Ancient Greeks and Ancient Egyptians are two great and different world civilizations. The Egyptians were religious-centric, rigid, and used canons, according to which people, animals, and objects were depicted as flat, static, and symbolic. The Greeks valued freedom, philosophy, and realistic depiction of the human body, conveying dynamics and movement. This difference is reflected in culture and art, the samples of which cannot be confused with each other.
The differences in ancient Egyptian and Greek cultures are most clearly visible in their approach to sculpture. The massive statues of Ancient Egypt depicted the Egyptian gods, pharaohs, and members of the reigning dynasty and were installed at temples, palaces, and squares. According to a strict canon, men were depicted with skin color darker than women’s, the hands of a seated person rested on their knees, and the images of the gods were determined by their mythological features (Capart et al., 2019). For example, the sculpture of Pharaoh Menkaura and his queen, Old Kingdom (c. 2490-2472 BC), IV dynasty made by an unknown artist depicts people without prominent personal features, static, not anatomical (Capart et al., 2019). The arms and legs are stiff; they are in the canonical position with only a few possible variations.
Egyptian sculpture resembles Archaic Greek sculpture, significantly more static and less naturalistic than in later periods. For instance, The Tenea Kouros 560-550 BC, one of the most famous Greek sculptures of the archaic period, the author of which is not known to us, resembles an Egyptian sculpture with a static pose with hands. Nevertheless, the viewer can see a lot of muscle, figure features, and an attempt to carve unique facial features (Cohen, 2021). The Classical and Hellenistic periods in the development of ancient Greek sculpture present a completely different approach concentrating on naturalism and movement. Marble sculptures look light, dynamic, and alive; they are surprisingly proportionate and anatomically accurate. The bronze statue of The Hellenistic Prince or Terme Ruler is anonymous, dating back to the 2nd century BC, and depicts a man standing upright as in the previous examples (Cohen, 2021). However, the Terme Ruler stands relaxed, props his back with his hand, and it feels like he is shifting from foot to foot.
Ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian art started from a similar level and was based on depicting religious figures according to verified canons. In its development, Egyptian culture focused on following the doctrines, the departure from which was an unthinkable crime against the divine order. In contrast, Greek culture developed philosophy and science that made its art more realistic and lifelike and elevated it to the heights of world culture.
References
Capart, J., Faure, E., & Charles, V. (2019). Egyptian art. Parkstone International.
Cohen, B. (Ed.). (2021). Not the classical Ideal: Athens and the construction of the other in Greek art. Brill.