Sasha Chaitow, Greek Sacred Art
Greeks organized color by nature, quality, and origin - as qualities rather than shades χρώς - skin, complexion, origin of “chroma” / color γλαυκός (glaukos) - shimmer, luster κυανός (kyanos) - dark metallic hues, sky, minerals
Commonly thought Greeks couldn’t “see” blue, based on Homer’s “wine-dark sea”.
Colors in the Iliad and Odyssey: black, white, greenish yellow, purply red (approximately). Wine, sea, and sheep all “purply red” Yellow / light green = fluid, fresh, living (blood)
Greek color thinking tied to music and harmony. Hues were tied to math ratios and qualities of brightness rather than hue as we know it.
Focused on interaction of material, light, and perceptual quality
Demokritos saw colors as degrees of light, from white to black. Colors were energy reflections of objects themselves Aristotle: Identified seven colors but confused the nature and effect of light with the nature of pigment (color mixing)