Artistic Themes from Ancient Cultures: Greece and Rome

Introduction

The appreciation for Greek and Roman art remains in part because of its value as reference or inspiration of subsequent art movements . Both Greek and Roman art featured social life and mythology reflecting the intimacy by which both cultures considered their societies ' significance and interest in development . According to Beard and Henderson (2001 though there was a distinctive character in the arts of these arts even in ancient cultures , there was a great deal of fluidity and adaptation apparent in the styles , themes and modes of expression . One of the

interesting aspects of the ancient Greek and Roman art is in its concept of gender which is illustrates effectively the development of gender roles and attributions that will become the foundation of Western civilizations (Koloski-Ostrow Lyons , 2000

Art in Ancient Greece and Rome

The art of ancient Greece is often considered as the seminal art tradition including its heavy influence to Roman art . Like Greek art Roman art was also influential having Roman conquests as a vehicle for its dissemination even to Eastern artistic traditions . Most renowned of the art of the period were sculpture and architecture which featured indiscriminately mythological and historical events , personalities and imagery . Though there distinct gender roles in the art reflecting the roles afforded the sexes in agricultural and militaristic societies there was no emphasis on the precedence of one over the other (Beard Henderson , 2001 . The perception was that as females were associated with home and heart by virtue of motherhood while males were associated with physical labor or defense . However , neither role was considered exclusive in contrast to later art traditions were there was greater exclusion of attributes afforded for the sexes

For example , there was equal value given to male and female philosophers , monarchs depicted amongst the relief in key architectures including the Parthenon , in Greece and Rome recognized deities of both sexes particularly in the former . Though patriarchal lineage was the norm , matriarchal lines were recognized socially . Furthermore , there was also a great deal of androgenity in art due to the emphasis on form in artistic traditions . This was also due to the difference in views on sexuality which afforded greater freedom in contrast to contemporary male-female models of relationship (Koloski-Ostrow Lyons , 2000

It should be noted however that there are also distinctions between Greek and Roman art . In consequence of its more militaristic society there was greater emphasis on physical strength of men in the art as seen in depictions in Coliseum and other public sculptures . However where the subject or motivation is not to highlight physical attributes there was no gender attribution . In such cases , Minerva persisted to be not only the goddess of wisdom but was also recognized as a powerful military icon . Thus , though there was a marked shift from social to individual art in ancient Rome , valuation of either sex remained relatively equal

In subsequent Roman art , there was a shift reflecting the more militaristic prerogative of Roman society . However there was till a persistent...