GREECE AND ROME

RELIGION

THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND ANCIENT ROMANS LIVED THROUGHOUT

THE TIMES OF 800B.C. AND 476A.D. THE GREEKS WHO INHABITTED THE

CITY-STATES OF SPARTA AND ATHENS, AND THE ROMANS WHO LIVED, OF

COURSE, IN ROME. THE GREEKS AND ROMANS WERE DIFFERENT IN THEIR

VIEWS OF RELIGION AS SEEN IN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND

PHILOSOPHY.

ARCHITECTURE

POST-MODERNISM CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE SUPREME

ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GREEKS. THE GREATEST OF

THESE WAS THE TEMPLE. THE TEMPLE WAS A SACRED STRUCTURE

DESIGNED TO HOUSE THE CULT STATUES AND CIVIC DIETIES. THEESE

EARLY HOUSES OF WORSHIP WERE MOST LIKELY MADE OF WOOD, WHICH

EXPLAINS WHY NONE OF THESE GREEK TEMPLES REMAIN TODAY.

HOWEVER, AS THE GREEKS BECAME MORE POWERFUL AND MORE

WEALTHY EACH POLIS REBUILT ITS WOODEN TEMPLES WITH NEW ONES

MADE FROM STONE. THE EARLIEST TEMPLE FORM WAS CALLED DORIC.

IT WAS SIMPLE IN DESIGN AND VERY LITTLE DETAIL. LATER THE GREEKS

BECAME MORE INTERESTED IN THE MATHEMATICAL PROPORTIONS OF

THE TEMPLE. THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY USING A RATIO BETWEEN

THE NUMBER OF COLUMNS ON EACH SIDE OF THE BUILDING. THIS

BECAME A STANDARD IN GREEK ARCHITECTURE. EVEN BEFORE THE

TEMPLE, ANCIENT GREECE HAD SANCTUARIES. THESE WERE PLACES

THAT WERE CONSIDERED SACRED FOR A GOD OR GODESS. LATER IN THE

GREEK EMPIRE, WITH THE RISE OF THE POLIS, THE IDEA OF A HOLY PLACE

AWAY FROM THE HASSELS OF EVERYDAY LIFE WAS FITTED TO THE NEEDS

OF EACH COMMUNITY. EACH POLIS HAD ITS OWN SACRED AREA,

USUALLY ON A HILL OR PROTECTED FROM SOME SORTOF DIVIDING

BARRIER, WHICH CONTAINED BUILDINGS AND ALTARS. THIS IS WHERE

ONE GOD OR GODESS WAS SINGLED OUT AS PATRON, ALTHOUGH THEY

WORSHIPPED THE ENTIRE PANTHEON OF GODS. THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT

IN THIS AREA TO HOUSE THE PATRON STATUE. LATER YET, IN THE GREEK

EMPIRE, THE ALTAR BECAME A MORE IMPORTANT FEATURE IN GREEK

ARCHITECTURE. THE ALTAR IS THE OLDEST RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE IN

THE GREEK WORLD AND IT WAS THE SITE IN WHICH HOLY SACRIFICES

AND OFFERINGS WERE MADE. THE ALTAR WAS SECOND IN IMPORTANCE

ONLY TO THE TEMPLE. DURING THIS TIME TEMPLES WERE BUILT

MASSIVE IN SIZE AND ELABORATE IN DECORATION. THIS WAS TO SHOW

POWER AND WEALTHINESS.

THE ROMANS LIKE THE GREEKS USED THE TEMPLE AST HE CHEIF

ARCHITECTURAL FORM. BUT, UNLIKE IN EARLIER GREECE, ROME WAS

THE CENTRAL NUCLEUS OF THE STATE'S RELIGION, RATHER THAN EACH

POLIS SUPPRORTING ITS OWN. IN THE HEART OF THE CITY THERE WAS A

FORUM. THIS WAS A PLACE WHERE CITIZENS CONDUCTED BUSINESS, RAN

THE GOVERNMENT, AND WHERE THE HIGH PRIEST RESIDED. THE FORUM

BECAME A SYMBOL OF ROMAN POWER AND CIVILIZATION. IN LATER

ROME, CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE UNDERWENT MAJOR

TRASFORMATIONS. CLASSICAL FORMS AND VALUES YEILDED TO A

SYBOLIC REALISM IN ARCHITECTURE. DURING THE FIFTH CENTURY

BISHOPS BEGAN TO DISAGREE WITH THE EMPERORS IN THE EVOLVING OF

CHRISTIAN CENTERS OF WORSHIP. FORMERLY CHURCHES WERE IN THE

FORMS OF PRIVATE ROOMS IN HOUSES, ISOLATED BUILDINGS, AND

CONVERTED PAGAN TEMPLES. THESE WERE ALL ABANDONED IN FAVER

OF STANDARDIZED STRUCTURES SUCH AS BAPTISTERIES AND BASILICAS.

