Hazel

11/6/08 Link: [|Minoan Art] Minoan art consists of many different forms, styles, designs, techniques, and even contributions of new advancements to the art world. Ranging from paintings to sculptures, the Minoan art that has been discovered has shown us how their culture flourished. They used the potter’s wheel, letting them produce elegant types of pottery with beautifully painted pictures. Focusing on the curve and structure, the contrast of colors, and how thick or thin the pottery is. Another topic of art the Minoans valued was painting. While some of their works were influenced by the Egyptians, you can specify them directly because of their distinguishable stroke of lines, the use of contrasting colors while keeping the picture looking crisp, and the liveliness and energy of the painted figures. Along with other amazing sculptures they made, they discovered the use of imported gold and copper to contribute to their original statues. Although a large amount of Minoan art work has been lost, what has been found has showed us their creative views and talents along with their strong ability and smart input to the art world.
 * Hazel:**

 11/9/08 The Athenians and Spartans each had strong war strategies and used them as much as they could to their own advantage. Both of them used their military strengths, relying on them greatly, and hoped to overcome the others’. Sparta’s army was much larger then Athens, and in result was able to raid and destroy Attica (area around Athens) with success. They leaned on their high amount of soldiers to defeat Athens and overtake the surrounding areas with help of their allies. While the Athenians held a strong navy and was able to use their location as an advantage. Being in control of a harbor they attacked and invaded the cities of Sparta’s allies on the Peloponnesus with ease. They avoided land battles, for that was Spartan’s strongest attack, and relied on sea power. Pericles also commanded that all farmers and people living in the villages of Attica retreat to strong city, nothing being able to break the city walls. Although this plan worked for quite some time, every plan can turn into a bad situation. It resulted in the city becoming crowded and overpopulated with people, then resulting in a deathly plague to travel around the city, which thus slowed the attack on the Spartans. http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/peloponn/06.shtml http://library.thinkquest.org/17709/wars/peloponn.htm http://www.squidoo.com/peloponnesianwar  11/11/08 Hoplites, being soldiers to Ancient Greek city-states, had many different and proper types of equipment/gear. They used corslets, helmets, shields, wooden spears (7-10 ft.), iron swords, and even more. The attire they wore on their bodies were entirely conducted from bronze, making the armor thick, but overall “battle-proof” and safe. The bronze helmet consisted of cheek plates as well, although their shields were made of wood or bronze. The primary source shows Hoplites but are painted and portrayed on a vase made in 510-500 B.C. and the second primary source is a display of their armor in the Archaeological Museum of Corfu. http://www.answers.com/topic/hoplite 
 * Peloponnesian War strategies (brings disadvantages for Athens)**
 * Hoplite Armor**

11/12/08 **__Hellenistic art Period__** The Hellenistic period begins around 323 BCE and ends around 31 BCE. During this time, the city-states started becoming more influenced in their culture, language, and commerce. The knowledge and view of art took a new turn also. Although the Hellenistic art didn’t change completely from classical Greek art, it took new turns. They showed more drastic poses in sculptures, expanded sweeping lines, portrayed shadows and emotions in the figures, and illustrated more light. This let the artists look at their work with a new freedom and represent their character in new, unique ways, and much more realistic. Some famous pieces of art are, the Boy Jockey, expressing great energy and power, [|Nike of Samothrace], meaning victory, and among one of the most famous works of art and is held in the [|Louvre] museum in Paris, France, and [|Aphrodite Pan and Eros,] showing Aphrodite trying to keep Pan away with a sandal. link-- http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece/athens_museum_hellenistic.html