From the Prehistoric to the Hellenistic period

This course covers the history of architecture and the visual arts from the Stone Age to the demolition of the last Greek state of antiquity in 30 BC. Specifically, they are presented the Early Mediterranean cultures: Egypt, Near East, Early Cycladic and Early Helladic, Minoan and Mycenaean civilization. The presentation covers the architecture of settlements, citadels, fortifications, palaces, funerary monuments, and the visual arts, murals, sculpture, figurines, ceramics, miniatures etc., the Dark Ages, the Geometric and Archaic period until 480 BC and the monumental architecture, the architectural styles, the techniques of construction, and the materials. We discuss the revival of descriptive representation in the arts, the Archaic sculpture, the black-figure and red-figure rhythms of angiography, the classical period and Hellenistic times, and we present the significant sanctuaries, temples, public spaces, public buildings and city-state projects. The architecture of residences, palaces and tombs is also discussed as well as the Classical and Hellenistic sculpture, the frescoes, the mosaics, and the architecture and arts of the Greek colonies. We also examine the social and cultural processes in association with the phenomena of inhabitation, urbanization, and the origins of monumental architecture and the arts, from the early settlements of the dark ages to the Hellenistic city.