ARCHITECTS TRAVELED THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE GLORIFING THE NEW

RELIGION OF CHRISTIANITY. A BAPTISTERY WAS A SMALL POLYGONAL

STRUCTURE USUALLY TOPPED WITH A DOME THAT WAS SEPPERATED

FROM THE MAIN CHURCH WHERE BAPTISMS WERE PERFORMED. THEY

WERE SEPERATED FROM THE MAIN CHURCH BECAUSE CHRISTIANS

BELIEVED THAT THE UNBAPTIZED WERE UNWORTHY TO ENTER THE

SANCTUARY AND MINGLE WITH ITS MEMBERS. THE BASILICA WAS A

RECTANGULAR STRUCTURE THAT INCLUDED AN APSE AT ONE OR BOTH

ENDS USED AT FIRST BY ROMANS FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES AND LATER BY

CHRISTIANS FOR WORSHIP. THE FLOOR PLAN FOR THE BASILICA BECAME

THE BASIC FLOORPLAN FOR ALL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.

SCULPTURE

THE GLORY OF GREECE WAS IN ITS SCULPTURE. THE FIGURES OF

THE 7TH AND 6TH CENTURIES BC LACK LIFE AND MOVEMENT; THEIR

FACES WEAR THE FROZEN SMILE PECULIAR TO ARCHAIC SCULPTURE.

EVEN SO, THESE EARLY CRAFTSMEN, WHOSE NAMES ARE LOST WITH THE

TEMPLES THEY DECORATED, SHOW SENSITIVITY TO THE QUALITIES OF

MARBLE AND A SUPERB SENSE OF DESIGN. AS IF TO MAKE UP FOR THE

LACK OF LIFE IN THEIR STATUES, ARCHAIC SCULPTORS SOUGHT

NATURALISM BY PAINTING THEM. GREEK SCULPTURE ROSE TO ITS

HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT IN THE 5TH CENTURY BC, WHEN THE SPIRIT OF

GREECE ITSELF WAS AT ITS HEIGHT. OF THE TEMPLES BUILT IN THIS

"GOLDEN AGE" OF PERICLES, THE FINEST WAS THE PARTHENON,

DEDICATED TO ATHENA, GODDESS OF ATHENS. IT WAS ORNAMATED BY

THE MASTER OF GREEK SCULPTURE, PHIDIAS. EVEN PHIDIAS COULD

HAVE NOT DONE ALL OF THE SCULTPTURES IN THE ENTIRE PARTHENON,

AND ONLY HERE AND THERE CAN THE SCULPTURES OF HIS HAND BE

MADE SURE THAT THEY ARE INDEED HIS. "THE THREE FATES", DESIGNED

TO FIT THE TRIANGULAR SPACE OF THE PEDIMENT, ARE GENERALLY

BELIEVED TO BE THE FINEST TREATMENT OF DRAPERY IN SCULPTURE.

DRAMATIC GESTURES AND DECORATIVE DETAIL REPLACED THE QUIET

DIGNITY AND RESTRAINT OF THE EAIRLIER DAYS OF GREECE.

IN THE FOURTH CENTURY THE ROMAN EMPIRE ACCEPTED

CHRISTIANITY AS ITS RELIGION. THIS MEANT A NEW KIND OF ART.

SCULPTURE, LIKE ARCHITECTURE AND PHILOSOPHY, TURNED TO THE

CHURCH, AND THE CHURCH, FACED WITH THE NEED OF INTERPRETING

THE NEW RELIGION FOR GREAT MASSES OF PEOPLE, USED THE ARTS TO A

GOOD ADVANTAGE. RELIGIOUS IS SUBJECT MATTER, SCULPTURE WAS

CLOSELY RELATED TO CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. ROMAN SCULPTURE

PASSED THROUGH THREE DEFINITE STAGES. THE FIRST, WAS

INFLUENCED BY THE DEATH MASKS MADE FOR THE FAMILY GALLERY AS

PART OF ANCESTOR WORSHIP. THE SECOND STAGE REPRESENTS A TYPE

OF REALISTIC SCULPTURE WITH A SENSE OF UNEASE. THE THIRD WAS

SHAPED UNDER THE RULE OF AUGUSTUS. UNDER HIS DICTATION,

IMPERIAL SCULPTURE TO DISPLACING THE REALISTIC ART OF THE LATE

REPUBLIC. LATER IN ROMAN ART, IN ADDITION TO FREE-STANDING

SCULPTURES, RELIEF SCULPTURES BECAME TO BE MORE POPULAR.

