Egyptian and Greek Arts

            When I was watching the video on Youtube, I realized there was a deep relationship between Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greek that Ancient Egyptian arts influenced Ancient Greek arts for a long time. In the video, some of those artworks were similar even though they came from two different civilizations. However, similarity doesn’t mean sameness. These two cultures’ artworks still have a lot of different places. First, Ancient Egyptian was an ancient civilization of northeastern Africa which concentrated along the low reaches of the Nile River. Ancient Egyptian had its own religion belief, and it was a classical society. These two things were greatly represented by its art produces.  In other words, Ancient Egyptian’s religion and classical concept effectively influenced its art style so that Ancient Egyptian art aimed at preserving order and stability, or the prevailing relationships between the king, people, and the gods. Beside, because Ancient Egyptian experienced several different period, Ancient Egyptian arts had been more and more various styles and characteristics so that we can see some Ancient Egyptian arts are also characterized by heroic battles, nature, and a high proportion of surviving works were intended to provide solace and utility to deceased in the afterlife. 

        This is the statue of the Pharaoh  Menkaure and His Queen which carved out of slate and dating to 2548-2530 B.C.E, is an example of Old Kingdom 4th Dynasty royal sculpture. The statue, which stands about 4feet 8 inches high. Menkaure is portrayed in the familiar Egyptian pose standing as if attention with his left leg extended forward, his arm held stiff at his sides, and his fists clenched holding some unidentified cylindrical objects. His stance appears assertive, indicative of his power. 

His queen stands in a more naturalistic way than Menkaure with her right arm reaching around his waist and her left one bent at the elbow and holding his left arm. This status symbolize the royals were granted power by the God. And it emphasizes the class in Egyptian society,

  

      On the other hand, early Ancient Greek was influenced by Ancient Egypt; however, Ancient Greek arts kept developing and the arts of Ancient Greek had eventually brought a hug influence to many countries especially the area of sculpture and architecture. The Ancient Greek style is noted for the repose, harmony, and proportion of its effects. Furthermore, Ancient Greek art is characterized by the representation of living beings. It is concerned both with formal proportion and with the dynamics of action and emotion. Its primary subject matter is the human figure, which is also the form of the divine. Monster, animals, and plants are secondly. The chief themes are form myth, literature, and daily life. 

        Statue of a Kouros (Youth) is one of the earliest marble statues of a nude human figure carved in Attica. The rigid stance, with the left leg forward and arms at the side, was derived from Egyptian art. The pose provided a clear, simple formula that was used bu Greek sculptors throughout the sixth century B.C(around 590-580 B.C.). Without the plinth, this statue is 76 inches. In this early figure, geometric, almost abstract forms predominate, and anatomical details are rendered in beautiful analogous patterns. The statue marked the grave of a young Athenian aristocrat.