Art Greece

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/alex/hd_alex.htm
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/myst/hd_myst.htm
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/etla/hd_etla.
htmhttps://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/etru/hd_etru.htm

This week we will be reading about a more apparently expressive period in ancient Greece known as the Hellenistic Age. The Hellenistic period begins w/the death of Alexander the Great, whom we shall meet through a reading about him. Then it’s on to Etruria — the mysterious ancient Italian people, who pre-date Rome.
It has long been perceived that the Romans, who were great assimilators of culture, had effectively taken Greek religion and made it Roman. However, it was the Etruscans, who adopted many of those Greek gods and shaped them into something more reflective of the Etruscan culture. It’s then from the Etruscans that the Romans get their gods.
It is also from the Etruscans we get things like judgment after death — moreso than we saw w/the Egyptians and more like what we see w/today’s Christians. The Egyptians weighed the ib or heart against the feather of truth (Ma’at’s feather) to determine the quality of one’s afterlife. But the Etruscans invented the concept of punishment after death in a sort of Hell.
It could be because the Etruscans were under significant stress from the Romans, who were beginning to encroach upon the former’s territory and way of life. The Romans essentially annihilated the Etruscans so much so that we can barely even interpret the remnants of Etruscan language that we have on grave goods.
One scholar said that learning the Etruscan language w/what we have is like learning Italian from reading tombstones.
However, despite the increase of demons and monsters in Etruscan religion, this is a culture that embraced music, art, dance, and love in a way that we might recognize today.
It is interesting to consider, however, the idea that demons or monsters represent fear in the same way that gods and heroes represent hope.

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