The architecture of ancient Greece is the
architecture produced by the Greek-speaking
people (Hellenic people) whose culture flourished
on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the
Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia
and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until
the 1st century AD, with the earliest remaining
architectural works dating from around 600
BC.Ancient Greek architecture is best known
from its temples, many of which are found
throughout the region, and the parthenon is
a prime example of this, mostly as ruins but
many substantially intact. The second important
type of building that survives all over the
Hellenic world is the open-air theatre, with
the earliest dating from around 525-480 BC.
Other architectural forms that are still in
evidence are the processional gateway (propylon),
the public square (agora) surrounded by storied
colonnade (stoa), the town council building
(bouleuterion), the public monument, the monumental
tomb (mausoleum) and the stadium.
Ancient Greek architecture is distinguished
by its highly formalised characteristics,
both of structure and decoration. This is
particularly so in the case of temples where
each building appears to have been conceived
as a sculptural entity within the landscape,
most often raised on high ground so that the
elegance of its proportions and the effects
of light on its surfaces might be viewed from
all angles. Nikolaus Pevsner refers to "the
plastic shape of the [Greek] temple ... placed
before us with a physical presence more intense,
more alive than that of any later building".The
formal vocabulary of ancient Greek architecture,
in particular the division of architectural
style into three defined orders: the Doric
Order, the Ionic Order and the Corinthian
Order, was to have profound effect on Western
architecture of later periods. The architecture
of ancient Rome grew out of that of Greece
and maintained its influence in Italy unbroken
until the present day. From the Renaissance,
revivals of Classicism have kept alive not
only the precise forms and ordered details
of Greek architecture, but also its concept
of architectural beauty based on balance and
proportion. The successive styles of Neoclassical
architecture and Greek Revival architecture
followed and adapted Ancient Greek styles
closely.
== Influences ==
=== Geography ===
The mainland and islands of Greece are very
rocky, with deeply indented coastline, and
rugged mountain ranges with few substantial
forests. The most freely available building
material is stone. Limestone was readily available
and easily worked. There is an abundance of
high quality white marble both on the mainland
and islands, particularly Paros and Naxos.
This finely grained material was a major contributing
factor to precision of detail, both architectural
and sculptural, that adorned ancient Greek
architecture. Deposits of high quality potter's
clay were found throughout Greece and the
Islands, with major deposits near Athens.
It was used not only for pottery vessels,
but also roof tiles and architectural decoration.The
climate of Greece is maritime, with both the
coldness of winter and the heat of summer
tempered by sea breezes. This led to a lifestyle
where many activities took place outdoors.
Hence temples were placed on hilltops, their
exteriors designed as a visual focus of gatherings
and processions, while theatres were often
an enhancement of a naturally occurring sloping
site where people could sit, rather than a
containing structure. Colonnades encircling
buildings, or surrounding courtyards provided
shelter from the sun and from sudden winter
storms.The light of Greece may be another
important factor in the development of the
particular character of ancient Greek architecture.
The light is often extremely bright, with
both the sky and the sea vividly blue. The
clear light and sharp shadows give a precision
to the details of landscape, pale rocky outcrops
and seashore. This clarity is alternated with
periods of haze that varies in colour to the
light on it. In this characteristic environment,
the ancient Greek architects constructed buildings
that were marked by precision of detail. The
gleaming marble surfaces were smooth, curved,
fluted, or ornately sculpted to reflect the
sun, cast graded shadows and change in colour
with the ever-changing light of day.
