The Human Body in Ancient Greek Art and Thought

IAN JENKINS, PH.D.
SENIOR CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GREECE AND ROME, BRITISH MUSEUM
Jenkins explores Greek notions of ideal beauty in both nude and draped images of the male and female human bodies. He contrasts the moral aesthetic of sound mind in sound body with other representations to show how the human form served as a bearer of many meanings. Anthropomorphic gods, larger than life heroes, part-human part-animal monsters of myth are all considered as a visual language. His talk concludes with the legacy of the Greek experience in the Roman era and its transmission to the present day.

[@dgreenspino]

I have the catalog that accompanies this exhibition. For the most part, the text is a transcript of this lecture. It is a pleasure to go over it slowly and appreciate the written word, delivered here with a subtle humor and emphasis, I didn't quite pick up on, but felt was there when reading.

[@yorgoskep4608]

Right! There's so much meaning in male nude statues: A kind of freeze of time when life is at its best, an "agon" (struggle) against death, a situation which every ancient Greek warrior had to face very often in his lifetime! A celebration of being alive!

[@LouFederer]

A fantastic lecture. Funny, erudite -- the perfect scholarly entertainment. Thank you!

[@brannonmcclure6970]

When I need some intellectual iconographical knowledge, regarding human figurative representation; I watch and listen to this lecture by Dr. Jenkins and his impressive acumen.👨‍🎓⭐️🧑‍🎨

[@Passion_killer]

Witty and informative lecture. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@ericbohun542]

If you like National Theatre classics you can also try searching for 'Agamemnon 1983 (subtitled & cleaned)'. It is Peter Hall's 1983 staging of Tony Harrison's adaptation of Aeschylus' Oresteia, with Robert Fagle's introductory quotations. The distinguished Oxford classicist Oliver Taplin was involved the the production.

[@whkwole6842]

The jar at 15:14 tells us that ancient people did build stone-hard objects with malleable cement. It is then natural for them to build other stone-hard objects with the same cement such as human statues and horse statues. They needed not to carve hard stones to build anything.

[@golden1789]

Fantastic even 10 years later.

[@jackallen3026]

Thank you

[@aaalayna]

lovely talk, enjoyed the informative detail and the laughs :)

[@MurrayEstes]

I completely agree with a lot of other people here on KZbin. let's return Greek art to Greece. There is a saying here in Hawaii I have always enjoy, there is no Aloha without Hawaiian. Put another way, let's always respect the original source and act accordingly.

[@louduva9849]

Nah.

[@prometheusrex1]

Whine whine whine

[@anthonylemkendorf3114]

Portland has a Museum?

[@annieswatches]

Can you please properly caption this video? I need it for school, and I'm not risking getting the information wrong.

[@andersliljevall2946]

Very interesting

[@dragonslayer7627]

That was very informative and enlightening.

[@buttox]

6:10

[@prometheusrex1]

Thank you! The uploader was lazy-- should have cut out the intro garbage.

[@eanayac]

36:02 Interesting!!!

[@stutterfly21]

What you mean by "higher standard"?? You have to remember that those statues are of athletic men who performed in the Ancient Olympics, that is why they are often showed as Muscular and also the fact that men were always engaging in Heavy lifting as everything was done Physical back in those days.

[@lakshmanankomathmanalath]

Thank you.

[@Engelhafen]

Sir Doctor Ian Jenkins OBE

[@neuregel]

19:30

[@MyMojo13]

Funny how it's never a lecture or presentation coming from Hellenic scholars ... Hellenes are always being defined by others... Well done I must say! "All" Hellenic statues were reproduced by Romans and new names were given them... Start there!!!

[@cooltanksl2091]

Omg. You are looked like outsiders, Hellenic statues are not artwork. It is a language. Reading the action and details of statues in the Hela language gives the message in secret.

[@dimitrisfr5491]

It seems that you are well thought out and with the philosophy.

[@0deadx21]

That's true.

