The Winged Victory of Samothrace,

Also called the Nike of Samothrace, is a 2nd-century BC marble sculpture

of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory). Since 1884, it has been prominently
displayed at the Louvre and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the
world. H.W. Janson described it as "the greatest masterpiece of Hellenistic
sculpture."

Theater Masks
from the
Hellenic Period
The Greek term for
mask is persona and
was
a
significant
element
in
the
worship of Dionysus
at Athens, likely used
in ceremonial rites and
celebrations. Most of
the evidence comes
from only a few vase
paintings of the 5th
century BC, such as
one showing a mask of the god suspended from a tree with decorated robe
hanging below it and dancing and the Pronomos vas, which depicts actors
preparing for a Satyr play. No physical evidence remains available to us, as
the masks were made of organic materials and not considered permanent
objects, ultimately being dedicated to the altar of Dionysus after
performances. Nevertheless, the mask is known to have been used since the
time of Aeschylus and considered to be one of the iconic conventions of
classical Greek theatre.

Antinous (Roman
Hellenistic), Delphi
Archaeological
Museum
Antinous (also Antinos or
Antinos; Ancient Greek:
; 27 November, c.
111 before 30 October
130) was a Bithynian Greek
youth and a favourite, or
lover, of the Roman
emperor Hadrian. He was
deified after his death,
being worshiped in both the Greek East and Latin West,
sometimes as a god (theos) and sometimes merely as a deified
mortal (heros). Little is known of Antinous' life, although it is
known that he was born in Claudiopolis (nowadays Bolu, Turkey),
in the Roman province of Bithynia. He likely was introduced to
Hadrian in 123, before being taken to Italy for a higher education.
He had become the favourite of Hadrian by 128, when he was
taken on a tour of the Empire as part of Hadrian's personal
retinue, Antinous died amid mysterious circumstances. Various
suggestions have been put forward for how he died, ranging from
an accidental drowning to an intentional human sacrifice.

So-called Venus Braschi

by Praxiteles, type of the
Knidian Aphrodite,
Munich Glyptothek
The Aphrodite of Knidos was
one of the most famous works
of the ancient Greek sculptor
Praxiteles of Athens (4th
century BC). It and its copies
are often referred to as the
Venus Pudica ("modest
Venus") type, on account of
her covering her naked pubis
with her right hand. Variants
of the Venus Pudica
(suggesting an action to cover
the breasts) are the Venus de'
Medici or the Capitoline
Venus.

Aphrodite of
Milos
(Greek:

as the Venus de Milo, is

an ancient Greek statue
and one of the most
famous works of
ancient Greek
sculpture. Created
sometime between 130
and 100 BCE, it is
believed to depict
Aphrodite, the Greek
goddess of love and
beauty (Venus to the
Romans). It is a marble
sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high. The arms
and original plinth were lost following its discovery. From an inscription
that was on its plinth, it is thought to be the work of Alexandros of
Antioch; earlier, it was mistakenly attributed to the master sculptor
Praxiteles. It is currently on permanent display at the Louvre Museum in
Paris. The statue is named after the Greek island of Milos, where it was
discovered.

Interior (tondo) of
a red figure kylix,
depicting Herakles and
Athena, by Phoinix
(potter) and Douris
(painter), c. 480-470
BC,
Antikensammlungen
Munich
A kylix (Ancient Greek:
, pl. ;
pronounced /kalks/, "KEYE-liks" or /klks/, "KIL-liks", also spelled
cylix; pl.: kylikes /kalkiz/, "KEYE-luh-keez" or /klkiz/, "KIL-luhkeez") is a type of wine-drinking cup with a broad relatively shallow body
raised on a stem from a foot and usually with two horizontal handles
disposed symmetrically. The almost flat interior circle on the interior base
of the cup, called the tondo, was the primary surface for painted decoration
in the Black-figure or Red-figure styles of the 6th and 5th century BC. As
the representations would be covered with wine, the scenes would only be
revealed in stages as the wine was drained. They were often designed with
this in mind, with scenes created so that they would surprise or titillate the
drinker as they were revealed. The word comes from the Greek kylix "cup,"
which is cognate with Latin calix, the source of the English word "chalice"
but not related to the similar Greek word calyx which means "husk" or
"pod".

Bronze Sculpture, thought to be either Poseidon or Zeus,

c. 460 BC, National Archaeological Museum, Athens. This
masterpiece of classical sculpture was found by fishermen in
their nets off the coast of Cape Artemisium in 1928. The
figure is more than 2 m in height.

Laocon and His Sons (Late Hellenistic), Vatican

Museum
The group has been "the prototypical icon of human agony" in Western art, and
unlike the agony often depicted in Christian art showing the Passion of Jesus and
martyrs, this suffering has no redemptive power or reward. The suffering is shown
through the contorted expressions of the faces (Charles Darwin pointed out that
Laocon's bulging eyebrows are physiologically impossible), which are matched by the
struggling bodies, especially that of Laocon himself, with every part of his body
straining.