The garden and park culture of ancient Greece in the context of the leisure transformations

Abstract

The purpose of the article lies in the understanding of world-view changes on gardens and parks in Ancient Greece in context of leisure culture. The methodology of the research provides using of a set of general scientific principles of methodic, objectivity, concreteness and methods, among which are the comparative method, method of synthesis and analysis, method of semantic reconstruction. Scientific novelty of the research lies in a study of a variety of gardens and parks in Ancient Greece; characteristic of their structural and functional direction and interdependence with leisure culture; awareness of the essence of gardens and parks in Ancient Greece as specific leisure space. Conclusions. Primarily, Ancient garden forms as agricultural (Alkinoy “fruitful” gardens) or as sacral space for implementation of a religious cult (cult of nymphs and heroin). However, over time perception of the garden as special space (distinctive from urban), and designed not only for ground cultivation but also for relax, admiring the beauty of nature and nationwide celebrations (Aristophanes, Libanius, Plato, Strabo), creates the precondition for garden and park space formation as leisure. A lot of public facilities, such as gymnasium, stadiums, arbors for meetings, libraries, hotels and bath, which by gardens and parks promote for realization different social and meaningful functions – recreational, wellness, communicative and educational, are built on the territory of gardens and parks in Ancient Greece. The historical concreteness of Ancient Greece gardens and parks evolution gives reasons for their classification on agricultural gardens, “philosophical” and sports gardens, private homestead, and public gardens. A public park is regarded as particular space distinctive from another by its location, social purpose, aesthetic filling and educational potential.