In terms of scientific, philosophical, and cultural influence, Greece was the American equivalent to the ancient world. Their influence was far-reaching, impacting nearly every country on the eastern Mediterranean. However beneficial their influence was on the political and artistic realms of the nations surrounding it, their worldview was predominantly pagan as their main religion was polytheistic Hellenism[1]. Their beliefs were often very loosely-based on biblical truths, but more often religious lies bred by cultures that drifted further and further from God after the Flood. This perversion of truth caused the view of an artist to be distorted in the eyes of the viewer, but more importantly, it drew the viewer away from the truth that God
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As previously mentioned, Greeks believed in Hellenism, a religion that focused on the worship of gods who were descendants of the Titans, a group of superhuman beings who were defeated by Zeus, the leader of the gods, with the exception of one Titan Prometheus. He made creatures to fill the earth and was particularly fond of the humans he created, stealing fire from the Sun to give them ingenuity and creativity. Then he was punished by the gods, and men were punished by being given the first woman, Pandora; Pandora was tempted by a box that when opened released all the plagues and disasters we experience today. Many believed that artists were able to use this stolen fire to create art and interpret truth in a way that normal people were incapable of doing. This view led to them being revered as god-like or even as demigods! There were also many critics who neither trusted artists, as they had allegedly used the stolen fire from the Sun, nor believed they were of any value in the public circle, viewing artwork as useless. In other words, “Art doesn’t have the honesty of reason nor the power of philosophy.” For example, if an artist were to draw a painting or make a sculpture of a house, no one could use the house; if a builder made a house, people could use the house. For this reason, numerous people implored artists to instead work as carpenters or politicians or cooks to objectively benefit the
As previously mentioned, Greeks believed in Hellenism, a religion that focused on the worship of gods who were descendants of the Titans, a group of superhuman beings who were defeated by Zeus, the leader of the gods, with the exception of one Titan Prometheus. He made creatures to fill the earth and was particularly fond of the humans he created, stealing fire from the Sun to give them ingenuity and creativity. Then he was punished by the gods, and men were punished by being given the first woman, Pandora; Pandora was tempted by a box that when opened released all the plagues and disasters we experience today. Many believed that artists were able to use this stolen fire to create art and interpret truth in a way that normal people were incapable of doing. This view led to them being revered as god-like or even as demigods! There were also many critics who neither trusted artists, as they had allegedly used the stolen fire from the Sun, nor believed they were of any value in the public circle, viewing artwork as useless. In other words, “Art doesn’t have the honesty of reason nor the power of philosophy.” For example, if an artist were to draw a painting or make a sculpture of a house, no one could use the house; if a builder made a house, people could use the house. For this reason, numerous people implored artists to instead work as carpenters or politicians or cooks to objectively benefit the