Greek And Roman Art Essay -- essays research papers

The Greek Theater     "The arts of the western world bedevil been largely dominated by the artistic standards established by the Greeks of the incorrupt period" (Spreloosel 86). It is from the Greek word theatron, meaning a place for sitting, that we render our word theater. According to James Butler, "The Greeks were the first battalion to erect extra structures to bring audiences and theatrical performers together" (27). "The theaters were normally located near a populated area at the bottom of or cut away of a carefully selected, sloping hillside overlooking a seascape, a plain, or a city" (Butler 30). "They eventually with few exceptions consisted of three distinct split theatron (viewing place) for spectators, orchestra (dancing place) where the emit and actors performed and a posterior fitition, a skene (scene building), which provided a scenic backing" (Butler 30).     The theatron was the pla ce where the audience sat. At first the spectators sat on the ground, later on wooden bleachers and finally on tiers of stone pose which followed the bankers bill shape of the orchestra and the natural contours of the countryside. The theatron sur locomote the orchestra on three sides. Describing the theater of Dionysus, David Taylor writes, " The spectators seats were in a curving area, a little more than a semi-circle and slope down to the center" (Taylor 19). Even though all classes of people attended the theater there were reserved areas for the more prestigious, such as the king.     " The audience arranged in rows, looked out across a rounded orchestra" (Kennedy 1102). Because most of the early dramas were religious and required a sacrificial ceremony, a thymele (an altar or sacrificial table) was located in the center of the orchestra. The orchestra was where the chorus and actors performed. Arnott states, " the nucleus of the drama was the chorus" (Arnott 9). David Taylor comments, " The theater actually did start without any(prenominal) separate actors there was only the chorus" (15). Later actors were added, but the chorus still remained the center of attention. The audience sat at a significant distance from the orchestra and looked down on the performance. Although the amount of detail perceived was limited, they of... ... take a crap it and the figures would still show up as red, while the background would bugger off out black. This allowed for more attention to detail as well as the ability to use foreshortening and shadowing. The use of shadowing is more than obvious on the Kylix with the figure of a youth sitting on a stone surrounded by large apatropaic eyes. The ability to foreshadow is shown in many other red-figured works that were done during and around that time.     The differences that are name amid these four pieces of art can be traced back to the differ ences that existed between the two cultures. Even though there are similarities, the differences outweigh them by far. The purpose of the Roman ma Portrait of a Man and the Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman differ completely from that of the Greek Black-Figured Psykter and the Red-Figured Kylix Depicting a Young Athelete. The styles of the paintings are also really different as well. The amazing thing that is to noticed is that regardless of the differences that exist, twain the Greek and the Roman pieces are considered to be masterpieces of art. The differences that are found add to the uniqueness that each one entails.