500-300 Bc Vs Hellenistic Essay

The Hellenic and Hellenistic age both represent the golden age of ancient Greece also known as the Classic Greek period. The following will compare and contrast the difference between Hellenic and Hellenistic art, philosophy, and religion. Hellenic being from c.500-300 B.C and Hellenistic being from c.300-50 B.C. Philosophy in the Hellenic period had many individual philosophers that had followers of their own which often moved out from the original philosopher 's teachings. Philosophy focused on the individual’s relationship to the Polis. Plato was a philosopher during this period and his work Republic was one of the earliest organized treatment of political philosophy. In the Hellenistic period philosophers focused on reason rather than

For example, the sculpture Crouching Aphrodite, showing a perfect form of a female with no flaws. Dying Niobid is another sculpture that has dying in the title making you think morbid and not pleasing to the eye but really there’s no flaws in the figure. Venus of Milo shows perfect hair and fit body and that is the ideal but not reality. The marble statues showed greatness and perfection in things. Hellenic art is what we recognize as Greek art today that embodied liveliness, excitement, and attraction with. Hellenistic art on the other hand showed what people and things really looked like focusing on realism. Sculpture is no longer idealized, but dramatic and often exaggerated with emphasis on the details to add a level of motion. Sculptures included old age, sleep, agony, despair, and drunkenness in their works. The sculpture Drunken Old Woman is a good example of reality. It shows a drunk beggar woman who sits on the floor with her legs and arms wrapped around a large jug. The grape vines on the jug make it clear that it holds wine. The woman’s face is turned upward and seems to be calling out to someone. To wrap it all up the artist included not only is she intoxicated but she has wrinkles in her face and her bones are sticking out through her skin showing she is older in age. The Old Market Woman sculpture has tons of emotions it, when you look at it you feel sorry for her. The sadness and her tiredness is shown all over her. Her being leaned over and the wrinkles on her face show that she’s of age and probable not in the best of health. She is wearing a thin dress that is hanging on with her sandals showing she wasn’t that wealthy of a person. Art became less art and more of a commodity. The arts of this time were