Heroes and Gods - Classics Blog

Recently in classics, we've just been going over some of the basics, laying the foundation for the rest of the year. This involves establishing what we know about Greek Mythology and adding to what we already know. At the moment, we've been mostly focusing on who the Titans and the Olympians are. 

Titans

In regards to the Titans, I know about the story of creation and how Kronos separated his mother and father and then proceeded to castrate his father. I also know about the main Titans (Kronos, Gaia, and Uranus). This week, however, I learned about some of the lesser-known titans such as Hyperion, Phoebe, Rhea, Mnemosyne, and many others. Each of us selected a titan to learn about and made a slide about them to share with the class. Below is my one about Hyperion:

Olympians

I already know quite a bit about the Olympians due to taking Classics last year and my own personal interest. Last year I made a slide show fact file about Aphrodite so here's that:

Heroes

This term I've learnt about what makes a hero. Some of this (such as the hero's journey) were slightly redundant as I learnt most of it last year. This year, however, I did get to compare a modern hero with an ancient hero, allowing me to be able to identify key differences in how we view heroes and how the Ancient Greeks viewed heroes. Below are the differences I found between Herakles and Captain America:

I found that, typically, heroes from Ancient Greece tended to be demi-gods, they had something that made them greater than others and put them above common law. Many of them were men and typically cheated on their wives, killed without hesitation, and did terrible things. This contrasts greatly with modern heroes who can be of any gender, have strong morals, and typically lean towards being more defensive rather than offensive. These differences occur as ancient Greece valued different things from most modern societies. Nowadays, we gain honor based on how we treat and help others; in Ancient Greece, you gained honor by fighting on the battlefield and by proving your masculinity. Another difference is that heroes in Ancient Greece were also used to make examples of what could happen. End up on the wrong side of a god? You'll be cursed and suffer a terrible fate. Do something to please a god? You'll be blessed and favored by a god. All heroes suffer great fates, therefore, they are used to show what you should and shouldn't do. Modern heroes are also used as examples, however, they show how doing a great deed makes you someone. They are people that you should aspire to be. 

Britannica Editors "Heracles" Greek Mythology, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Heracles, July 9th, 2021, Accessed: April 7th, 2022 

Marvel Editors "Captain America (Steve Rogers)" Characters, https://www.marvel.com/characters/captain-america-steve-rogers, N/A, Accessed: April 7th, 2022

Lawyer Paragraph - Beauty Ideals and "Perseus rescuing Andromeda"

Art discovered in Pompeii gives us insight into how beauty was perceived in Ancient Rome. Over time, beauty standards have changed and evolved, these standards are often reflected in the art of the time period. Beauty standards show us how society thought and how women were perceived during the time. An example of beauty standards being reflected in art in Pompeii is the depiction of Perseus freeing Andromeda from chains, found in the House of Dioscuri. The fresco shows the beauty standards of women in Ancient Rome through the contrasting skin tones between Andromeda and Perseus. In the fresco, we see that Andromeda’s skin is fair and lighter compared to Perseus’s strikingly darker complexion. This reflects how women - especially those of the upper-class - were expected to have fair skin. Having fairer skin during this time would have been a sign of wealth as it shows that the household was able to afford to have the women stay home in the shade where their skin wouldn’t be able to tan. This is further emphasized by having Perseus’s skin be darker showing how often he has spent in the sun. As an Ancient hero, Perseus would have been spending hours in the sun, traversing the land on his quest to kill Medusa and return with her head. His skin color is less of a marker of wealth and more used to emphasize the lighter skin tone of Andromeda. This ideal can still be seen in modern media where women have often been depicted as either white or with a lighter skin tone, reflecting how this beauty standard from the Ancient world still remains. 

End of Term 1 Art blog

 RIGHT, so, so far I have planned out, like, 5-ish paintings and two series and I'm working on a third. After discussing with The Council (TM), we have decided that I'm probably going to focus on the Jewish diaspora and the movement of the Jewish population. This is what I have so far: 

Beth El

So, one series is going to be synagogues around the world starting with Beth-El synagogue in Christchurch. For this, I think my artist model is gonna be Gelon Concepcion on Instagram and this other guy that Miss Keene told me about (Gerhard Richter). Originally I was gonna lean heavily into the idea of painting people as ghosts and the erasure of the Jewish people but now that I'm doing more on the diaspora I'm gonna paint words and stuff I think. Originally I was gonna paint over the synagogue but I think I might include anti-semitic headlines or things that have happened within the country the synagogue is from. So far, I plan to include NZ (obviously), France, Spain, and the U.S.A. These paintings will probably be mostly on boards 2 and 3. 

My sketch ideas for the synagogue painting

My first go at it, however, I didn't like it as the pov looked off so I redid it

Ah, much better. I do need to work on the brick color though.

To get the star, I had to draw the rough size on the synagogue, trace that, even out the star, draw the details, and finally, trace it back onto the painting

Eggs Bene

For another series I want to include Jewish immigrants from different countries. I'm starting off with Bendix Hallenstein (the guy who founded Hallenstein Bros.) and what I plan to do is paint a portrait of him. I'm thinking of painting over the eyes and then writing something on the white bit, but I'll have to experiment a bit with that first. You can see that idea on the top of the page from my sketchbook. I don't know if I'm gonna paint the portraits with oil paints or acrylics cause I think oil paints might make the paintings look nicer than if I were to use acrylics. 

Ideas and sketches for the portrait.

Outline drawing for the painting

History

I want to possibly do a series of historical points in Jewish history but I'm not quite sure about it just yet. This would be the part when the diaspora comes in and I'd use Tame Iti as my artist model for this series. When I do figure out how to do this, I might start with the exile of the Sephardic Jews from Spain and possibly something to do with the displacement of the Jewish people after the holocaust. At the moment, one idea I have is the West wall which is a wall that remains from the temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed many times. For this series I'm thinking of including words and quotes about the event it's depicting. So for the exile of the Sephardic, I'll possibly include a poem I read in an article about the return of the Sephardic to Spain in 2015. I also might figure out how to include a quote from Mark Twain when he talks about how the survival of the Jewish people is a miracle. 

Sketch idea

Overall plans for the board

I think for this year I'm gonna have a weird mix of emotions. Usually, for every board, there's a certain sort of vibe I want to emulate but this year it might be a weird mix vibe. I think the main vibe I'm gonna try and go for is to sort of commemorate the survival of the Jewish people as well as sort of celebrating it. If I do include the Mark Twain quote I'll either include it in the middle board or the end board. I don't know, I think after I figure out how to do the diaspora paintings I'll hopefully get the ball rolling or something. Fingers crossed that happens before the end of the year lol.

Do Nows

These are some of the do nows I've done: