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The Dichotomy Of The Greco-Roman Art And Judeo-Greek Art

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Artists have been defined by many different people groups at many different points in history. Two main views remain prevalent, however. These views are the Greco-Roman view and the Judeo-Christian view despite the fact that they are very different from one another. The Greek dichotomy of the artist does not leave a healthy role for the artist in society; the biblical definition of the artist corrects the pagan view because of the way that God commands humans to steward their gifts and talents. In order to understand the dichotomy of the Greek view of the artist, understanding the religious background and the definition given to the artist by the Greeks is important. The Greek definition of the artist has everything to do with their mythology and their view of the relationship between gods and men. Essentially, Zeus, the god of the sky and the ruler over all the other Olympian gods, took over all of the Titan gods (the original gods that were much older than the Olympians), except for Prometheus (Cartwright). Prometheus sided with the Olympians during their battle with the titans and was spared (Cartwright). As a servant of Zeus Prometheus was given the task to fill the earth with inhabitants (Cartwright). He proceeded to create humans (only males at first) and animals (Cedarville University). As a gift, Prometheus gave humans fire; Zeus did not like this, so he chained Prometheus to a mountain and had an eagle rip out his liver each day (Cedarville University). Zeus

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