Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome [Hardcover]

John Onians (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 1999

In this highly original inquiry into the foundations of European culture, John Onians argues that the study of classical art provides a unique window into the minds of the Greeks and Romans for whom it was produced. Onians provides a sweeping account that ranges from the Greek Dark Ages to the Christianization of Rome and that reveals how the experience of a constantly changing physical environment influenced the inhabitants of ancient Greece and Rome.

The book begins by explaining how the early Greeks -- exposed to a rocky landscape, dependent on craft activities, and involved in warfare -- saw themselves as made of stone and metal and represented themselves in statues of marble and bronze. Later, in the Hellenistic period, as the awareness of the individual's power increased, so did the sense of physical and emotional weakness, while, with the rise of Rome, art came to be seen less as representation and more as sign, to be experienced less as a lever on the feelings and more as an aid to memory. By the end of the Roman Empire, Onians contends, inhabitants acquired an unprecedented sense of unstable inner life that enabled them to represent themselves not as solid sculptures but as thin marble slabs, their surfaces animated by veins suggestive of hidden spiritual vitality.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Traditionally, art historians have been concerned with the anthropological aspects of ancient art. Onians (director, World Art Research Programme, Univ. of East Anglia) takes a rather different approach. He theorizes that classical art was "the natural product of the nurturing influence of a limited set of environmental factors on a living organism" and uses a biological or ecological point of view to identify "the most characteristic forms [of Greek and Roman art] and the environments in which these developed." Were the Greeks successful because they settled in a harsh land that required stone and metal tools to survive? Was that the reason they represented themselves in marble and bronze statues? It is an interesting argument, and a worthwhile one. Unfortunately, Onians suffers from page-long-paragraph syndrome. Illustrations are appropriate and well placed, and this helps somewhat, but only the hardiest of scholars will actually read the book through. Recommended for large academic collections.AMary Morgan Smith, Northland P.L., Pittsburgh
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

An extremely useful and insightful study. . . . Highly recommended for its exceptionally clear and revealing writing. -- Choice

Anyone who tries to distill the essence of ancient Greek and Roman culture in a single volume of less than 300 pages requires an uncommon breadth of erudition, a talent for avoiding distracting detail and an audacity that borders on arrogance. John Onians seems admirably equipped for the task on all counts. . . . From a rich array of objects, supplemented by well-chosen literary texts, [Onians] constructs a panorama of the classical world from archaic Greece to late antiquity. . . . This is heady stuff, stimulating. -- Glen W. Bowersock, Wall Street Journal

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300075332
• ISBN-13: 978-0300075335
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Single-Volume Classic, May 2, 2000

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome (Hardcover)

This is a magnificent achievement. Here in a single volume, in the English language, is a definitive introduction to the origins of contemporary culture. The reader is provided with a wealth of information but also with a wealth of illustrations...all of which, explained by Onians with compelling eloquence, but also answers to questions such as "What are the foundations of western civilization?" and "What is the human fabric of those foundations?" The material is organized as follows:

Chapter One The Culture of the Greek Workshop

Chapter Two Greek Art and the Culture of Conflict

Chapter Three Greek Art and the Culture of Competition

Chapter Four Hellenistic Art and the Culture of Character

Chapter Five Roman Art and the Culture of Memory

Chapter Six Rome and the Culture of Imagination

Chapter Seven The Culture of the Christian Church

According to Onians, "The power of Greek art over Rome, and then of Greek and Roman art over later generations, resided less in the multiplicity or complexity of that art than in its embodiment of a limited number of traits, traits such as the hardness, mathematical regularity, lifelikeness, uniformity, physical energy and emotional expressiveness of Greek art, or the memorability, monumentality, personality, material and formal richness, flexibility and simplicity of that of Rome." What Onians has accomplished is nothing less than a cohesive and comprehensive analysis of Classical art and of the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome.

Some (very few) books serve as a "magic carpet" which transports their reader to ancient experiences which would otherwise be inaccessible. This one of those books. Remarkably, without in any way compromising his scholarly standards, Onians functions as a congenial as well as knowledgeable companion. His seems to be an intimate as well as thoroughly familiar with everything and everyone he discusses.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and fascinating reading, March 12, 2005

By 

Taulapapa (Samoa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome (Hardcover)

Onians brilliantly re-contextualizes, from an organic grounded perspective, the way in which one looks at the so-called Classical worlds of ancient Greece and Rome, which not only lends insight into the impetus and meaning behind the beauty and power of their artistic achievement, but challenges the generalized ways of looking at art in our world. In reading the Amazon/Reed review above, I can only imagine the reviewer expected something geared towards a less mature readership, as this is truly an incisive and thoughtful book that held my interest throughout, and as good books do, it not only gave me something new to look at, but also gave me a new way of looking at things.

Bravo, John Onians!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What is the diference between a Greek and a Roman?, April 4, 2000

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[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome (Hardcover)

The book provides fresh insights into the Classical arts, by approaching the topic from the viewpoint of culture and environment. In fact, the book could be more appropriately titled "How the physical environment of Greece and Rome created the character and culture of their civilizations, and ultimately their art".

For example, the physical environment of Greece determined the military strategy of the Greeks. The point is then made that their emphasis on their rectangular military formation ( the phalax? )led to the Greek interest in mathematics, and conversely that the ascent of Sparta is related to the migration of mathematicians to this region. This flows over into architecture, with the form of the temple actually being a representation of this formation.

The book reads well, especially when Onians discusses Roman culture beginning with the dilema that the Greeks prouded themselves on their minds and their classical completeness as men, and yet the Romans who had none of these qualities conquered them in about 40 years. He then discusses how the Romans, who although trying to emulate Greek culture, were only really culture tourists, and therefore their Greekness was only superficial.

His explanation for the decline of the Roman empire makes fascinating reading, and explains a lot about the success of Christianity. For each idea presented, Onians provides substantial evidence, and the reasoning follows a consistent logic. The skill of writing is evident form the fact that each topic is self-contained without references to other sections of the book.

My only criticism is that a shortage of commas does make some reading a bit difficult, however despite the academic nature and content of the book, it is very easy reading.