[@susanmcdonald6879]

RE; many comments on returning Greek works to Greece: It did take money, time & effort to excavate many statues & places, which other nations have aided the research for example unearthing Delphi for the world to see, else much would still be underground; or how about the ones that are Roman copies made from the Greek originals, many of which the Greek originals are gone & lost to prosperity, do not actually belong to Greece, but to Italy (& do we curse the Romans for loving, taking them, or love them for preserving & recasting them???) Perhaps the Elgin marbles, those seem to cause the most resentment (& to think the pieces sunk in the Sea, horrors of horrors, retrieved them somehow!), although look what the Venetians & Turks did to the Parthenon ! can Greece protect them from future invasive peoples? Some cultures EVEN TODAY would destroy them or deface them for religious purposes as has happened so often in the past! [e.g., the Library at Alexandria] or do the pieces belong to the world, perhaps available to the most people who cannot travel to Greece? Perhaps the Elgin marbles, should be recast & the originals returned? & some others, but as with everything human, never simple, always complicated. BUT if they are spread & shared & treasured throughout the world in different museums (money talks), chances are a few will survive for future generations, if you catch my drift......and the sad fact of history is this: there are winners & losers, conquerors & conquered; 'might is right' (I believe the Athenians used this argument a time or two at the height of their power...), so shallow, simplistic arguments are a bit that, shallow. According to Dr. John Hale, our idea of what some of the largest, now gone, pieces are preserved by the many miniatures formed in antiquity for the many tourists in antiquity, who purchased these replicas, to be discovered all over the place! SO, tourists, BUY THOSE REPLICAS ;)

[@dimitrisfr5491]

Greece was defeated 2,000 years ago. And the winners go through it all. The only conqueror who did not take and not destroy was Alexander the Great. And with the assassination of the Hypatia of Alexandria and the burning of the library of Alexandria, the assassination of Greek culture began. And this is what they do until today - when some Slavs take the name - Macedonia.

[@mema8734]

The British arrived saying that they wanted to liberate Greece and the Greeks from the Turks and then they robbed everything they could before the Greeks could organize a proper State.

[@dimitrisfr5491]

Imagine how much we would admire the works of the Greeks if the Holy Temples of the Greeks had not been destroyed and the statues and sculptures of the Parthenon had not been stolen.

[@hookedonafeeling100]

Very nice, way too lavish a presentation though, in my opinion! ;)

[@MyMojo13]

The presentation is for students and not the public...

[@USERCRETE]

Lets not forget they represent whats really there and not an ideal image of the body and males where the heaviest armed warriors of the known world, females on the other hand didn't have that kind of life style :D

[@tomigun6913]

Whats so funny ? I dont understand the laughter

[@MyMojo13]

All Greek Art - Needs to Go Home ASAP!!! From the British Museums and museums all over the World... Anyone want to comment "don't" there are plenty comments or arguments to be had!!!!!!!! Our History is everywhere you look all over Greece and the world! Except for those Items stolen and/or borrowed "Bring them home" where they belong! It's High Time... don't you think???

[@Peter160244]

Every decent museum and gallery contains art and objects from o'ther countries enabling everyone to study and appreciate other civilizations. Tell the French to send the Mona Lisa back to Italy and see what reaction you get. I don't see museum directors falling over themselves to hand their collections back....

[@MyMojo13]

Peter Wellburn Hey if the Mona Lisa was stolen than YES - she should go home as well... There is no honor among-st thieves...!!!

[@MyMojo13]

*****​ thank you for your comments and honestly, there are certain things that belong home... I won't even go into how many Greek Macedonian artifacts I personally purchased off of Ebay from places like Bulgaria Albania and Turkey. When antiquities are found no one picks up a phone to call a museum or UNESCO or just simply the police! Greed is the first thing on their minds. If I could I would buy it ALL!!! It brakes my heart to hear things made it to the black market because for every piece we hear about there are hundreds we don't... I purchased a rug that came out of Skopje with Greek writing and was dated 1906! I cry when I think people spit in the graves of family's ancestors and history. 

[@MrJm323]

Nonsense!! ....The modern Greeks are not the owners of the Hellenic legacy. Considering that the Christian medieval Greeks couldn't stop the Turks from using the Parthenon as an ammunition depot (which is why it was so damaged -- the Venetians dropped a cannon shell on it, causing it so much damage), it was better that Lord Elgin could acquire and remove many of the frieze marbles. They're quite well looked after in the British Museum by people who have at least as much knowledge and appreciation for them as anyone in Greece. ....Next, you'll be saying that the Pergamum Altar in Berlin needs to be returned to Islamist Turkey!

[@maniacgr2617]

​@@MyMojo13 Why ??? I am Greek and have to say, Greek statues need to stay outside of Greece, so they are admired globaly.

[@hankrogers8431]

His delivery style / speaking voice is HORRIBLE! Jesus Christ!

[@gregwest6032]

The guy's creepy NPR speaking style is muchly off-putting.

[@Graphico_1]

Agree.

[@codytyredyer9168]

Long live the syrian rebellion