Today was a rather short day, as the only site on our agenda was the Archaeological Museum of Athens. As opposed to the Acropolis museum, which deals specifically with that area of Athens, the Archaeological Museum constitutes all the artifacts which have been found to be from antiquity. From the Bronze Age to the Classical Era, items from Mycenae, Tiryns, Piros, and many other city-states were found within the museum. It contains tables of Linear B – a language specifically of the Mycenaean culture which was sort of a precursor, proto-Greek writing style. The statues found inside are also from the Classical period, and were divided up between the Kouros and the Kore, male and female statues. The Greeks had an interesting way of representing human figures: the Kouros would always be of a stiff posture, smiling and typically had one foot forward. As in all cultures, certain characteristics evolve around their artwork and are repeated over and over. These statues represented more or less a rule in ancient Greek statue: to show male figures in this way was in keeping with tradition and one of the first steps in moving away from Egyptian human representation, which was typically even more stiff and rigid. The ‘one foot forward’ method of representation eventually gave way to more fluid ways of showing the human body: knees bent, arms in dynamic poses, contrappostso (leaning on one leg with the torso twisted), etc. I suppose that there was always a debate and tension over whether to keep with traditional forms of representing the human figure and trying something new. If a society was stable, often their method of denoting the human body never changed. However, if there was some kind of political strife, war, or transfer of power to a different culture, the statues would probably then reflect this change; as a reaction to a new way of life.
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