CHRISTIAN ART WAS UNDERGOING AESTHETIC CHANGES. IT BECAME

MORE AND MORE IMPRESSIONISTIC, USING THE SIMPLEST DETAILS TO

CREATE AN ILLUSION OF REALITY, IN STYLE. SIMPLE REPRESENTATIONS

OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES HAD BECOME COMMON IN THE CHURCH.

BIBLICAL SCENES, IN PARTICULAR THOSE DETAILING THE LIFE AND

MIRACLES OF JESUS, WERE BEGINING TO APPEAR ON SARCOPHAGI

THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE, ILLUSTRAING THE COMPLEX THEMES AND

MESSAGES OF THE NEW FAITH.

PHILOSOPHY

IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY THERE WERE THREE MAJOR GROUPS OF

PHILOSOPHERS. THE PRE-SOCRATICS, THE SOPHISTS, AND THE SOCRATIC

REVOLUTION. THE PRE-SOCRATIC THINKERS WERE CONCERNED WITH

DETERMINING THE NATURE OF THE PHISICAL WORLD. FOLLOWERS IN

ELEA THOUGHT THAT THE WORLD WAS A SINGLE, UNCHANGING OBJECT

WHOSE ORDER COULD COULD BE KNOWN THROUGH HUMAN REASON.

ANOTHER GROUP THE ATOMISTS BELIEVED THAT EVERYTHING WAS

COMPOSED OF ATOMS; ETERNAL, INVISIBLE BODIES OF VARYING SIZE

THAT COULD NOT BE DIVIDED INTO SMALLER UNITS; AND THE SPACE

BETWEEN THEM. THE MOVEMENT AND THE SHAPE OF THE ATOMS WERE

SUFFICIENT TO EXPLAIN EVERY ASPECT OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD. THE

SOPHISTS PLACED THEIR EMPHASIS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF

PRACTICAL SKILLS, AND COMMITTED TO HUMANISTIC VALUES. THEY

THOUGHT AS HUMANS TO BE THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, AND TO

HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE JUDGEMENTS ABOUT THEMSELVES AND

THEIR WORLD. THIS WENT AGAINST TRADITIONAL GREEK VALUES THAT

GODS CONTROLLED EVERYTHING. THE SOCRATIC REVOLUTION WAS LED

BY SOCRATES, A THINKER WHO LAUNCHED A NEW ERA IN PHILOSOPHY.

HE FOCUSED ON HUMAN PROBLEMS AND TO EMPOWER INDIVIDUALS TO

MAKE THEIR OWN MORAL CHOICES. SOCRATES METHOD FOR ARRIVING

AT TRUE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL VALUES WAS FIRST BEING

IMMORTAL, UNLIKE THE GODS. THOSE WHO WANT WISDOM MUST

PROTECT THEIR PHYCHES BY GIVING THEIR MIND THE MAXIMUM

AMOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE. SOCRATES BELIEVED IN ESSENTIAL

GOODNESS OF HUMAN NATURE AND THE NECESSITY OF WELL-DEFINED

KNOWLEDGE THROUGH PERSONAL STRUGGLE TO SELF-ENLIGHTMENT.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE ONLY HAD TWO TYPES OF PHILOSOPHY,

STOCISM AND NEO-PLATONISM. STOCISM WAS THE MOST POPULAR AND

INFLUENTIAL OF THE TWO. IT FOCUSED ON ADVOCATING A STRAINED

WAY OF LIFE, A RESIGNATION TO DISSAPPOINTMENTS, AND A

RESOLUTION TO CARRY OUT ONE'S PERSONAL RESPOSIBILITIES.

STOICISM APPEALED TO THE MAJORITY OF THE ROMANS AND PLAYED AN

IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN THOUGHT. NEO-PLATONISM

WAS A SCHOOL OF THOUGHT FOUNDED PRIMARILYBY PLOTINUS. HIS

PHILOSOPHY WAS CONCERNED IN BRIDGING THE WORLDS OF IDEAS AND

THE PERISHABLE MATERIAL WORLD. NEO-PLATONISM BRIDGED THE TWO

WORLDS NOT WITH LOGICAL ANALYSIS BUT WITH MYSTICAL INSIGHT,

CLAIMING THAT THE UNION OF THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WORLDS

COULD BE GRASPED ONLY THROUGH AN ECSTATIC VISION.

AS YOU CAN SEE THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND THE ANCIENT ROMANS

WERE DIFFERENT IN MANY CHARACTERISTICS. YOU HAVE CLEARLY

BEEN ABLE TO SEE THE DISTINCT DIFFERENCES OF RELIGION AS SEEN IN

ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PHILOSOPHY.

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