<A>
Myron (Marsyas): *
This group shows the goddess Athena and the Silenus, Marsyas. A copy of Myron’s work; dates from first half Ist century A.D. found in Rome.
<B>
Temple of Zeus, Olympia (Centaur group, west pediment): *
The west pediment has battling groups of Centaurs and young Lapith men and women attending the marriage of their king Peirithoos. The drunken Centaurs broke up the wedding feast, but are fought off, with the help of the King's friend Theseus. Apollo stands at the centre, in control. These are among the most striking Early Classical sculptures, with surprising elements of expression far removed from the later idealising styles of the Parthenon. Pausanius states in his Description of Greece that the Eastern pedimental sculpture was created by Paeonius and the Western sculpture was carved by Alcamenes
<C>
Aegina temple (pediments): *
Western Pediment
theme: the second Trojan war (described by Homer), shows Ajax (son of Telamon) figuring prominently.; style is that of the Archaic period, composition deals with the decreasing angles of the pediment by filling the space using a shield and a helmet.
Eastern pediment
theme: the first Trojan war (not Homer’s but the war of Heracles against the king of Troy Laomedon), with Telamon figuring prominently fighting alongside Heracles against king. Made later than the west pediment, reflects Classical features- the statues show a dynamic posture especially in the case of Athena, chiastic composition, and intricate filling of the space using the legs of fallen combatants to fill the difficult decreasing angles of the pediment. Partially destroyed during the Persian Wars.
<D>
polychroming: *
image 1: Reconstructed color scheme on a Trojan archer from the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina
Image 2: Ancient Greek statue of a woman with blue and gilt garment, fan and sun hat, from Tanagra, 325-300 BC
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<E>
gold-and-ivory statuary: *
Athena Parthenos or "Athena the Virgin", 447 BC; giant chryselephantine (gold and ivory) sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena, by Phidias for the Parthenon, Athens; most renowned cult image of Athens, considered the greatest achievement of Phidias
<F>
pastoral cantata: *
In 1723 Bach came to Leipzig as a church cantor & director of music. He had already written some 30 sacred cantatas composed in Weimar between 1714 and 1717 and a handful of secular serenades and these helped him in composing some 60 sacred services during the church year. The Cöthen dance movements written earlier enabled him to reuse the pastoral influenced music, combining it with new sacred text, mixing familiar sacred Bible themes were profane dances in the gallant style. An example of this recycling is Cantata BWV 184 (“Desired Light of Joy”). It was 1 of 5 sacred “Shepherd Cantatas” with pastoral music composed for Pentecost Tuesday. This cantata preserves its 3 Cöthen dance-forms: minuet, polonaise, and gavotte . Bach’s employment of the pastoral motif was especially suited for the 1720s & 30s. During these decades the gavotte, both as music & dance, reached a high point in popularity. The urban population idealized a simpler rural life, with shepherds and shepherdesses doing rustic dances indoors to the accompaniment of bagpipes.
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<G>
Monteverdi (melody of "Lament of Ariadne" 1608): *
composed 1607–08, the 2nd opera by Monteverdi, one of the earliest operas in general, first performed in 1608, for a royal wedding at the court of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua. All the music is lost apart from the extended recitative known as "Lamento d'Arianna" ("Ariadne's Lament"). This fragment became highly influential & was widely imitated; the "expressive lament" became an integral feature of Italian opera for much of the 17th century. Relates the story (Ovid) of Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus on the island of Naxos and her subsequent elevation as bride to the god Bacchus.