Classics

Hellenistic

HELLENISTIC 323-31 BCE

***There are three major divisions in Hellenistic art: 323-250, 250-150, 150-Roman Period. The middle period is usually considered to typify Hellenistic art. Dating as always is problematic. Follow the dates used in Pedley I. Historical Context: Alexander the Great; Alexanders Successors. II. Trends in Hellenistic Art and Architecture

III. Portraits

1. Alexander the Great. Pedley on p. 302 shows a different portrait
2. Alexander Sarcophagus from Sidon. More properly the Sarcophagus of Abdalonymos). Shows battle scene, hunting scene. Pedley 305.
3. Hellenistic Ruler, c. 150 BCE. Pedley 334
4. Demosthenes (by Polyeuktos), 280. Pedley, 331-332

IV. SCULPTURE

A. Pergamon: The Attalids (230s-133) Pedley 319, ff.

1. Attalus I Soter
2. Great Altar of Zeus: Battle of the Gods and Giants (180/75-150). Pedley 332-334
3. Gallic Victory Monument (220s) or later. Pedley 332-334

B. Other Works in the Pergamene style

1. Belevedere Torso (Vatican Museum)
2. Laocoon Group (Vatican Museum), date highly debatable; either from second, first c. BCE or first c. CE. 346-7

C. Other Hellenistic Productions

• Sperlonga Works

• Odysseus and his men blinding Polyphemus
• Carrying off of the Palladium (cult statue of Athena), Pedley 347 ff
• Scylla attacking Odysseus men as his ship passes by.
• Menelaus holding the body of Patroclus

• Nike of Samothrace (Louvre). 180. Pedley 335
• Aphrodite of Melos. Pedley 343
• Flaying of Marsyas
• Sleeping Satyr (in Pedley, 336)
• Terme Boxer (in Pedley, 345-7)
• Drunken Woman (?)
• Tanagra Figures. Terracotta (in Pedley, 353)
• Apotheosis of Homer by Archelaos of Priene. c. 125. IV. Architecture

1. Kos, Sanctuary of Asklepios (160), Pedley 321-322
2. Lindos, Sanctuary of Athena
3. Magnesia and Didyma. Pedley 322-325
4. Athens, Olympeion, 325

Bibliography: J.J. Coulton, The Ancient Greek Architect at Work (1977). A classic.

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