Based on the representations shown in Discovering the Global Past, chapter three, the Greek and Egyptian cultures both value strong men, and women who needed their men. However, one difference that the Egyptians and Greeks have in their values is simplicity. The Egyptians favored elaborateness and the Greeks preferred simplicity. Both the Greek and Egyptian cultures value strength in their men. The images of the Greek men show these men in the prime of their abilities. The well muscled bodies depicted in the images show vitality and power that men in their prime have. The image "Theseus and the Amazons" shows strong and militarily powerful men defeating the Amazons. Competition of any kind, athletic or militaristic, was a way for men to prove themselves in Greek society. If a man showed arete he had honor (Burger, 49). Because of the Greek's chase of arete, men had to be strong both physically and intellectually in order to win. When Greek artists depicted men, the only men worthy to make art of were strong men with arete, so looking at the Greek culture, strong men were valued. The Egyptian images two and three show powerful men as well. In image two, showing Nebamum hunting, Nebamum is larger than his wife and servant. He is also closer to the foreground of the image with the other two in the background. Another instance of the man being larger and more forward is with image three. King Ramesses II is much larger than his wife, with Nefertari only coming up to his knee. The king is also more forward on the platform than her as well. Egyptian artists used a person's placement in society to determine their placement and size in pictures (Wiesner, 48). Because these two men depicted were larger and farther forward, the were more important, more powerful. Also, all the Egyptian images with men in them the men depicted were kings. Which leads to the only men Egyptians felt important enough to display were powerful kings. In both cultures strong, powerful men were valued, because they were the men depicted in the art. While both cultures valued powerful men, the Greeks and Egyptians valued women who gave the power to men and served. The image of the kore shows a woman that is holding out an arm, however the arm is broken off now. This statue was made to assist the gods in place of a person. The Peplos Kore was placed in a temple and offerings to the god she served were placed on her outstretched hand ("Kore/Korai"). Because it is a woman and not a man, the Greeks preferred women to be helpful and serving. In Theseus and the Amazons the Amazons are losing a battle to the men. This shows that women were expected to be obedient and less strong than men. Men were to dominate women and women were to accept it. Aphrodite, in image nine, is standing in a withdrawn, self-conscious way. Her head is tilted down and she is covering her genital area. While her male counterpart in image eight, The Canon, is standing in a powerful, self-assured stance, showing off everything. Because Aphrodite's head is tilted down, she automatically loses authority. In the contrast between Aphrodite covering and The Canon not covering the genital areas, it can be assumed that women were to be modest, while modesty did not apply to men. Because of the male dominance, this was a rule imposed by men on women. These images show women in helpful yet dominated roles, showing that the majority of women were such. In the image of Tutankhamon, his wife is holding plants up to him, while he is refusing them. In the image of Nebamum hunting, his wife is keeping his hunting equipment. In both of these images the woman is assisting her husband, showing that the ideal wife was one that was a helper to her husband. In the image of the statue of King Ramesses II, Nefertari is much smaller and is further back than her husband. Both Tutankhamon and Nebamum's wives are also smaller than their husbands. Because the Egyptians used power in society to determine the size and placement of a person in art, the wives are all less important and less powerful than their husbands. The way that the Greek and Egyptian women were depicted shows that women were subject to men's decisions and that they were expected to be of assistance to men and people higher than themselves. While the Greeks and Egyptians valued similar men and women, they had different values on the depictions of people. They Greeks preferred simplicity and the Egyptians valued elaborateness. The Peplos Kore has very simple hair and clothing. The Amazons from Theseus and the Amazons are wearing very basic armor with not much extra decoration. Even the three nude statues are simple in stance and lack of extra objects with them. The facial features of all the images are without too much expression. These simple characteristics show that the Greeks preferred simplicity. The Egyptians in all the tomb paintings are all wearing very detailed clothing and have jewelery. The headdresses that most of the subjects are wearing are also very elaborate. The backgrounds of the first two tomb paintings are very intricate. The grand size of the statue of King Ramesses II is also a good indicator of the importance behind making things elaborate. All of these images have elaborate aspects in them, so the Egyptians valued elaborateness. The Greeks favored art that was simple, while the Egyptians preferred elaborate displays. The Greeks and Egyptians had similar beliefs in what the important qualities of men and women were, but had differing prefferences regarding artistic depictions. Men were supposed to be strong and powerful. Women must be obedient and helpful. In art, the Greeks preferred simple protrayals while they Egyptians favored elaborate art.

Other Work Cited
"Kore / Korai." Ancient-Greece.org. n.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2010.