Shooting for Artistic Genius: When It Flourishes in the presence of real Greek temples, monuments, and amphitheatres. Awe inspiring.
Greek culture, centered especially in Athens, was the fount of what art historian E. H. Gombrich called “the greatest and most astonishing revolution in the whole history of art.”
The intensely personal poetry of Sappho, the tragic theater of Sophocles and the ribald comedy of Aristophanes, the majestic, serene, and powerful sculpture of Polykleitos, Phidias, and Myron.
Much of Greek art was lost to history through war, religious fanaticism, and neglect, but the vigor of ancient Greek culture is still evident in its spread throughout much of the Mediterranean and the architectural monuments it left behind.
Pictures I took this evening took are forthcoming of a Greek temple to Athena with the Mediterranean beyond. (Night shot and day shot now posted.)
Let’s not forget, the Greeks weren’t as “rational” as you might think. There is no better guide to Ancient Greece, in my view, than Edith Hamilton’s THE GREEK WAY. Readers should study the chapters on “East and West” “Mind and Spirit.”