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Phase Two

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Phase One Results:

After completing my research into the four themes I had selected, I presented them to my class. The feedback I received gave suggestions and advice on all four topics, with ideas being proposed to how I could move forward. Overall the class were most sceptical to Ancient History and Pollution, with both receiving the same amount of votes. Although pollution was received well, I have chosen Ancient Greek History and more specifically the culture which engulfs it, to be my final subject. The culture of Ancient Greece stood out to me as it was the foundation for many modern western civilisations. A lot of practices and beliefs stemmed from the ancient Greeks, which interests me a lot as I believe it allows me to compare this period of time to modern-day life. I can easily relate to the culture of ancient Greece and I believe a lot of the values and practices could still be relevant in today's society. For instance, the Greeks valued liberal arts and science, which are often looked down upon nowadays, however, I believe they still hold value in today's society.  I believe a game could highlight and point out the value of certain messages or beliefs, and possible spread awareness of certain ancient values which may be overlooked in modern times. 

I am more specifically looking into Athens as a society since a lot of notable figures, practices, thought processes and myths came out of this part of Greek society. The classical period of Greece contains the development of different mediums of art, values and beliefs, and what is culture if it isn't any of these?

Research Cards:

After presenting our ideas on Friday, we also had a useful workshop which strived to show us quick ways of brainstorming ideas. As a class,  we practised with the theme of "dreams". Groups were assigned a prompt and were told to quickly find research links and literature which combine the prompt with the theme. For my group, we were given the prompt of Technology and Colour. From our research into the technology we found that there is a mobile apparatus which is supposed to enhance lucid dreams, we found that scientists are trying to visualise dreams, and we found that technology can affect how often a person dreams. With colour, we found that people used to dream in black and white before colour TVs were introduced and we found that clours in dreams often represent an emotion or feeling. This is just some of the basic things we discovered, but the point is that in 15 minutes we found dozens of links to research and articles which all showed new and exciting avenues of research that can be explored. 

This was a practical exercise in my opinion as it demonstrated how quickly research can develop with the support of a prompt. The prompts suggested by Adam are:

Characters | Locations | Movement | Technology | Books | Historical | Films | Shapes | Context | Colour | language | Structures (Hierarchy) | Journals | Sounds | Facts

As I found the exercise useful on Friday I plan to use these prompts for my own research. You can find my research into each prompt below \/\/ 

Characters

Socrates – He was a classical greek Athenian credited as being one of the founders of western philosophy and introduced moral beliefs such as virtue ethics as a tradition of thought. 

Cleisthenes– Raised an aristocrat in Athens 520 BC, a village at the time. Brought up in Athens which would have had travelling bards passing through. Raised hearing homers tales of heroes. Saw how Athens changed under

Peisistratus from a rural settlement to an international power. When Peisistratus died, however, his son Hippias came to power and became a tyrant. After Hippias, Isagoras ruled until the people overthrew him in 508BC and invited Cleisthenes back to introduce a system of government. Cleisthenes was the founder of Democracy in western society, allowing all Athenians to vote on issues every nine days.

Peisistratus - Under his rule, Athens grew from a rural settlement to a thriving city known for exporting olives globally. Although autocracy still ruled, the people were given less tax and better rights. Social and economic gain under his rule.

Isagoras – Raised an aristocrat and fought Cleisthenes for power over Athens with the support of Sparta. He maintained power with force and fear until the people revolted in 508BC

Themistocles – Was a politician and general. He fought in the First Persian Invasion of Athens and realised that they may return again. He, therefore, pushed to build a navy to defend Athens. Thanks to Themistocles Athens grew to hold a threatening naval power.

