Classical Greek Civilization: The Hellenic Age

1. Greek Vase Painting (pp. 60, 69)
Art > Shape > Figure/Ground > Space
http://www.mhhe.com/HumanitiesStudio/1/1/2/2/4.html
Greek vases, in addition to being functional vessels, were often highly decorated with painted patterns, symbols, and representations of mythology and literature. One style of vase decoration was black-figure, on which the figures were painted in black (Fig. 3.10, p. 69), with a red, terracotta ground. Emerging later, red-figure paintings have grounds that reverse this relationship. That is, they were painted black, with the figures in red. In both, positive and negative space define figure-ground relationships. To create your own composition with figure and ground, click on the link above, noting how negative and positive space can be manipulated to create a composition.

2. Greek Music (p. 71)
Music > Sound > Pitch
http://www.mhhe.com/HumanitiesStudio/6/2/2.html
Although no ancient Greek music survives, we do know that music played an important part in their culture, and that Greek composers used a series of scales known as modes. Click on the above link to explore the relationship between frequency and pitch, which forms the basis of a musical scale. The ancient Greeks regarded each mode as having a profound effect on its listeners. Do you think that different pitches of music do in fact produce emotional effects? How does music affect its listeners?