=== History ===
Historians divide ancient Greek civilization
into two eras, the Hellenic period (from around
900 BC to the death of Alexander the Great
in 323 BC), and the Hellenistic period (323
BC to 30 AD). During the earlier Hellenic
period, substantial works of architecture
began to appear around 600 BC. During the
later (Hellenistic) period, Greek culture
spread widely, initially as a result of Alexander's
conquest of other lands, and later as a result
of the rise of the Roman Empire, which adopted
much of Greek culture.Before the Hellenic
era, two major cultures had dominated the
region: the Minoan (c. 2800–1100 BC), and
the Mycenaean (c. 1500–1100 BC). Minoan
is the name given by modern historians to
the culture of the people of ancient Crete,
known for its elaborate and richly decorated
palaces, and for its pottery painted with
floral and marine motifs. The Mycenaean culture,
which flourished on the Peloponnesus, was
quite different in character. Its people built
citadels, fortifications and tombs rather
than palaces, and decorated their pottery
with bands of marching soldiers rather than
octopus and seaweed. Both these civilizations
came to an end around 1100 BC, that of Crete
possibly because of volcanic devastation,
and that of Mycenae because of an invasion
by the Dorian people who lived on the Greek
mainland. Following these events, there was
a period from which few signs of culture remain.
This period is thus often referred to as a
Dark Age.
=== Art ===
The art history of the Hellenic era is generally
subdivided into four periods: the Protogeometric
(1100–900 BC), the Geometric (900–700
BC), the Archaic (700–500 BC) and the Classical
(500–323 BC) with sculpture being further
divided into Severe Classical, High Classical
and Late Classical. The first signs of the
particular artistic character that defines
ancient Greek architecture are to be seen
in the pottery of the Dorian Greeks from the
10th century BC. Already at this period it
is created with a sense of proportion, symmetry
and balance not apparent in similar pottery
from Crete and Mycenae. The decoration is
precisely geometric, and ordered neatly into
zones on defined areas of each vessel. These
qualities were to manifest themselves not
only through a millennium of Greek pottery
making, but also in the architecture that
was to emerge in the 6th century. The major
development that occurred was in the growing
use of the human figure as the major decorative
motif, and the increasing surety with which
humanity, its mythology, activities and passions
were depicted.The development in the depiction
of the human form in pottery was accompanied
by a similar development in sculpture. The
tiny stylised bronzes of the Geometric period
gave way to life-sized highly formalised monolithic
representation in the Archaic period. The
Classical period was marked by a rapid development
towards idealised but increasingly lifelike
depictions of gods in human form. This development
had a direct effect on the sculptural decoration
of temples, as many of the greatest extant
works of ancient Greek sculpture once adorned
temples, and many of the largest recorded
statues of the age, such as the lost chryselephantine
statues of Zeus at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia
and Athena at the Parthenon, Athens, both
over 40 feet high, were once housed in them.
=== Religion and philosophy ===
The religion of ancient Greece was a form
of nature worship that grew out of the beliefs
of earlier cultures. However, unlike earlier
cultures, man was no longer perceived as being
threatened by nature, but as its sublime product.
The natural elements were personified as gods
of completely human form, and very human behaviour.The
home of the gods was thought to be Olympus,
the highest mountain in Greece. The most important
deities were: Zeus, the supreme god and ruler
of the sky; Hera, his wife and goddess of
marriage; Athena, goddess of wisdom; Poseidon,
god of the sea; Demeter, goddess of the harvest;
Apollo, god of the sun, law, healing, plague,
reason, music and poetry; Artemis, goddess
of the moon, the hunt and the wilderness;
Aphrodite, goddess of love; Ares, God of war;
Hermes, god of commerce and travelers, Hephaestus,
god of fire and metalwork, and Dionysus, god
of wine and fruit-bearing plants. Worship,
like many other activities, was done in community,
in the open. However, by 600 BC, the gods
were often represented by large statues and
it was necessary to provide a building in
which each of these could be housed. This
led to the development of temples.The ancient
Greeks perceived order in the universe, and
in turn, applied order and reason to their
creations. Their humanist philosophy put mankind
at the centre of things, and promoted well-ordered
societies and the development of democracy.
At the same time, the respect for human intellect
demanded reason, and promoted a passion for
enquiry, logic, challenge, and problem solving.
The architecture of the ancient Greeks, and
in particular, temple architecture, responds
to these challenges with a passion for beauty,
and for order and symmetry which is the product
of a continual search for perfection, rather
than a simple application of a set of working
rules.