Locations

Delphi - Site of the sanctuary for Appolo. Greek oracles would reside here and many would travel from all around to ask questions regarding predictions of the future.

https://www.ancient.eu/delphi/

 

Acropolis - Acropolis was the centre of Athenian society. In its prime, it housed public buildings, became a temple of Athena and in 510 BC was ordered to become a house of the Gods. Acropolis was the citadel of ancient Athens and was heavily fortified as a result. The Parthenon sits atop the Acropolis and was dedicated to Athena whom they believe protected the city. The acropolis is the major attraction if Athens and still stands to this day.

https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/europe/greece/athens-and-around/the-acropolis/a-brief-history-of-the-acropolis/

Pnyx - The Pnyx was the meeting place of the ancient Greeks where they assembled to discuss matters and democratically vote on pressing issues. Here Cleisthenes introduced and founded modern-day democracy, all Athenians of all backgrounds could vote here.

https://archaeology-travel.com/greece/athens-and-attica/pnyx-hill/

The Ancient Agora of Athens - This area was of significant importance during the classical period. In this open area, many political members would gather to discuss jurisdiction and courtyard drama. Within this area, the temple of Hephaestus resides. This is one of the most preserved temples of ancient Greek times, we can therefore observe and see a prime example of ancient greek architecture.

https://www.greeka.com/attica/athens/sightseeing/athens-ancient-agora/

Panathenaic Stadium of Athens - The stadium was originally built in ancient times to host the Panathenaic Games to honour Athena. Since its creation, it has been renovated numerous times and in 1986 it was even used to host the first modern-day Olympic games. 

Poseidon greek.jpg

Movement

Movement can represent one of two things, the physical act of moving, or the development and change of something. In terms of physical movement, the ancient Greeks had numerous modes of travel and transport goods globally through trade. One of the most impressive forms of movement at the time was the Trireme, this ship could carry a crew of 200 people and was an effective weapon during the naval conflict. Aside from this, the only other way greeks could travel via boat is if they were a trader, hauling goods from one dock to another. Tourism for the sake of entertainment and relaxation was non-existent at the time if people travelled it was because of business, war or religion. In regard to movement on land, the traces of architecture, possessions and artistic styles all support the idea that greeks were well travelled. They spread far and wide on land and via the sea. For those moving on the ground, carriages and walking were the most common modes of travel.

 

https://www.ancient.eu/article/605/travel-in-the-ancient-greek-world/ 

On the other hand, I believe movement could be referring to change. Classical Greece saw a lot of change such as the movement from autocratic state rule to democracy. Civilisations grew and fell and power was always changing from one hand to another. Furthermore with economic change brought about a new movement of art which reflected the atmosphere of the people at the time. When city life was overwhelming and was becoming built up, artists and potters would depict scenes of wildlife and beauty, almost as if it was a form of escapism. Personally, this form of movement is more interesting to me, as every aspect of society was affected by a change in one way or another during the classical period. In regard to physical movement, many would grow up and die close to where they were born, only soldiers, traders or pilgrims would traverse the lands and seas, for most life revolved around the small patch of the earth right outside there door. The movement of change which occurred in the classical period has an importance to it, as is it allowed new arts and new innovations to thrive. The creativeness which was developed during the classical period, especially in Athens, interests me as the artwork they created in sculptures, mosaics and pottery all have messages which speak about and show the thoughts and concerns of those alive at the time. In many cases, Athenian art used characters and myths to personify beliefs and desires.

 

This is what concerns me, the underlying message hidden within the movement of change. Political change towards a democracy expressed the feelings of dread and resent for a tyrannical rule, it also showed awareness of those in power and community to allow power to be shared. The movement from a small civilisation to a thriving capital, exporting goods globally, shows the success and determination of the people of Athens. The artwork at its peak depicts the character of the artist; some believed in the importance of myths, and the messages they hold and would express this in their works, others believed that change (although beneficial) was often suffocating, and would depict environmental scenery in their work expressing how they wish to escape. At face value the stories and artwork and culture of ancient Greece are interesting, but the deeper messages and the reasoning behind actions are what captivates me. The undergoing change and movement of this period expresses a rich character that is easy to understand and relate to.

Above you will find a Kylix (or drinking cup) depicting the Greek god Poseidon among warriors. The style of the cup expresses the newly developed style of Athenian art which originated in the 5th century BC. The use of mythology emphasises the belief of gods and the message they bring with them. In this case, Poseidon's depiction symbolises his power and control.

 

Technology

According to the article below, the ancient greeks can be credited for inventing and discovering: the water mill, the alarm clock, map-making and geometry.

  

https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/greek-history/top-10-inventions-discoveries-ancient-greece-remarkably-used-today/

 

Although some of these inventions have developed significantly over time, the basic premise has stayed the same. For example with the alarm clock, it worked by triggering a pebble to fall on a gong after a certain amount of time. This is very different from modern-day interpretations but the outcome is the same.

(Original concept of the alarm clock - by Ctesibius, an ancient Greek engineer)

What amazes me most when researching ancient greek technology, is that they were the first to invent robots. I mean this in the term that a robot is a "machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically". Although it doesn't sound believable, in the 3rd Century BC Philo Mechanicus, a Greek engineer and physicist, invented the servant of Philon (depicted below). Its function was to pour wine into a cup when placed into the left hand, and then added water and mixed if required. This honestly blew me away, I always perceived robots and mechanics of the sort to be fashioned as retro-futuristic, but here is a real example of it being thought of and investigated thousands of years ago. It was so unexpected for me to stumble across this, I never imagined that the ancient greeks would be so imaginative and share the same extreme goals and ambition that we have today. 

However, if we define a robot as a machine that functions in place of a living agent, and we disregard the necessity for it to resemble a human, then the first recorded case of a robot is actually the steam-powered "pigeon," which has origins around 400 to 350 BCE. It was created by Greek mathematician Archytas and was capable of flying 200 metres before running out of steam! I am blown away with the technology that was present during the classical period, I never released they experimented with steam power and with automatic functions, the unexpectedness of this and how out of place it all appears really stands out to me. I never expected the ancient greeks to have such innovations and experiments, and as a result, I'm really interested in finding out more. http://mentalfloss.com/article/13083/first-robot-created-400-bce-was-steam-powered-pigeon 

Books

 

The Odyssey by Homer - This is the second poem by Homer and is partially a sequel to the Illiad, a poem concerning the Trojan war. The Odyssey focusses on human behaviour and motivation, this is its main source of value in my opinion.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/jul/30/journeys-in-literature-the-odyssey-by-homer-the-first-step 

The Republic by Plato - Plato's writings here discuss politics and philosophy, and how the two are intertwined. Plato questions justice and if a man can be pleased or happy living a just life. 

http://www.idph.net/conteudos/ebooks/republic.pdf

The Histories by Herodotus - This historical piece recounts the Persian - Greek war which occurred in the 5th Century. Unlike other historical accounts, Herodotus describes it in an eccentric fashion, thus making it all the more interesting.

https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Films

Crucible of Civilisation narrated by Liam Neeson - Talks about the history of Athens and how it grew from a small settlement into a global trader and superpower. The documentary talks about conflict, growth and significant figures. Available online here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz7ebSkY2_8 

Ancient Invisible Cities - This documentary tells us about the history of Athens and the birth of the first democracy. Available online here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bk67wc

In all fairness, there are not many examples of Athens appearing in films. There are films and shows about the Romans or Sparta, but Athens seems under-represented and under-rated too. Aside from documentaries which appear to cover the same information, there is a lack of depictions of Athens in modern-day film and media.

 

Shapes:

 

In regard to the architecture of the period, Ionic, Dionic and Corinthian architecture use geometric forms as the base of their design. Although the fluted pillars have shape and volume from the grooved concaves, the overall shape is a cylinder which is a basic and geometric form, the Pediments resting atop pillars giving structural support to the roof are also geometric forms, as at their basics they are just triangles. Most of the ancient greek architecture uses geometric forms, as these shapes are easy to produce and are structurally sound. The only example of organic forms in greek architecture is present within the stone masonry. The decorations at the top of the Corinthian pillars are organic as they are shaped to resemble leaves and flowers. Likewise, the depictions of figures on the pediment are organically shaped and required precision. These such details are shapes are not present in nature, thus making them organic.

Links:

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-corinthian-column-177504 This site discusses the look of corinthian pillars.

Colours:

 

Colours have different meanings and values depending on the culture they are being expressed through. Colour is a symbol which can hold power and history behind it and the meaning of colour often varies depending on the culture using it. For example, red may be used to express fear, love and power in Indian culture, but in South Africa red is often used in association with mourning and sacrifice. However, the use of colour was also prominent in ancient civilisations too, clothes were often dyed, and the shade and colour of the garment often established a person position in society. 

In ancient Greece, purple was used to represent nobility as the manufacturing of the colour was an expensive process. The colour originated from sea snails and was extracted from the fluid of the glands of thousands of crushed shellfish at a time. Since the dye was rare it was used to establish dominance and display wealth and success. 

https://www.ancient.eu/Tyrian_Purple/

Cinnabar red was another popular colour in ancient Greece and was used primarily for decorations such as paintings murals, ceramics and religious decorations. The dye has been described as rare in the writings of numerous classical authors such as Theophrastus of Eresus who produced books concerning minerals, their uses and the colours they produce. 

https://www.thoughtco.com/cinnabar-the-ancient-pigment-of-mercury-170556

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although it was uncommon, the ancient Greeks did occasionally use Indigo blue in there work. The colour originated from India as it was found in the plant genus Indigofera, it was extracted and shipped globally from here. The Ancient Greeks treated it as a luxury dye and would use it on their clothing to express their status. Due to the rarity of the dye, Woad was often used as a cheaper alternative, as it was almost identical to the Indigo dye.

http://www.historyofjeans.com/jeans-history/history-of-indigo/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ochre Yellow was a very common colour in Ancient Greece as well throughout the region and was often used to paint walls a light, bright colour. In Athens red ochre (which was called Miltos) was used practically to mark people and animals in order to determine the location of everyone during events. Mandatory assembly was often called in Athens and required everyone in a town to be present. During this time the streets would have hanging dyed ropes which, if one brushed up against a loiterers clothing, would dye it revealing they were not present for the event. Red ochre in particular therefore had practical uses more so than artistic uses. To me, this is fairly interesting as colour and dye weren't just used for aesthetic reasons or for decorations but rather were used in law if a person was found unattended assemblies they could face a fine, and to prove a person wasn't there the dye on their clothes was used as admissible evidence in court. I didn't expect to find out how colour was used practically, which is why this interested me in particular.

For the most part, the greeks used red, yellow, black and white as the primary colours of their artwork. Clothing would display rarer colours such as purples as the dye was often very expensive and therefore would display the financial status of the individual. The idea of social status being displayed through colour interests me because it helps express the culture and hierarchy of Athenian civilisation. The social class brings with it a fragmentation of everyday life, the upper classes enjoy luxuries and rarely work for their success, whilst the lower classes work to survive. In Athenian society, the dull grind of lower-class life almost feels represented through the dull coloured attire they would wear. The upper-class and elite, however, would live exotic lives filled with social affairs, education and travelling, and the rare unique lifestyle they led can be expressed through the rich coloured clothing they would often be seen wearing. 

The symbolism of colour is therefore what attracted me, although the colours they used are fairly unique and were developed for their time, the meaning behind each colour and the way it was used entices me. 

Sounds

For the most part, Athens would have had sounds coming primarily from the inhabitants of the city. Dialogue between people in the streets would have likely been the underlining noise of the city, other than that jobs and everyday life would have been the background noise of the time. In regard to education, most boys were taught to play an instrument, typically the Lute, which sounds like this:

Besides music, ancient greek boys were also expected to learn poetry when they were in education. Below you can find a rendition of what ancient greek poetry would have sounded like:

 

Aside from sounds of music and poetry, cities and towns would be full of people conversing, trading, bartering. The sounds of dialogue between groups of people would have been prominent in ancient society. Below is an example of a soundscape of Athens, in the background you can hear birds, conversations and ambient noise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additionally, you would have sounds of the craftsman at work. Blacksmiths would have been located in the cities and would craft weaponry and armour for the soldiers of Athens.

Furthermore, Athens was a rapidly developing city during the classical period, so the sounds of masonry and construction would have also been fairly common. The architecture of Ancient Greece held a lot of intricate details, which would have required masons to carve out accurate patterns and shapes.

 

 

Aside from the sounds of the city, outside of Athens and near the coast you would primarily hear the sounds of the crashing Mediterranean waves.

More inland you would hear trees rustling in the wind and birds singing.

At the moment, this research really only shows the sort of ambience and atmosphere of Greece. Although the examples I used try to illustrate what daily life might have sounded like, there is no guarantee for some of it. At this stage of my research, I can't particularly say iI found value looking into this prompt, however, when I come to a game idea I may be able to find a way to base a game around the beats of a song or the sound of an instrument.

 

Structure / Hierarchy

 

In Athenian society, people were treated depending on their social class. The practice of organising people into groups is similar to modern western civilisations. Social class at the time was primarily dependent on nationality, gender and wealth, and most people stayed in there retrospective groups. This obviously differs from today's society, where social class is dependent on economics, and a person can rise and fall between the classes. However, the basic premise of a class system is the same. In ancient Athens during the classical period, the highest group was the Upper-class, this group of elites were Athenian born and would control the politics and military of the state. Although Athens was a democracy for a period of time (100 years), the aristocrats still maintained power over industries and influence too. Their wealthy lifestyle allowed them to own numerous properties and enact control. The Aristocrats saw themselves as too wealthy to work and often owned slaves to work their land on their behalf. Furthermore, since the upper-class didn't have to work, they often stayed in education longer and practised science, philosophy,  art and mathematics too. 

Below the aristocrats were the citizens. The citizens were men who were born free and were also Athenian born. What separated them from the Aristocrats was their lack of obscene wealth and their professions too. Citizens often worked in dignified fields such as tradesmen, craftsmen and contractors. As Athens was a democracy, this group of society could also vote on current affairs. Young boys would go to school for four years before going into their field of profession, typically going into a family business or trade.

 

 

  

Metics were foreigners, typically from other Greek cities, who immigrated into Athens. The wealth of the individual was irrelevant, so Metics could either be rich or poor, their status in the hierarchy was based on their place of birth. Almost all Metics were unable to own property and none were able to involve themselves in Athenian democracy. A lot of Metics had to be sponsored by a citizen or aristocrat in order to not become a slave. As Metics held average jobs like maintenance or trireme building, they were often seen almost as equals and could therefore converse and interact with other groups, unlike slaves who were seen to have considerably less value. 

Freedmen were ex-slaves who had gained their freedom. This could be done by winning your freedom in a competition, or more likely, from having your debts to slavery paid off by a friend or relative. Essentially freedmen were slaves who were bought and let go. Freedmen were not seen as equals to citizens due to their past, and so were not allowed to vote or own property either. On the topic of slaves, slaves were the support of the social structure of Athens, they were at the base and at the peak of Athenian society, they formed over 1/3rd of the population. Slaves had different jobs depending on their upbringing, if they were educated they may have been used to educate the children of their owners, if they were strong they may have been used for manual labour, their job fully depended on the individual. As it is clear, slaves had no rights and had to serve whoever owned them. 

Tyrian purple fabric.jpg
Cinnabar red.jpg
Indigo dyed fabric.jpeg
yellow ochre dye.jpg
red ochre dye.jpg
Ancient greek alarm clock.jpg

To help visualise the work I have done so far, I have created mood boards of areas of research that have interested me thus far. I believe mood boards can help demonstrate examples of a topic and show the colour and shapes which are associated with it.

Please click the link below to be taken to the mood board page.

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