to the Louvre, where it remains to this very day (Kousser).
Venus De Milo is a sculpture that can be admired from all angles, not just to be viewed straight on from the front of the body. She is made from two blocks of marble, but was comprised of several parts which were sculpted separately. She is shown to be half naked from the waist up. She has some type of drapery around her waist and it flows all the way down to her feet. Also the drapery that is around her is formed into such a way that you can cle...
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...ity, Winter 2002. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
Astier, Marie-Bénédicte. "Work Aphrodite, known as the "Venus de Milo"." Aphrodite, known as the "Venus de Milo". N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
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The age of the figurine has been changed several times. Originally, when found, the date was estimated to be 15,000 to 10,000 BCE. During the 1970’s the time period was adjusted to 25,000 to 20,000 BCE; the date was again recalculated in the 1980’s to 30,000 to 25,000 BCE; the most recent estimate of age was in the 1990’s and was placed at 24,000 to 22,000 BCE after scientific research was performed on the rock stratification. This statuette was discovered by Josef Szombathy in 1908 near the town of Willendorf, Austria, in an Aurignacian loess deposit, which loosely defined is a yellow brown loamy geological deposit dating to the Paleolithic period. The name Venus was first associated with the figurine as a joke.
...e of Knidos, created by Praxiteles, can only be found in copies today, but at the time was the first sculpture of a goddess nude. He had transformed marble into the soft and radiant flesh of the goddess of love and taking on a worldly sensuousness. Originally located in a rotunda where it could be seen from all angles. Female nudity was very rare to the Greeks, especially that of a goddess. The sculptor made it look like Aphrodite’s nudity was nonchalant, which made it more sensuous with a welcoming look on her face. With several copies, all being found to be slightly different, all still capture the goddess’s womanly beauty that is not too sexually aggressive. With he hourglass torso, sloped shoulders, large hips and thighs, slim calves and ankles, and small feet and hands, this statue is the polar opposite of any manly figure, which is why it is known to be luring.
Ridgway, Brunilde S. Hellenistic Sculpture II: The Styles of ca. 200-100 B.C. Madison, Wisc.: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2000.
...r. "Ancient Greece." Gardner's art through the ages the western perspective. 13th ed., Backpack ed. Boston, Mass.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 101, 123,129. Print.
"Unhandled Exception." Ancient Greece - History, Mythology, Art, War, Culture, Society, and Architecture. 2008. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. .
Meyer, Jargen C. “Women in Classical Athens in the Shadow of North-West Europe or in the Light from Istanbul”. Women’s Life in Classical Athens. www.hist.uib.no/antikk/antres/Womens life.htm. Accessed: March 10, 2012
...ity in Classical Athens. New York, NY: Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) in Collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, 2008. Print.
The Venus of Willendorf and the Venus de Milo are two ancient day venus sculptures representing two different views on beauty. The Venus of Willendorf is a small 4.5 inch limestone figure of a Goddess which is believed to be used as a fertility symbol, while the Venus de Milo is a tall ancient Greek statue of a Goddess which is said to represent love and beauty. The Venus of Willendorf’s body structure is very different than that of Venus de Milo. The venus of Willendorf appears to be a short lady with a large emphasis on her reproductive organs, breasts and stomach area whereas the Venus de Milo appears to be very tall with smaller breasts, and a really athletic build. She appears to have abs and looks as if she has not had children before, while the Venus of Willendorf looks like she has had children due to her huge breasts and stretched out belly button. The Venus
Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece, Venus and Adonis, is not only a significant artwork of the baroque-period in Europe during the 17th century, but it also tells the mythological story that begins with love, and ends in tragedy. Displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this painting is admired for representing the unique baroque-style of this era, as well as Rubens’ particular use of the medium and how it reaches those who are viewing it. His attention to detail and crafty use of symbolism within the painting assist viewers in deciphering the story, along with the values of the time period in which Rubens was living. In studying the composition of the work and noting the historical context from which it came, one can ultimately understand Rubens’ point-of-view and thus, connect to the painting in a way he or she has never imagined.
The Venus of Willendorf is one of the earliest sculptures of the body made by humans during the Paleolithic era. She was made from limestone native to her location and covered with red orche. Despite standing only 4.4 inches, the purpose of the Venus of Willendorf is widely debated. Some will say the exaggerated breasts, navel, and vulva connects her to fertility as a representation of a mother goddess. Others, such as those in my class, believe her to be a figure of body image. The stumpy female figure features hanging breasts, an obese middle and belly, and distinct buttocks in all, represents a realistic form of a severely overweight woman. Due to the hash ice-age environment of where she’s from leads one to believe fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable. Whether the sculpture was based on a fantasy or a real life model the infatuations with the idea of self-acceptance through body
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli depicts a moment from Venus birth when she stepping, almost floating, off the seashell that was blown ashore by Zephyors along with Chloris. Horae awaits Venus arrival to shore with a large red cloak to cover her naked body .Venus is the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, and prostitution. Venus is the Roman Aphrodite. Born of seafoam from a singled drop of blood in to the sea from the castration of her farther Uranus by his son Saturn.
This essay will reflect on how body is represented in the portraiture art within the Renaissance’s golden period detailing specifically Botticelli’s paintings and how this experience have broadened and enhanced my knowledge towards the future interest. This period arise when the medieval dark ages come to its end and artist and their patronage reinvented and represented the ideas of the classical mythology, particularly of the ancient Greek and Rome. It is a time when outstanding numbers of paintings, sculptures, alfresco were born and a human body was exposed as the centre of the universe. An epoch where the dominate themes were no longer pure religious devotions but it shift its focus primarily towards the anatomical beauty of the bodies, ideally represented. Furthermore, I will detail Botticelli’s paintings “The Birth of Venus” and briefly reflect on other two “Venus and Mars” and “Primavera” paintings. All three include the mythic figure of the Venus, who signifies both passionate love and intellectual love that still culturally lives in today’s world. In my view a real portrait signifies the components of the individuality and also can translates the ideal impression of the truth embodied within human body and soul.
In classical Greek literature the subject of love is commonly a prominent theme. However, throughout these varied texts the subject of Love becomes a multi-faceted being. From this common occurrence in literature we can assume that this subject had a large impact on day-to-day life. One text that explores the many faces of love in everyday life is Plato’s Symposium. In this text we hear a number of views on the subject of love and what the true nature of love is. This essay will focus on a speech by Pausanius. Pausanius’s speech concentrates on the goddess Aphrodite. In particular he looks at her two forms, as a promoter of “Celestial Love” as well as “Common Love.” This idea of “Common Love” can be seen in a real life context in the tragedy “Hippolytus” by Euripides. This brings the philosophical views made by Pausanius into a real-life context.
Honour, Hugh, and John Fleming. "Hellenistic and Roman Art." A World History of Art. London: Laurence King, 1999. 179-213. Print.
The Birth of Venus is a beautiful Renaissance canvas masterpiece created by Sandro Botticello. The picture illustrates the birth of Venus in a very mystical way. Venus has emerged from sea on a shell which is being driven to shore by flying wind-gods. She is surrounded by beautiful roses which are painted in a truly remarkable color. As she is about to step to land, one of the Hours hands her a purple cloak. The back drop includes the sea and a forest. The overall effect of this painting are almost overwhelming, color and beauty meet the eye in every angle.