As a lover of ancient history, going to a museum is the only way to fully experience a work of art. By only looking at a painting or sculpture in a book one can not fully experience the work of art until he sees it in person face to face. A lot of new details appear before the eyes and a wonderful feeling of joy emerge inside. .
Going from room to room in the Metropolitan Museum of Art I found the exhibit dedicated to Greek art and sculpture. When I got to the room a small group of tourist along with tour guide was given a lecture on Greek history and their work of art. Some interesting remarks by the tour guide attracted my attention and I joined the group as one of the tourists. Moving from exhibit to exhibit tour guide was telling us that Ancient Greeks as a culture took great pride in perfection, excellence and overall greatness. The people were not what today's society would consider modern, but of their time they were. The Greeks essentially formed the creative world with their intelligence in art, architecture, and astronomy for many cultures to come. The Romans, who basically claimed the Greeks developments as their own, destroyed many of their ideas and art forms. Even though so much of the Greeks culture has been destroyed, much of it still remains within society today. .
The Greeks were the first to glamorize the perfection of the human body during the archaic period. Using balance and proportion the Greeks sculpted what they considered to be the perfect male and female forms. The depiction of the human physical form has captivated man since the beginnings of the existence of the human race. Sculpture is one of the most successful art forms in conveying beliefs, views and attitudes of ancient cultures and civilizations towards the human body to the present era. Walking around the big room a saw a statue of kouros (youth). He was considered to represent Apollo the Greek God or the perfect male athlete.