c. 800 – 31 B.C.E.

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping, 3rd–2nd century B.C.E., bronze, 16 1/2 × 14 × 33 9/16″ / 41.9 × 35.6 × 85.2 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). — Cupid, chubby and quietly sleeping, is a common symbol today … but what did this sculpture mean to ancient Greeks?

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping

This bronze god sank to the bottom of the sea where he sat for millennia, but who is he and what can he tell us?

Artemision Zeus or Poseidon

“Stay and mourn at the monument of dead Kroisos, who raging Ares slew as he fought in the front ranks.”

Anavysos Kouros

Frieze detail, Dipylon Amphora, c. 755-750 B.C.E. — As tall as a person, this pot is covered with geometric patterns and early figural representations.

Dipylon Amphora

Iktinos and Kallikrates (sculptural program directed by Phidias), Parthenon, Athens, 447 - 432 B.C.E. — Learn about the great temple of Athena, patron of Athens, and the building’s troubled history.

The Parthenon, Athens

Kritios Boy (detail) — Following war with the Persians, this highly naturalistic sculpture was buried out of respect.

Kritios Boy

Grave stele of Hegeso, c. 410 B.C.E., marble and paint, from the Dipylon Cemetary, Athens, 5' 2" (National Archaeological Museum, Athens) — See the mastery of form developed in the Classical period translated to private art on this solemn gravestone.

Grave stele of Hegeso

Charioteer of Delphi (detail) — Take part in the celebration of an athlete’s victory—this life-size bronze is a hinge between the Archaic and Classical.

Charioteer of Delphi

Myron, Discobolus (Discus Thrower), Roman copy of an ancient Greek bronze from c. 450 B.C.E., Classical Period (Palazzo Massimo alle Terme) — Coiled with athletic energy, balance, and the promise of movement, see the potential of an idealized human body.

Myron, Discobolus (Discus Thrower)

Alexander Mosaic, c. 100 B.C.E., tessera mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii, 8 feet 11 inches x 16 feet 9 inches (this Roman floor mosaic may be based on a lost Hellenistic painting by Philoxenos of Eretria, The Battle of Issus, c. 315 B.C.E.), Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. — Sources tell us that painting was the Greek’s finest art form: is this a hint at what we’re missing?

Alexander Mosaic from the House of the ...

Barberini Faun (detail) — Part man, part goat, this companion of the god of wine relaxes after a night of drinking.

Barberini Faun

Exekias, Attic black figure amphora with Ajax and Achilles playing a game, c. 540-530 B.C.E., archaic period, 61.1 cm high, found in Vulci (Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Vatican) — Achilles and Ajax, heroes of the Trojan War, break from battle to play a friendly game that hints at a tragic future.

Exekias, Attic black figure amphora with Ajax ...

Ancient Greek Temples at Paestum — Explore the development of the Doric order in the temples of the city of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

Ancient Greek Temples at Paestum

The Pergamon Altar (detail) — Greek gods battle Giants for supremacy of the universe, so deeply carved that they almost step out into our world.

The Pergamon Altar

Caryatid, Erechtheion (detail) — These graceful female figures replace columns—how did human form and architecture relate in ancient Greece?

Caryatid and Ionic Column from the Erechtheion

Phidias(?), Parthenon sculptures — Discover stunning depictions of gods, heroes, and mythical beasts in the most influential sculptures in history.

Phidias, Parthenon sculpture (pediments, metopes and frieze)

Dying Gaul, ancient Roman marble copy of a lost bronze Greek sculpture, c. 220 B.C.E., Hellenistic Period (Capitoline Museum) — Pain is visible on the face of this dying warrior. Did the ancient Greeks sympathize with their defeated enemies?

Dying Gaul and Ludovisi Gaul

Head and torso (detail), Statue A, from the sea off Riace, Italy, c. 460-450 B.C.E. (?), 198 cm high (Museo Archaeologico Nazionale Reggio Calabria) (photo: Luca Galli, CC BY 2.0) — Archaeologists pulled these bronze warriors from the sea in 1972, but their origin and date remain a mystery.

Riace Warriors

Euthymides, Three Revelers (Athenian red-figure amphora), c. 510 B.C.E., 24 inches high (Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich) — This pot depicts contrasting scenes: on one side a Trojan hero heads to war, and on the other tipsy revelers dance.

Euthymides, Three Revelers