oponnesian war and the collapse of Athenian democracy. " Perhaps the culturally significant buildings and sculptures that were destroyed and the many lives that were lost during the long war with Persia might make grave monuments and stele all the more personal to the Greeks during this time. For whatever reason Greek stele of this particular period, between two historically significant moments (480-404), stand-alone in more ways than one.
             Of these many 'nuances' there are two significant styles that are observed in art history. First, there is "the self-confidence brought about by a deep-seated certainty of the outcome of the struggle with the environment in the course of the 'severe style' which is a characteristic of the early classical period. And then there is the resignation bought about by dashed hopes the fickleness of illusions and escapism in the ever fragile creatures of the 'rich style' ", which can be identified in the high classical period. The stylistic differences mentioned above tend to break this so-called golden era of the 5th century B.C. into two periods. However, ironically the one factor that combines these periods together is death- or at least monuments erected for death –the stele. "If there is any hint in Greek sculpture of a sunset melancholy that was brought upon by the war years it remains to be seen not in the civic monuments but in the beautiful series of the grave stele that was produced during the 5th century BC. " The common thread that runs through the two periods of the fifth century is "the touch of unpretentious and sublime otherworldliness " combined with a sense of austere melancholy.
             During the Archaic period although vases were the popular method for marking graves, steles with human figure relief begin to appear during this period. These steles later predominate during the classical period. The Archaic grave steles usually "consisted of a rectangular slab surmounted first b...