Male Nudity In Ancient Greek Art

Greek sculpture with male nudityThis relatively flimsy article at MSNBC looks at why so many Greek statues depict naked men.

Archaeologists conclude it was often to show vulnerability in a subject. Or, if the man was a labourer, to highlight his working physique.

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What I find most interesting is this:

“Greek males, it is generally agreed, did not walk around town naked, they did not ride their horses naked, and they certainly did not go into battle naked,” Hurwit said. “In most public contexts, clothing was not optional, and in combat nakedness was suicidal.”

Warriors and heroes are often, but not always, represented in the nude. Artists demonstrated the physical prowess men used to defeat their enemies. But, as Hurwit said, if you can go into battle naked, you’ve got to be pretty good.”

If you’ve seen all those nude statues, and the paintings depicting huge, bloodthirsty battles conducted by naked soldiers, it’s nice to know they’re just the result of a strange tradition, rather than any kind of reality.

Although, I’m sure we’d have less war if soldiers were required to be nude in battle.

Pic from this page. Ah, nude wrestling…