What makes the hellenistic artworks different from many earlier greek artworks

The main difference between Hellenistic and Classical Art is in the style and transition of sculpting. The Hellenistic period saw emotions, movement of figures whereas in the Classical period there is more focus on the perfect realistic figures, the sculptures are static.

Hellenistic art displayed the actions of human body like movement of muscles, bulging etc. and also various emotions like humor, anger etc., unlike classical art which was more of idealized and static. So, Hellenistic was more dramatic, vibrant, energetic and emotional than classical.

Both Hellenistic and classical art display human anatomy. Hellenistic period began with the death of Alexander and ended with the conquering of Roman troops. Classical art period was from 480 BCE to 323 BCE. In classical Greek art only the anatomy of the human body is displayed but in Hellenistic Greek art emotions and actions of the body is displayed. Human emotions like happiness and sadness are portrayed in Hellenistic art but classical was static. Conventions and rules dominated the classic art forms whereas Hellenistic had more freedom to choose their subjects. Classical Greek art focused more on naturalistic and religious themes, on the other hand Hellenistic Greek art focused on dramatic expressions and preoccupation.