Greek Grave Steles

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

stele of the 5th century before Christ. The 5th B.C. encompassed two distinct periods: the early classical and the high classical. However both these periods shared the uniquely contradicting, constantly explorative, and modestly idealistic vision of life, which made the subjects of the stele, at their moment of death, all the more human to the observer. Neither the previous Archaic period, nor the following 4th century, or the preceding civilizations quite so convincingly capture for the observer the poignancy of death the way a fifth century BC stele could.

The period of the 5th century B.C. is sometimes referrd to as the golden age, which is the height for Greek art and civilizations; and ironically has its beginning and ending in war! “The 480 B.C. marked the defeat of the Persians and 404 B.C. the beginning of the pelopannasian war and the collapse of Athenian democracy. ” Perhaps the culturally significant buildings and sculptures that were destroyed and the many ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

remains to be seen not in the civic monuments but in the beautiful series of grave stele that were produced during the 5th century BC. ” The common thread that runs through the two periods of the fifth century are “the touch of unpretentious and sublime otherworldliness ” combined with a sense of austere melancholy.

During the Archaic period although vases were the popular method for marking graves, steles with human figure relief begin to appear during this period. These steles later predominate during the classical period. The Archaic grave steles usually “consisted of a rectangular slab surmounted first by capitals and then back to back volute scrolls with a sphinx atop. ” An ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: