Foreign influences

Influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art, architecture, religion

See "The Mystery Cults" pp.166-170: "The Cult of Isis" (Egyptian) and "The Cult of Dionysus/Bacchus" (Greek)

Chapter 12 "The Influences of Greece and Hellenistic Cultures of the East"

What are Hellenic and Hellenistic cultures?
What Greek and Egyptian influences are shown in art from Pompeii and Herculaneum?
What architectural features are influenced by Greek styles.
What evidence is there for Greek and Egyptian influence in religious practices?

Past HSC Question 2017

Outline the influence of Egyptian culture in Pompeii. In your answer, refer to Source F and your own knowledge. (4 marks)

(Source F: Detail from mosaic, Pompeii [Nilotic scene from House of the Faun])

Past HSC Question 2014

Briefly outline Greek influences at Pompeii and Herculaneum. In your answer, use Source A and your own knowledge. (3 marks)

Source A: Image of actors rehearsing a play, found in the House of the Tragic Poet at Pompeii

Greek influences came directly from the Greek colonies in southern Italy which were established c. 7th Century BC.

Hellenistic influences came through trade and settlement as Rome expanded its territory with conquests of the Hellenistic East from 2nd Century BC onwards. Rome gained control of Egypt under Augustus.

Art

Mau – wall paintings

Mau divided Pompeian art into four chronological styles. The following examples are the pictorial examples he used to illustrate each style in his book.

First style

Second style

Third style

Fourth style

“Apparently the system which we find at Pompeii originated in the period following the death of Alexander the Great, and received its impulse of development from the contact of Greece with the orient.”

Use the examples and the information on pp.34-35 of your text to answer these questions:

What are the dates of each style?
Describe the features of each style.
What Greek and Hellenistic influences are there in Pompeian art?

First Style: Incrustation – originated in Alexandria in 3rd C. BC – plaster is painted to represent stone or marble. Examples: atrium of House of Sallust, House of the Faun.

Second Style: Architectural. Examples: Villa of the Mysteries; House of the Labyrinth; House of the Silver Wedding.

Third Style: Ornate. Examples: House of Spurius Mesor (VII.3.29 – example used by Mau); House of the Centenary (room 41); House of M. Lucretius Fronto; House of L. Caecilius Jucundus.

Fourth Style: Intricate. Examples: House of the Vettii; House of the Menander.

Greek and Egyptian influences:

Greek architectural motifs in the wall decorations
Frescoes of Greek mythological scenes (sometimes copied from Greek originals): Hercules in College of the Augustales (Herculaneum); “Jason meeting King Pelias” from the House of the Golden Cupids (Pompeii); “The Sacrifice of Iphigenia” from House of the Tragic Poet (Pompeii)
Hellenistic style of artwork – categorised by Mau into the four Pompeian styles.
Sphinx found in various places, e.g., Temple of Isis, a table stand designed as a sphinx in the House of the Faun, a brazier with feet in the shape of a sphinx in the tepidarium of the Forum Baths in Pompeii.

Sphinx Brazier foot Table stand

Statues

Drunken Hercules from House of the Deer, Herculaneum

Images of Hercules

Pompeii:

Image of Hercules (4th C BC) in Triangular Forum
Bronze statuette of Hercules in Temple of Isis.

Herculaneum:

Images of Hercules in a public fountain, in houses, in a wine shop.
Statue of Hercules mingens in the peristyle of the House of the Deer (right). This is a Roman satirical representation of the Greek hero.

Images of Greek gods e.g. statue of Apollo in the temple of Apollo and several frescoes and a statuette of Apollo in the House of Apollo. Also in this house is a fresco showing Achilles recognised by Ulysses.

Drunken Hercules from House of the Deer, Herculaneum

Mosaics

Greek and Egyptian influences in wall and floor mosaics: “Achilles being recognised by Ulysses” from House of Apollo (Pompeii)

The House of the Faun has both Greek and Egyptian influenced floor mosaics:

Greek: flowers and fruit with tragic masks; Dionysus as a child framed in theatrical masks; erotic satyr and nymph mosaic

Egyptian: Alexander mosaic; a Nile scene

House of the Faun (at threshhold of Atrium) - two tragic masks, flowers, fruit

House of the Faun - Dionysus as a child famed in theatrical masks

House of the Faun - Satyr and Nymph mosaic

House of the Faun floor mosaic - Alexander Mosaic

House of the Faun floor mosaic - Nile Scene

Architecture

Greek influences and traditions in many buildings:

peristyle garden in houses
large houses laid out like Hellenistic palaces
a stoa (colonnaded portico) as in the Forum
use of Greek column orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) in public and private buildings
Large and Small Theatres in Pompeii (including the Quadriporticus with its Doric colonnade)
Palaestra of Pompeii in a Hellenistic style
Doric Temple in Triangular Forum of Greek style

Religion

Greek gods and goddesses (or Roman adaptations) worshipped publicly – temples; and privately – the Cult of Dionysus/Bacchus (Villa of the Mysteries); representations of Gods in many houses (Venus in the Seashell)

House of Venus - fresco from peristyle showing the birth of Venus

Egyptian (Hellenistic) influence: publicly through Cult of Isis – and Temple of Isis; privately in household shrines to Isis and Egyptian statues (e.g., House of Loreius Tibertinus and Villa of Julia Felix)

The theatre in Pompeii is a typical structure found in most Roman towns. The Large Theatre at Pompeii was built into a natural hill in the second century BC. This theatre sat roughly 4,000 spectators, and is one of the original permanent stone theatres to stand in Rome. In the Greek style, the tiered seating extends from the orchestra carved out of the hillside. The theatre was the place where performances of comedies and tragedies were held. It included a semi-circular cavea from which led the series of steps divided into sections on which the spectators sat. Below was the area for the orchestra (the part intended for the chorus) and the scena, that is the stage where the actors performed. The theatre in Pompeii shows the features of Greek models in that it exploits the natural inclination of the terrain. The Roman-type theatre on the other hand depends on an architectural structure.

SMALL THEATRE OR ODEON

Established in the 1st century B.C., it represents one of the most harmonious and well-balanced examples of architecture of this type. It could hold up to 1,000 spectators and could be covered permanently. It is well preserved and shows the typical design of the Greek theatre with its structure deeply embanked in the natural slope of the terrain. It was used to host plays and musical events. In addition it was used for the performance of mimes.

Mime was a special theatrical performance of a comical or even bawdy nature, inspired by aspects and incidents of everyday life. Usually it only lasted for a short time.

The actors used masks as a rule and women were also admitted to the performance, which was not otherwise the case. Mime originated as farce in Sicily and was later modified in the Roman age

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