Classical Greece
Archaic period (to early 5th c. B.C.) 1. Stone sculpture. One of the guardian lions on the Sacred Road to the temple of Apollo on Delos, in the Cyclades. 7th c.
2. Bronze statue of Spartan soldier, 540 B.C. (Athens: National Archaeological Museum). 3" tall.
3. Grave stele of Aristion, 510 B.C. (Athens: National Archaeological Museum). The solder wears a helmet, breast plate over a pleated chiton, greaves and carries a hoplite spear. Some of the original face color survives. The ancient Greek aristocracy was unusually homocidal.
4. Marble head from the pre-Persian-War Acropolis. Ca. 500 B.C. Used as a filler when the new Acropolis was built. Some original hair and eye paint survives.
5. Painted kylix, showing a trireme. 490 B.C. (London: British Museum). This type of warship first appeared in 6th c. Corinth. 150 feet long, the crew of 200 were largely oarsmen, divided into three classes, and hence the name "trireme." Upper oars may have been managed by two rowers. The wooden hull was strengthened by cables to permit ramming. The Greek city-states were in an excellent position to expand their commercial hegemony through military aggression. In this, the trireme played a crucial role.
6. Painting on a black-figured plate of a hoplite with Attic hemet, blowing a horn. 500 B.C. (London: British Museum).
7. Corinthian style helmets, 6th c. B.C. They were lined with leather for comfort. Because they hindered vision, they began to give way to the open Athenian style helmet after 500 B.C.
8. Marble votive statue of a youth, called a kouros. 490 B.C. This typifies the Archaic Style, which lasted until the Transitional Style after Salamis and then the Classic Style after the mid 5th c.
9. Stone votive relief showing a hoplite either running or performing a victory dance. Ca. 500 B.C. (Athens: National Archaeological Museum). The hoplite wears an Attic style helmet.
10. Marble relief from a square statue base that was used in the reconstruction of the Athenian wall during the Persian Wars (Athens: National Archaeological Museum). The haste with which the wall was built was to support Athens' political domination of the Peloponnesus before other towns had time to recover from the war.
11. Relief sculpture detail from above, showing a hoplite being driven to battle by chariot, which was its principal use in war. The Greeks felt that calvary and archers were foreign practices and therefore best avoided. Greek military strength depended on a parochial culture that held everything outside in contempt. The helmet is Corinthian style, pushed back before battle so the soldier has better vision. The armament is defensive, and the goal was to engage in close range hand-to-hand combat.
12. Stone relief of hockey players formally balanced and frozen in time.
13. Temple of Apollo at Delphi, built in 548-510 B.C. It was restored in the archaic style in 373-330 B.C. following an earthquake.
14. Temple of Aphaea at Aegina, c. 500 B.C. Aegina's navy was large and backed maritime trade between Corinth and the Aegaean Islands, and this trade led to the minting of coins. On the distant seashore is Athens, whose aim was to destroy Aegina's navy and take over this trade. It was to Aegina that many Athenian aristocrats fled the Persian advance.
