Spartan cultural life

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  • Created by: Alice
  • Created on: 01-08-13 04:25

Spartan cultural life

early sparta had a lively culture and produced fine painted pottery beautifully cultured ivories and magnificient bronzes and veryday items of great beauty 

Burn: art, poetry and luxury importants appears as a powerful, wealthy, otherwise normal aristocratic community, which only becomes spartan by subsequent action

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painted vessels - characteristics

lakonian (7th century BC) 

- characterised by geometric decoration. Bands of lines in varying thickness and squares and dots in numerous combination

Lakonian II (6th century BC) Predominance of friezes, decorative bands made up of animals or birds, or a decorative pattering made up of fish of dolphins

Lakonian III (Late 6th century BC) Scenes of a narrative taken from mythology or life. Valuable to historians because they are sources that records banquets and scenes showing riding, hunting and fighting

Finest vessels are known to be found in italy, north africa, egypt or elsewhere in greece.

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Art - Ivory and bone carving

- highly delevoped 

- many fine carvings in bone and over 200 at temple of Artemis Orthia

- had to be imported

- Evidence: Ornamental hair comb with intricate details of "the judgement of paris", ivory brooches were popular

- Strong artisitc influence from the east

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Art - Bronzes

- Spartan's excelled at this

- huge statue of Apollo of amyclae Pausanias talks about

- no surviving large statues, we only know in written evidence

- Evidence: pottery thought of as Lakonian has been found in sites at France, Italy and Switzerland - they are of the finest examples of Greek metalwork to survive

- Art Historians: could possibly date lycurgan reforms from material found

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Art - Smaller bronze objects from Sparta

Archeological evidence: bronze figure and ornaments, brooches and pins, horse trappings and polished mirrors have all been excavated at Sparta and provide extensive evidence for the use of this alloy in everyday life - means of wealth display?

- miniature of spartan soildiers in armour

- Votive male athlete figure, offerings at religious shrines probably in commemoration for the youth's athleticism 

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Art - Large bronze vessels

literary evidence: from heredotus

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Art - Stone Sculpture

- reliefs in limestone and marble in lakonia

- evidence: stone with the relief of Menelaus and Helen is particularly famous

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Art - Stone Sculpture

- reliefs in limestone and marble in lakonia

- evidence: stone with the relief of Menelaus and Helen is particularly famous

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