Greek Art and Classical Mythology Assignment
40 points
Overview:
For this assignment, you will be working with a partner. Sign up to be one half of a two-person team in the Group/People link under Greek Art and Classical Mythology Paper. You must sign up by the end of the day on Tuesday of this week, or I will assign a partner to you. You will both receive the same grade on the paper.
There are a wide variety of functions for Greek art and architecture, with great emphasis on the incorporation of images of gods, goddesses, heroes, and other mythological creatures who interact in the divine pantheon of the Greek religion. Works of sculpture and paintings on Greek vases illustrate and glorify the adventures and accomplishments of these divine and mythological creatures.
The goal of this assignment is for you and your partner to collaborate on a 1-2 page (500 words) essay in which you discuss a work of Greek art, from the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods (600-300 BCE.). Your discussion should be divided into two parts, choosing a work of art with a mythological narrative, and discussing its meaning and function.
You will choose a work of art whose subject is an image or images of a god(s), goddess(es), hero(es) or other mythological creature(s) of Greek mythology. Describe the material and technique used to make the work. Then, explain the function of the work of art, and finally
Describe and explain the narrative represented by the image(s) in/on the work. How might the image(s) relate to the function of the artwork?
Assignment Guidelines:
Sign up with a fellow student to work on the team assignment.
Using Canvas email, with a cc to me, discuss how you will choose a work of Greek art; will you look for works with a specific god or goddess or other mythological creature first, or will you look for an interesting work of art and investigate what mythological figures are represented on it?
Discuss the division of work. Who will be responsible for what part?
Set timelines and deadlines for completing the work on the paper.
To find a work of Greek art to discuss, you will use the British Museum Collection of Greek art ONLY. Do not use any other website.
From the British Museum Home Page, choose Collection.
Type in “Greek art” in the Key Word textbox.
When the next page opens, enter “mythology” in the box at the left. Click on “search.”
No need to choose any specific culture/period.
Scroll down the hundreds of works shown in thumbnails, many of them Greek ceramic ware vases.
Investigate works that you find interesting, then choose one with a mythological subject that you will discuss in this assignment.
You can click on the thumbnail to see a larger image and different views, along with information about the work of art.
You will need to supply the museum number and the specific webpage link to the BM at the top of your paper so that I can find the work.
You may also choose to include a reproduction of the image on a separatedocument page of your submitted paper. The BM allows the use of images under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Right-click and choose “Save the Image” to your desktop if you decide to include the image. The image must be small! The Thumbnail size is best.
The assignment is due by Monday, July 15, at 11:59 pm. It must be uploaded to the Submission Drop Box by 11:59 pm. Only one team member needs to upload the assignment.
For an excellent, authoritative listing of, and information about Greek mythological figures, have a look at:
Theoi Greek Mythology
You may use ONE outside, scholarly reference source other than the BM, to help you in writing your paper. It could be the Theoi Greek Mythology website noted above. Your research source(s) must be listed in a complete MLA citation at the end of your paper. Use Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting Style Guide.
REMINDER: You have one week to work with your teammate to create and submit this paper. You will both receive the same grade.
Still not sure where to find “Groups” to sign up with a partner?
Groups Overview Video
