Greek Statues And the Olympics

450 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on greek olympics

The time has come again for Olympics games to begin. Organizers of the Olympics must choose the finest statues from a certain time period; they chose to decorate with the Classical period. They believed that the Classical period would best decorate the course of the marathon because they believe that the Classical statues characterize both modern and ancient values the best. The three Classical statutes that would best signify both ancient and modern values would be: The Charioteer from Delphi, The Discus Thrower, and Zeus/Poseidon. These three Classical statutes would best depict both modern and western values because of their characteristics of determination, freedom of expression/language, as well as their perfection of form.
The first statue to decorate the course of the marathon would be The Charioteer from Delphi. The Charioteer of Delphi is one of the most important sculptures to represent the course because he exemplifies the idealized realism through the expression on his face; his facial expression basically summarizes the moment of victory in a race. However he doesn’t show an expression/emotion because of his determination to be victorious. The athletic Charioteer’s form lets him stand and stare with a natural ease that allows him to concentrate, and allow him to be triumphant.
The next statue to line the course of the marathon would be the Discus Thrower. This statue seems to be perfect depiction of a beautiful athletic body. This sculpture catches the athlete in motion; in the peak of his back swing. Although he has no facial expression, you can tell by the way of his form of movement and weight shift, that he is trying hard to put his body in a powerful rotation to give the discus immense speed. He is depiction of a beautiful athletic body because of his muscles and his perfect form; which is what people in today’s society strive for and think is the ideal body.
Lastly, the next statue to line the marathon course would be the statue of Zeus (or Poseidon). This statue provides the look of power because it is an open statue, ready to throw a lightning bolt, or a trident. Again, the facial expression is blank, and the weight shift is extreme to show that the body is in motion.

Show More
Related

  • Kroisos vs Doryphoros

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    The difference between an archaic statue such as Kroisos (fig. 5-11) and a classical statue such as Doryphoros (fig. 5-42) may not seem very great in a single glance. In fact, you may not notice any differences in that one glance. Yet, if you were to look at them closely, you can see that these two statues actually have very little in common.

    Read More

  • Lansdowne Hermes

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    Looking deeper into the statue a trained (or imaginative) eye can see more than what is just given at a glance. The pose given by Hermes is the classical pose of contraposto. Contraposto is a pose developed where the majority of the weight is placed on one leg and the other leg in a relaxed with relatively no weight on it in a position that can both be relaxed and ready to jump to action in the same resting position. The virtually unnoticed half palm tree that Hermes is resting against gives a divine character an almost mortal because of the necessity of support on an earthly object. In the pose where the presence of strength and anticipation of a move, there is also the presence of a mortal presence. The balance of the counter limb activity is present in the contraposto stance expressing a certain diagonal symmetry. In the Lansdowne Hermes both the right arm and the left leg are in the resting position awaiting the next motion. The right arm is resting on the right buttock anticipating some sort of motion or action to be carried out by the seemingly dormant arm.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Augustus Of Gudea And The Augus Of Primaporta

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gudea wears a long garment that does not cover one of his shoulders and contains inscriptions written by Gudea himself. In the inscription he dedicates the statue to Geshtinanna, a goddess who interpreted dreams. Because the garment leaves the shoulder bare, viewers are able to see Gudea’s well-defined muscles. His eyes are wide open, symbolic of intense concentration, and he wears a wide brimmed hat. In the work, Gudea is seen as an amicable, strong, and righteous leader.

    Read More

  • Avalokitesvara, The Bodhisattva Of Mercy And Expression?

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Classical style helped many emperors and rulers be conveyed as larger than life and being god like. Like most statues and figures the model was nude with symmetrical body parts. At that time athletes trained...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Justice In Plato's The Republic

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is justice? In Plato’s, The Republic this is the main point and the whole novel is centered around this question. We see in this novel that Socrates talks about what is justice with multiple characters.In the first part of Book 1 of The Republic, Socrates questions conventional morality and attempts to define justice as a way for the just man to harm the unjust man (335d) ; however, Thrasymachus fully rejects this claim, and remarks that man will only do what is in his best interest, since human nature is, and should be ruled by self-interest, and he furthers this argument by implying that morality, and thus justice, is not what Socrates had suggested, but rather that it is simply a code of behavior exacted on man by his ruler. Thrasymachus begins his argument by giving his definition of justice. He says that justice, or right is simply what is in the best interest of the stronger (338c). When questioned by Socrates on this point, he explains that each type of government (the stronger party) enacts types of justice that are in its own best interest, and expect

    Read More

  • Military Spending Budget Plan

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States is facing a large military budget spending issue with the Department of Defence reporting a cost of around $525.4 billion this past year. Washington Posts announced that, "The United States spent more on its military than the next 13 nations combined in 2011." While military spending is a large part of the government budget, and there is enough room to reduce spending as long as there are a set of precautions of which necessities the government cannot cut.

    Read More

  • The Terme Boxer

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Terme Boxer or Boxer at Rest is a bronze statue with copper inlays that is cast in a manner representative of early Hellenistic statues. The exact location that this piece was used in is currently uncertain as the bronze statue was located in a form of storage within the foundations of an ancient unidentified building. Estimates regarding the date on this statue are mixed and generally fall loosely between 100 to 400c.e.. Following past examples of this type of statuary indicates that most likely this statue would have been located in a sanctuary or public commons like a bath to celebrate the athlete in question.

