Humanism was a flourishing theme in Ancient Greek and Roman times. The Greeks and Romans focused on humanism and most of their artworks (sculptures, paintings, etc) represent it. In definition, humanism is a specific type of perspective that places humans at the center of everything rather that focusing on divine beings such as Gods and Goddesses. This was a main theme portrayed in a multitude of Ancient Greek paintings and sculptures. Unlike ancient Greek and Roman art and literature, Mesopotamian and ancient Egyptian art does not solely focus on humanism. Instead, the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians placed their respective Gods and other divine deities at the top of the social hierarchy.

For example, in this post, I will be comparing two popular artworks done by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians: The standard of Ur (ancient Mesopotamia), the Standing Male Worshipper (also ancient Mesopotamia), and the Doryphoros by Polykleitos (Ancient Greek). One critical comparison can be made between ancient Egyptian artwork and Ancient Greek and that is the view of nudity. The ancient Egyptians frowned upon nudity and thought it was embarrassing to showcase a nude male or female. On the other hand, the ancient Greeks portrayed a lot of their artwork with nude males and females via a humanistic approach. Speaking about humanism, in the Standard of Ur and the Standing Male Worshipper, both artworks show a lack of humanism and leans towards divinity. In the standing male worshipper, the male is seen to be in a praying position and has huge eyes indicating the notion that he is openly praying to his God. This doesn’t show humanism, but rather shows how in ancient Mesopotamia, religion is important and God is in the center. Also, the in the Standard of Ur, there are multiple levels/ranks of hierarchy shown. The artwork shows all men kneeling towards one person, the King. The King, unlike the rest of the other men, is shown sitting on a throne and is physically larger in size than the rest of the men. This also shows a lack of humanism and leans towards the notion that divinity is the center of mankind. In the Doryphoros by Polykleitos, the sculpture is life-sized and shows a lot more fine details that the Standing Male Worshipper and the Standard of Ur. The Doryphoros portrays a nude male in a bent position and can be thought of as humanistic because it represents the ideal strong male in Ancient Greek society.