Vanessa FloerkeWestern International UniversityHUM/201 World Culture and the ArtsRuth ToddSeptember 24, 2006IntroductionHello, and welcome to this Virtual Museum Tour. In this tour are pieces from different types of art forms, including Visual Art, Architecture, Music and Literature. The six selected pieces span historical eras from Classical Greece of 500 - 323 B.C., the Late Roman Republic era of 509 B.C. - 27 B.C., and all the way up to the Early gothic and the Baroque time periods. These selections were chosen because of both their cultural significance, cultural cross-currents, and their beauty and craftsmanship. Enjoy the tour.
Calyx-Krater With the Death of Aktaion - Visual Art PieceThis piece comes from the Classical Greece time period (500 - 323 B.C.), was created in 430 B.C., and is from Greek Mythology, mainly the death of Aktaion. In Greek Mythology, Aktaion was the son of Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, and the nephew of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.
The legend states that Aktaion was bragging one day that he was a better hunter than Artemis. Atermis, infuriated by his claims, turned him into a stag (deer), to be eaten by his hunting dogs. There are 2 other stories, one being that Aktaion walked in on Artemis while she was bathing, and upon staring at her nude body, infuriated Artemis to the point that she punished him by forbidding him to speak. If Aktaion spoke he would be turned into a stag, thus eaten by his own dogs. Yet another story dictates that Aktaion was courting Semele, who was also his aunt, and incurred Zeus's wrath because Aktaion made Zeus jealous.
This piece was created using the Attic Red Figure Technique, which was quite a complicated process. To create a finished piece of red-figure pottery the potter and the painter...