The "Strangford Apollo" sculpted around 490 BC is an excellent example of the outward humanization which characterizes the Archaic style Greece once used (Pollitt 74). But as time passed sculptors began to evolve a new style in sculpting. The "Kritios Boy" sculpted around 480 BC seems to turn and ask you a question. Also, a great distinction between the two styles was the change in traditional stance; his weight is all on his left leg, leaving his right leg slightly bent free to balance (Pollitt 76). The "Kritios Boy" is the mark of the beginning of Greece's Classical era. .
After defeating the Persians, the atmosphere in Greece was very confident yet self-questioning. This mixture of feelings led to the most dominant literary art of the fifth century B.C. -which is known as the Athenian tragic drama. The dramas were public rites performed at religious festivals by actors who were fellow citizens of those who watched them. The dramatic poet, reflected the mentality of his time, or seeking to shape it, or both, spoke to, and often for society as a whole (Batterberry 153). The dramas were designed to bring about intellectual and emotional preoccupations, while also teaching that there is a meaningful moral order in the world. The Athenian tragic dramas were inspiring to the people of Greece, especially the artists. .
Sculptors and Painters actually seemed to have borrowed some of the technical devices developed in dramatic performances to convey character and narrative action in their artwork. For example, actors wore masks to express a character and his individuality, and their basic human type. The Oresteia of Aeschylus, a statue, expresses spirit, power, and technical components like the Athenian dramas (Schefold 111). A new spirit began to rise in Early Classical Greece, at times known as the new severity. Like the new style of dramas, artists utilized new ways of rendering details, new systems of proportion and new patterns of composition.