When we talk about Greek art, we have a great difficulty common to every civilization that has its manifestations investigated. Being subordinated to time and culture, Greek art takes on traits and characteristics that vary greatly over time. Like us, the thematic and aesthetic interests of the Greek population varied greatly over the centuries. This, not to mention that this same people was formed by several city-states and came into contact with other civilizations in the ancient world.
If we can highlight an aspect that sets Greek art apart from other civilizations, then we must explore the question of the place that art occupied in the lives of these people. Unlike other peoples, the Greeks did not restrict the development of their art to a single aspect of their lives (such as religion) nor did they tie it to the interests of a single social group. However, this is not to say that the Greeks turned their art into an autonomous and uninfluenced realm.
One of the most interesting characteristics of Greek art is the concern with thinking about and portraying human actions. With this, we see that the Greeks establish the exploration of themes that single out the appearance of man in the arts. Also in this regard, we can see that Greek sculpture and painting, for example, further reinforce this humanistic trait by promoting the development of techniques that reproduced the body with great wealth of Details.
In the field of performing arts, the Greeks founded genres that even today organize the various modalities of contemporary theater. Tragedy and comedy appear as texts in which customs, institutions and dilemmas of existence were discussed through the elaboration of very elaborate narratives and characters. Having great prestige among the population, the theater attracted the eyes of several people who gathered to admire and discuss the publicly staged plays.
As interesting as the observation of Greek art, we can also note that aesthetic elements created by this people still influence contemporary art. Movements such as the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and Classicism had great concern to retake and reflect in the light of the references launched by the Greeks. In such a way, it is undeniable that the Greek artistic legacy is still very useful for thinking about the present time.
By Rainer Sousa
Master in History