== Architectural character ==
=== Early development ===
There is a clear division between the architecture
of the preceding Mycenaean culture and Minoan
cultures and that of the ancient Greeks, the
techniques and an understanding of their style
being lost when these civilisations fell.Mycenaean
art is marked by its circular structures and
tapered domes with flat-bedded, cantilevered
courses. This architectural form did not carry
over into the architecture of ancient Greece,
but reappeared about 400 BC in the interior
of large monumental tombs such as the Lion
Tomb at Cnidos (c. 350 BC). Little is known
of Mycenaean wooden or domestic architecture
and any continuing traditions that may have
flowed into the early buildings of the Dorian
people.
The Minoan architecture of Crete, was of trabeated
form like that of ancient Greece. It employed
wooden columns with capitals, but the columns
were of very different form to Doric columns,
being narrow at the base and splaying upward.
The earliest forms of columns in Greece seem
to have developed independently. As with Minoan
architecture, ancient Greek domestic architecture
centred on open spaces or courtyards surrounded
by colonnades. This form was adapted to the
construction of hypostyle halls within the
larger temples. The evolution that occurred
in architecture was towards public building,
first and foremost the temple, rather than
towards grand domestic architecture such as
had evolved in Crete.
=== Types of buildings ===
==== Domestic buildings ====
The Greek word for the family or household,
oikos, is also the name for the house. Houses
followed several different types. It is probable
that many of the earliest houses were simple
structures of two rooms, with an open porch
or "pronaos" above which rose a low pitched
gable or pediment. This form is thought to
have contributed to temple architecture.
The construction of many houses employed walls
of sun dried clay bricks or wooden framework
filled with fibrous material such as straw
or seaweed covered with clay or plaster, on
a base of stone which protected the more vulnerable
elements from damp. The roofs were probably
of thatch with eaves which overhung the permeable
walls. Many larger houses, such as those at
Delos, were built of stone and plastered.
The roofing material for substantial house
was tile. Houses of the wealthy had mosaic
floors and demonstrated the Classical style.
Many houses centred on a wide passage or "pasta"
which ran the length of the house and opened
at one side onto a small courtyard which admitted
light and air. Larger houses had a fully developed
peristyle courtyard at the centre, with the
rooms arranged around it. Some houses had
an upper floor which appears to have been
reserved for the use of the women of the family.City
houses were built with adjoining walls and
were divided into small blocks by narrow streets.
Shops were sometimes located in the rooms
towards the street. City houses were inward-facing,
with major openings looking onto the central
courtyard, rather than the street.
==== Public buildings ====
The rectangular temple is the most common
and best-known form of Greek public architecture.
This rectilinear structure borrows from the
Late Helladic, Mycenaean Megaron, which contained
a central throne room, vestibule, and porch.
The temple did not serve the same function
as a modern church, since the altar stood
under the open sky in the temenos or sacred
precinct, often directly before the temple.
Temples served as the location of a cult image
and as a storage place or strong room for
the treasury associated with the cult of the
god in question, and as a place for devotees
of the god to leave their votive offerings,
such as statues, helmets and weapons. Some
Greek temples appear to have been oriented
astronomically. The temple was generally part
of a religious precinct known as the acropolis.
According to Aristotle, '"the site should
be a spot seen far and wide, which gives good
elevation to virtue and towers over the neighbourhood".
Small circular temples, tholos were also constructed,
as well as small temple-like buildings that
served as treasuries for specific groups of
donors.
During the late 5th and 4th centuries BC,
town planning became an important consideration
of Greek builders, with towns such as Paestum
and Priene being laid out with a regular grid
of paved streets and an agora or central market
place surrounded by a colonnade or stoa. The
completely restored Stoa of Attalos can be
seen in Athens. Towns were also equipped with
a public fountain where water could be collected
for household use. The development of regular
town plans is associated with Hippodamus of
Miletus, a pupil of Pythagoras.Public buildings
became "dignified and gracious structures",
and were sited so that they related to each
other architecturally. The propylon or porch,
formed the entrance to temple sanctuaries
and other significant sites with the best-surviving
example being the Propylaea on the Acropolis
of Athens. The bouleuterion was a large public
building with a hypostyle hall that served
as a court house and as a meeting place for
the town council (boule). Remnants of bouleuterion
survive at Athens, Olympia and Miletus, the
latter having held up to 1200 people.Every
Greek town had an open-air theatre. These
were used for both public meetings as well
as dramatic performances. The theatre was
usually set in a hillside outside the town,
and had rows of tiered seating set in a semicircle
around the central performance area, the orchestra.
