Greek Art and Archaeology

by John Griffiths Pedley

This revised edition of John Griffiths Pedley's 1992 survey covers 3000 years of Greek history with nearly 400 illustrations & an authoritative text that centers on material culture, especially pottery, statuary & architecture. Greek Art & Archaeology incorporates recent scholarship on matters such as influences from the Near East & the spread of Greek ideas to other parts of the Mediterranean. Of special interest is Pedley's building-by-building history of the Parthenon, including a useful survey of its metopes & friezes. He also offers well-considered stylistic notes on familiar objects, such as the Laocoön group & the Nike of Samothrace.

Genres: Art, History, Archaeology, Art History, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Classical Studies

367 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth edition of the popular textbook by John Pedley. As a textbook, it is excellent. It is complete with a glossary, a lot of high quality photos (many of them colour) and special issues insets on some pages. It provides an excellent introduction to the topic of Greek material culture which is, of course, its job. The sometimes very technical discussions are relieved by the glossary (if I chose to consult it, which I usually didn't bother- laziness, not erudition, being the reason). It gives an excellent overview of Greek material culture from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Age.

As one might expect because of the volume of finds, a lot of attention is given to Classical pieces as opposed to those periods before and after. That makes sense because the sheer amount of pieces increases vastly in the fifth century, but one can notice a change in the style which shifts away from trends to highly descriptive passages. Those are important, of course, but I do get impatient with the amount of it at times. I'm sure Bronze Age or post-Classical specialists will grind their teeth slightly by this privileging of the Classical, but, as someone who favours the late Roman Empire, that is common when one has to deal with a 'Golden Age'. Frustrating, but inevitable.

This is well-worth working through for anyone who wants a good basic understanding of GReek art and archaeology.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my class: Ancient Art

Pedley was very thorough and very well organized for such a short survey. He took the time to cover a lot of the less frequently discussed Cycladic art, which I really enjoy. He also discussed the process of archaeology in some instances, which I found interesting. Lots of illustrations and diagrams proved helpful.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, concise textbook of Greek art and architecture’s greatest hits, with nice illustrations and a helpful glossary. If you're interested in learning more about the Ancient Greeks, this is an excellent place to start.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a definite book on the subject.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read compared to other in the genre

[Jean-michel Pigeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livre sur l'archéologie et l'art de la Grèce antique, intéressant et détaillé

[Fiona Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much different than any other textbook on Greek art. I think that if I really wanted this information, I would just check out a book from the library instead of buy my own because it really doesn’t have any out-of-this-world ideas that it brings up.

[Kamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything that you could want from a textbook on Ancient Greek art with a wealth of information about the archaeological contexts as well.

[sam hill]

i just dropped the class but still read the entire textbook i bored myself to DEATH !!!! (and got a 58 on the midterm)

[Meghan Hannum · Rating 3 out of 5]

pedley good

[elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the course of studying Greek Art I've read several books and I enjoyed this one, there was nothing particularly new in it, however, it was a good overview of a wide range of topics. One of my favourite factors in this book was the fact it did not focus purely on Athenian Art, it did look at other areas of Greek Art - and sometimes this is not the case.

I also really liked the pictures included in this book, they were clear and big and good quality. The different sides shown as well also helped me.

The layout was easy to navigate, always a bonus, and there was a nice little introductory overview at the beginning of each chapter. This explained the main changes in the styles, and the history of the time that caused these changes.

[Olivia Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pedley is essential for any Hellenic archaeology university class

[Jenny Kellogg]

I will be using this to teach Archaeology next fall. Haven't read it yet. Need to soon!