Some Art Opinions with Mack

Painted Masks: Painted masks start off with a basic form of a face then the details are painted on. Sculptural Masks: Sculptural masks are carved or molded into a face along with some extreme detail. Ancient Greek Masks:  Ancient Greek masks are a form of sculptural masks, but they are far from human likeness. In comedy plays, the masks are so deformed to a specific emotion that they look ridiculous regardless of what they are trying to express. In tragedies, however, masks look more life-like to represent a person instead of a joke. All masks had their mouths wide open so that the actor could talk. They also had hair, nostrils, and large openings for the eyes built in for the actor to breathe and see.

Laocoon and His Sons is a stat ue made by Agesander,   Athenodoros, and Polydorus of Rhodes.   In one version of his story written by Virgil,  Laocoon was a   Trojan   priest  who was killed along with his sons to expose the  Trojan Horse. He did so by s triking it with a spear,  and, after he and his sons were killed by snakes, the Trojans interpreted their deaths as proof that the horse was a sacred object . In another version written by Sophocles, he was a priest of  Apollo  who was married and had children even though he shouldn't have. The snakes killed his only sons, thus leaving Laocoon alive to suffer alone.  The statue expresses extreme  saddeness.  Laocoon's body language  depicts  him in agony as his children and  himself  die. Laocoon's facial expression is  the epitome of agnoy, and the anticipation  of awaiting death shown on all their faces  tells the beholder that they are in extreme  pain. 

Theater was prevalent all throughout Ancient Greece as a way to come together as a community. It was a way to inform commoners about politics, or to ponder some philosophy, or to laugh, or cry, and to be set free from everyday life. The actors would over exaggerate their emotions to make it clear to the audience what they were feeling and would make detailed masks of monsters or people with intense expressions. Music was also a very important part of Greek theater. The Greeks found a way to separate their plays into two genres: tragedy and comedy. We still use these to categorize plays to this day. Tragedy plays include Oedipus Rex , Antigone , and Medea . The Clouds ,  Lysistrata , and The Birds  are some of the more famous comedy plays. These plays were performed all the time in Ancient Greece; for festivals, for kings, for competitions. It such a normal part of Greece at the time that I'm surprised they didn't get wiped out from exhaustion or alcohol poisoning.