AIA Lecture Series: The Meaning Of Pictures In Early Greece (8-7th Centuries B.C.) William Childs, Princeton University

The birth and evolution of figural scenes, that is pictures rather than abstract geometric patterns, are generally considered in terms of the illustration of myths. This is largely because the study of Greek antiquity began as a province of students of language and literature. But the preoccupation with literature and myth neglects the fact that the earliest Greek figure scenes in the 8th century depict funerals and battles; subsidiary images depict birds, quadrupeds, and sometimes plants. The link between these early images and the later production of recognizable images of myths is rarely investigated. But an examination of the rich elements of the Orientalizing style of the 7th century suggests that there is such a link and suggests the meaning of all the early Greek images. 29 October 2015

27 October 2015