    Read More

  • Evaluating Socrates' Perception of Justice

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Socrates gives the idea that the premise of individuals getting justice and happiness is they live in a justice city. In a city, there are four virtues: moderation, courage, wisdom and justice. According to first three virtues, people are divided into three types: workers with moderation, guardians with courage and auxiliaries with wisdom. Justice is the most important virtue and represents the unanimity of three virtues (Plato 268-288). When Socrates goes back to individual’s justice, he further

    Read More

  • Ancient Greek Olympics

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    Historians. In 300 BC all time was dated by Olympiads, a time span of four years

    Read More

  • Military Spending Pros And Cons

    1778 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online (2016), defense spending is “money spent by a government to provide its military with weapons, equipment, and soldiers.” Defense spending is what keeps us safe and can include a wide array of expenditures from the acquisition of weaponry to the recruitment of a high school student for military training. Allocating funds for national defense within a country is of great importance because it “is one of the most important objectives of any government because national security is a necessary condition for a government to pursue other policy objectives” (Heo & Bohte, 2012, p. 416). Essentially, in order for citizens to feel safe and secure, it is important that the United States have a national defense budget in case a threat arises. Just like a homeowner takes out an insurance policy and has a security system installed, they hope that these will never have to be utilized, but are available if needed to protect the family. Similarly, the United States has equipped itself with air, naval, ground bases as well as a stockpile of weaponry in the event that we find ourselves offensively or defensively

    Read More

  • The Modern Olympics: The Traditions Of The Modern Games

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    Modern Day Olympics are a huge tradition that sweeps the screens of televisions across the world. Competitors take the arena with uniforms that dawn their countries colors and designs that are meant to resemble their designated flag. For months the news is centered around the games; the preparation, the athletes, and of course the competition. Countries aren 't obsessed, they are inspired and full of pride seeing athletes from their country compete and show their incredible skill. This tradition dates back to ancient Greece where the games began. Tony Perrottet writes about the traditions of the ancient game in his book The Naked Olympics.

    Read More

  • The Republic - Book 1 - Theme Of Justice

    2360 Words  | 5 Pages

    The subject matter of the “Republic” is the nature of justice and its relation to human existence. Book I of the “republic” contains a critical examination of the nature and virtue of justice. Socrates engages in a dialectic with Thrasymachus, Polemarchus, and Cephalus, a method which leads to the asking and answering of questions which directs to a logical refutation and thus leading to a convincing argument of the true nature of justice. And that is the main function of Book I, to clear the ground of mistaken or inadequate accounts of justice in order to make room for the new theory. Socrates attempts to show that certain beliefs and attitudes of justice and its nature are inadequate or inconsistent, and present a way in which those views about justice are to be overcome.

    Read More

  • The Human Body in Ancient Greek Sculptures

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    The primary focus of ancient Greek sculptures was that of the human body. Almost all Greek sculptures are of nude subjects. As the first society to focus on nude subjects, Greek sculptors attempted to "depict man in what they believed was the image of the gods and so would come to celebrate the body by striving for verisimilitude or true – likeness (realism and naturalism!)."(Riffert) Not only did the Greeks celebrate the human form in their art but also in everyday life. (Riffert) One of the favorite topics for sculptors was that of the athlete. In Greek culture athletes were described as "hero–athletes". (Riffert) This shows that athletes were revered and looked upon as heroes. The influence of athleticism is evident in many famous sculptures. I will attempt to show how the human form influenced Greek art. It is important to note that many of the Greek sculptures discussed do not exist in their original form but rather in Roman copies of the original bronze sculptures. (Riffert)

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Judgement Of Paris

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aphrodite leg is creating a V shape. Hera seems to be modeled after Aphrodite of Knidos, with her hand somewhat modestly place to cover the female part and her body shape is also quite similar too Aphrodite of Knidos. Athena on the other hand, is giving the audience her full back. Her body creates “s” shape with gives a sense of motion. All four females depicted in the painting have that ideal female body congruent with Greek ideal at that time, 0.7 waists to hip ratio, unfit, non-muscular body. Same can be said with all the males depicted in the painting, they all adhere to the male ideal body; they are all extremely muscular and ripped, ready to protect their town and women, even Eros, a child has an extremely muscular body. Paris is seen horizontally extending his arm towards to Aphrodite granting her the apple, show casing every arm muscle just like in Discus Thrower, as if the artist just capture the exact moment of motion. There is an implied line, directing the viewer’s eyes towards the focal point, Aphrodite and Paris. All the character’s eye direction in the painting is going towards Paris choice of giving the apple to Aphrodite instead of choosing to give it to Hera or Athena. Furthermore, a dog, next to Paris, is seen horizontally lying down on the floor, which according to Greek culture, dogs were the protectors, they are calm, loyal and devoted to their masters. The viewer based on location and proximity of the dog to Paris can conclude that he will protect Paris from harm, foreshadowing the Trojan War, which Paris escapes alive. There is also iconography in the painting such as Eros, to identify Aphrodite, a peacock to identify Hera, and armor for

    Read More

  • Plato and the definition of justice

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Republic that Plato wrote in 380 before J.C. to give his opinion of the political state and justice, many definitions are given through the character of Socrates, who was Plato's mentor, and through characters inspired of Greek philosophers, generally sophists, as Thrasymachus, and Glaucon, who was Plato's own brother. Definitions are given as outcomes of debates between Socrates and the sophists, during which each character leads at a moment or another, until a stronger argument, usually asserted by Socrates, close the discussion. In this way, Plato explores a range of different points of view and aspects of the meaning of justice. It appears that they are four definitions of justice given by Cephalus, Thrasymachus, Socrates himself, Glaucon and Adeimantus.

    Read More

More about Greek Statues And the Olympics

Open Document