The Role of the Individual Artist in the History of Greek Sculpture One of the main topics in the study of ancient art is the artist, who, in current terms, is the rational agent who produces the artistic creation; hence one of their key features is individuality. A huge debate has emerged among scholars since the 19 th century about whether or not a focus on the individual artist is a productive approach in the study of ancient Greek art. This essay aims to answer this major question. It will focus on ancient Greek sculpture, particularly of the archaic and classical period, so as to explore the topic of artistic individuality, examining it through a broad spectrum of views. Introduction The individual artist can be approached by examining issues relative to the status and the role that artists possessed throughout the history of Greek sculpture (Tanner 2006). Artists were active members of a stratified society and consequently, like everyone else, they had a specific position within the social complex. The interaction between society and artists, and therefore the artists’ social role, was largely determined by their artistic production, which had an impact upon the social and cultural aspects and individuals. Sculptors were conveyors of artistic creation and were able to give ‘life’ to shapeless raw material, having been initiated into their techne. But a basic question emerges about whether sculptors were looked upon as gifted individuals or whether they appeared in the public eye as a group of banausoi. In ancient Greece, the distinction between an artist and a craftsman was quite vague, because the content of the term techne included any handwork that was carried out by a skilled and knowledgeable person (Osborne 2010, 234; Volkommer 2014, 2). Most artists were low-paid workers belonging to the lower social class (Volkommer 2014, 2). However, some scholars have identified a number of cases in which specific sculptors enjoyed social recognition and stood out for their talent and their work (Shultz 2007). So, if we accept these cases as valid, what is their contribution to the study of the ancient Greek sculpture? The construction of the public notion of artists and their role in society began in the early archaic period and was solidified around the middle classical period (Tanner 2006, 151-152). Religion, assisted by the rich mythological repertoire of the time, 1