Nudity In Classical Art Summary

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Reading Response to ‘Nudity as a Costume in Classical Art’
Nudity played a tremendously huge role in Greek culture in Classical times in various ways. Firstly, it was used to depict male beauty. The Greeks really admired the young, athletic bodies of men, as they came to represent strength and glory in a heroic and almost godlike manner. This admiration transitioned into the concept of athletic nudity; it became the “uniform” for the athlete. When athletic competitions such as the Olympic Games came about, these young men would train in the nude, mainly to intimidate their opponents by showing off their physique. However, it is important to note that these men weren’t entirely nude; they wore a perizoma – a garment used to cover the phallic region. The reason Greek men did not expose their genitals leads me to the idea of religious nudity. The Greeks believed that an exposed phallic
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Firstly, there were very negative connotations that came with female nudity. In art, females that were portrayed naked were deemed as “damsels-in-distress” – being naked represented being defenseless, vulnerable, and weak. Nude women were also considered to be prostitutes, to be disrespected and used. Whereas on the contrary, like I mentioned earlier, nude men are admired. Another physical difference between nude men and women was their skin color. Because young men trained without clothing, their skin would become darker due to being exposed to the sun. Women remained fair-skinned because they were always protected from the sun. This skin variation translated into Greek art and became the main means to tell the difference between males and females. The other double standard came about was the nudity of the youth vs. the elderly. Elderly men in Greek art were interpreted as ugly and shameful if depicted as nude. Basically, in society, being nude only favored young

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