Evaluation of "Start "

Now that I've gotten a deeper understanding of the culture and history of Athens during the classical period, I thought it would be beneficial to evaluate what I found useful and what did not phase me. From my research so far, I have been able to find new interests but also narrow down and exclude themes that do not interest me. Currently, I'm intrigued by three subject areas from Athenian society:

 

1. Movement of Art: During the classical period a new organic style developed, especially in pottery. Prior to the success of Athenian pottery, was the style of Mycenaean tradition. The Greeks used the same pot forms and decorative design to create geometric patterns. The style of the greeks later developed around 630BCE to incorporate depictions of organic forms such as black figures and occasionally animals. This was shortly before the classical period of Athens which began in the 5th Century BCE.  Personally, the organic style of pottery especially stood out to me, as it was a contrast to the geometric architecture and decor of the time. Athenian pottery became globally known and became the most dominant style due to the quality and detail of the design. Aside from the development of the style which interests me, I was also intrigued by the themes and stories which were depicted in the design. Many artists would use pottery as a way to express their own thoughts and would paint scenes of nature and paradise, others would often depict gods and greek mythology accompanied by the message they bring. I'm really interested in the fables and tales which were expressed through art, most pots would have had a story to tell, and would honour a character or event which may have occurred historically or mythologically. Although I have only briefly looked into the art movement, what I have seen so far has interested me and I look forward to possibly designing a few game ideas for this. For now, I will continue to look into the art movement during this phase, and I plan to research and answer the following questions:

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o   How did the art movement develop over time?

o   What colours were used, did they have a meaning?

o   Did all of the artists at the time conform to the general style?

o   What myths were commonly presented in the artwork?

o   How was art used to convey a message?

o   Was art used outside of decorations? E.g. in ceremonies, trade, religion etc.

o   Is there any importance to the patterns around the edge?

 

2. Technology: Aside from art, I was also interested in the splendour of technology. I was unaware of how advanced the ancient Greeks were, and when I stumbled across plans for robots and steam-powered machinery I was in awe. The engineers and inventors at the time clearly had the same level of creativity that we possess today, they dreamed of bizarre creations and practically tried to make their ideas come into reality. The experimentation and creations of the ancient greeks are such an unknown topic in my opinion, and I personally believe many people do not actually know or understand how clever ancient civilisations are. The Greeks used technology for movement and military defence also, allowing them to grow as a global power through trade and expansion. I really enjoyed researching this prompt as I learned a lot of new things, and my understanding of the Greeks changed. I realised they were an intelligent civilisation and possessed a strong military power, but I was unaware of how inventive they were. Questions that I could research further are as follows:

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o   How did they use technology in warfare?

o   Who invented steam power, and what was it used for?

o   What are the lesser-known greek inventions?

o   Which inventions and technologies were used in everyday life?

o   How has the technology of the greeks impacted modern-day life?

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Finally but not least, I was also interested in the role of mythology in Athens during the classical period. Mythology wasn't one of the prompts but carried on being a reoccurring theme that stood out to me. I have always been a fan of mythology, but the more I found out about its presence in art, or how it had ties to locations, or how myths and beliefs shaped cultures and their values, the more I really wanted to look into the subject deeper. Since I havent looked into mythology yet on its own, I plan to research this a bit more than the other two subjects which already have basic subject matter. Questions I can ask are:

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o   Which myths stand out most?

o   How was culture affected by the beliefs in mythology?

o   Did many people believe in myths at the time?

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What I didn't like about my other themes:

When using the prompts to do further research, I came across a lot of information and subject matter which didn't particularly excite me. To break it down, I will explain why I do not want to proceed with other prompts one by one:

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Characters: Although I am interested in the characters of Ancient Athens, I am more interested in their actions and the impact they had. Plato as a character is interesting, his values and actions are worthy of knowing, but I think what is more interesting is how his theories can be applied to modern-day life. Cleisthenes may have had a massive impact on society, by fighting for and introducing democracy, but although I like politics, I'm not interested enough to take it further, nor make a game about policies or principles. Therefore, to summarise, although the characters are interesting, their actions are more noteworthy, and the themes the characters cover do not excite me enough to want to research deeper.

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Locations: I personally really did enjoy the aesthetic of the locations and the purposes they held in ancient Athens, but I felt like enjoying the look of something wasn't enough of a reason to research something at this point. The backstory of the locations was more interesting, but this led me to want to research mythology and other subjects instead. For instance, the location of Delphi is interesting, but the mysticism and magic which is said to occur there excites me more. In fact, the stories and tales of what happened here is something I would like to look into more when researching the stories presented through art. Therefore, although locations was an interesting prompt, I'm more interested in where the research led me. 

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Books and Films: the documentaries I watched provided me with more information about the history and culture of the period, so I am thankful that I looked into a few examples. The documentary by Liam Neesen gave me a good backbone to bounce research off of, so looking into films was useful. The books of the time have interesting stories, but I don't want to recreate a pre-existing story. I love the myths and mystery of a lot of the tales, but I think I can look into this deeper elsewhere. In summary, I found new avenues to look down, and a lot of basic information from these sources, but I will find other sources to research from, as films are almost non-existent and books from the time are too diverse to narrow down to one theme.

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Shapes: This prompt did not really interest me. Most of the architecture at the time was geometric, with small organic detailing on top of it, but I'm not interested in this. The topic doesn't excite me, so I will not take it forward.

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Sounds: The same can be applied to sounds as is applied to shapes. The sounds of Greece is pleasing for the most part, but I'm not enthusiastic about it. I'm more interested in the wonder and mythology, I like the culture of a people how they lived, what they believed, not necessarily the noises of shapes of the time. 

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The structure and Hierarchy of the period are interesting as it held division and a class system which was evident in clothing and lifestyle. To me, the hierarchy of Athens is similar to modern-day society, with the exception that we can go up and down social classes. Although I was interested in the social hierarchy, it was not exciting enough for me to wish to take it forward.

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Colour: I was interested in colour initially and was tempted to take this forward, I really liked how it was used to distinguish class, where the upper-class used rarer dyes such as purple or indigo blue which would symbolise wealth, the lower class would keep to muted colours. I also liked how a colour would represent different meanings, white was often used to represent purity and spirituality, and so the Gods were often shown wearing white tunics and robes in paintings, sculptures and pottery. Black, on the other hand, represented evil typically and was used to depict the underworld, protected by hades. However, although I am interested to look deeper and find the meaning of each colour, and how they were used in society, I also think I need to cap off a few interests in order to focus on other interests. Phase two is a short period of time, and I cannot carry on looking into Athens as a broad subject, hence why I narrowed it down to three interests. 

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