They reflected - and projected - essential cultural values, whether they were intended for religious sanctuaries for aristocratic drinking parties, civic squares or tombs."--BOOK JACKET.

"delightful, readable, and scholarly. The volume is profusely and well illustrated, each art example is clearly labelled and dated, and superb supplementary references for illustrations and supplementary suggestions for further reading are added to complete the study." Choice

Horses were revered in ancient Greece as symbols of wealth, power, and status. On stunning black- and red-figure vases, in sculpture, and in other media, Greek artists depicted the daily care of horses, chariot and horseback races, scenes of combat, and mythological horse-hybrids such as satyrs and the winged Pegasus. This richly illustrated and handsomely designed volume includes over 80 objects showing scenes of ancient equestrian life. Essays by notable scholars of ancient Greek art and archaeology explore the indelible presence and significance horses occupied in numerous facets of ancient Greek culture, including myth, war, sport, and competition, shedding new light on horsemanship from the 8th through the 4th century BCE.

Designed as a tool for educators who wish to teach students about the art of Ancient Greece. The text contains readings on Greek culture, history and art and is looseleaf bound for easy photocopying. Accompanying material includes 20 slides showing various works of Greek art and a card game designed to teach students about some of the myths commonly depicted in Greek art. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the full text of the book in printable Adobe Acrobat format as well as JPEG files of the images depicted on the slides.

Greek sculpture is full of breathing vitality and yet, at the same time, it reaches beyond mere imitation of nature to give form to thought in works of timeless beauty. For over 2000 years the Greeks experimented with representing the human body in works that range from prehistoric abstract simplicity to the full-blown realism of the age of Alexander the Great. The ancient Greeks invented the modern idea of the human body in art as an object of sensory delight and as a bearer of meaning. Their vision has had a profound influence on the way the western world sees itself. Drawing on the British Museum's outstanding collection of Greek sculpture - including extraordinary pieces from the Parthenon and the celebrated representation of a discus thrower - and through a number of themed sections, this richly illustrated book explores the Greek portrayal of human character in sculpture, along with sexual and social identity. In athletics, the male body was displayed as if it was a living sculpture, and victors were commemorated by actual statues. In art, not only were mortal men and women represented in human form but also the gods and other beings of myth and the supernatural world. In a series of lively introductory chapters, written by a selection of academics, historians and artists, it is revealed how the Greeks themselves viewed the sculpture (which was vividly enhanced with colour), and how it was regarded and treated in later pagan antiquity. The revival of the Greek body in the modern era is also discussed, including the shock of the new effect of the arrival of the Parthenon sculptures in London at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

An explanation of Greek theater as seen through its many depictions in classical art

This book, a companion volume to Professor Pollitt's The Art of Rome: Sources and Documents (published by the Press in 1983), presents a comprehensive collection in translation of ancient literary evidence relating to Greek sculpture, painting, architecture, and the decorative arts. Its purpose is to make this important evidence available to students who are not specialists in the Classical languages or Classical archaeology. The author's translations of a wide selection of Greek and Latin texts are accompanied by an introduction, explanatory commentary, and a full bibliography. An earlier version of this book was published twenty-five years ago by Prentice-Hall. In this new publication Professor Pollitt has added a considerable number of new passages, revised some of his earlier translations and presented the texts in a different order which allows the reader to follow more easily the development of sculpture and painting as perceived by the ancient writers. The new and substantial bibliography, organised by topics as they appear in the book, emphasises works that deal directly with the literary sources or that supplement our knowledge of the personalities and monuments described in the sources. This collection will be welcomed by students and teachers of Greek art who have long been in need of an authoritative and reliable sourcebook for their subject.

This book uses the myths surrounding Daidalos as an example to describe the profound influence of the Near East on ancient Greece's artistic and literary origins.

"The ancient Greeks developed their own very specific ethos of art appreciation, advocating a rational involvement with art. This book explores why the ancient Greeks started to write art history and how the writing of art history transformed the social functions of art in the Greek world. It looks at the invention of the genre of portraiture, and the social uses to which portraits were put in the city state. Later chapters explore how artists sought to enhance their status by writing theoretical treatises and producing works of art intended for purely aesthetic contemplation which ultimately gave rise to the writing of art history and to the development of art collecting. The study, which is illustrated throughout and which draws on contemporary perspectives in the sociology of art, will prompt the student of classical art to rethink fundamental assumptions on Greek art and its cultural and social implications."--BOOK JACKET.