Behind the orchestra was a low building called
the skênê, which served as a store-room,
a dressing-room, and also as a backdrop to
the action taking place in the orchestra.
A number of Greek theatres survive almost
intact, the best known being at Epidaurus,
by the architect Polykleitos the Younger.Greek
towns of substantial size also had a palaestra
or a gymnasium, the social centre for male
citizens which included spectator areas, baths,
toilets and club rooms. Other buildings associated
with sports include the hippodrome for horse
racing, of which only remnants have survived,
and the stadium for foot racing, 600 feet
in length, of which examples exist at Olympia,
Delphi, Epidarus and Ephesus, while the Panathinaiko
Stadium in Athens, which seats 45,000 people,
was restored in the 19th century and was used
in the 1896, 1906 and 2004 Olympic Games.
=== Structure ===
==== Post and lintel ====
The architecture of ancient Greece is of a
trabeated or "post and lintel" form, i.e.
it is composed of upright beams (posts) supporting
horizontal beams (lintels). Although the existent
buildings of the era are constructed in stone,
it is clear that the origin of the style lies
in simple wooden structures, with vertical
posts supporting beams which carried a ridged
roof. The posts and beams divided the walls
into regular compartments which could be left
as openings, or filled with sun dried bricks,
lathes or straw and covered with clay daub
or plaster. Alternately, the spaces might
be filled with rubble. It is likely that many
early houses and temples were constructed
with an open porch or "pronaos" above which
rose a low pitched gable or pediment.The earliest
temples, built to enshrine statues of deities,
were probably of wooden construction, later
replaced by the more durable stone temples
many of which are still in evidence today.
The signs of the original timber nature of
the architecture were maintained in the stone
buildings.A few of these temples are very
large, with several, such as the Temple of
Zeus Olympus and the Olympians at Athens being
well over 300 feet in length, but most were
less than half this size. It appears that
some of the large temples began as wooden
constructions in which the columns were replaced
piecemeal as stone became available. This,
at least was the interpretation of the historian
Pausanias looking at the Temple of Hera at
Olympia in the 2nd century AD.The stone columns
are made of a series of solid stone cylinders
or "drums" that rest on each other without
mortar, but were sometimes centred with a
bronze pin. The columns are wider at the base
than at the top, tapering with an outward
curve known as "entasis". Each column has
a capital of two parts, the upper, on which
rests the lintels, being square and called
the "abacus". The part of the capital that
rises from the column itself is called the
"echinus". It differs according to the order,
being plain in the Doric Order, fluted in
the Ionic and foliate in the Corinthian. Doric
and usually Ionic capitals are cut with vertical
grooves known as "fluting". This fluting or
grooving of the columns is a retention of
an element of the original wooden architecture.
==== Entablature and pediment ====
The columns of a temple support a structure
that rises in two main stages, the entablature
and the pediment.
The entablature is the major horizontal structural
element supporting the roof and encircling
the entire building. It is composed of three
parts. Resting on the columns is the architrave
made of a series of stone "lintels" that spanned
the space between the columns, and meet each
other at a joint directly above the centre
of each column.
Above the architrave is a second horizontal
stage called the "frieze". The frieze is one
of the major decorative elements of the building
and carries a sculptured relief. In the case
of Ionic and Corinthian architecture, the
relief decoration runs in a continuous band,
but in the Doric Order, it is divided into
sections called "metopes" which fill the spaces
between vertical rectangular blocks called
"triglyphs". The triglyphs are vertically
grooved like the Doric columns, and retain
the form of the wooden beams that would once
have supported the roof.
The upper band of the entablature is called
the "cornice", which is generally ornately
decorated on its lower edge. The cornice retains
the shape of the beams that would once have
supported the wooden roof at each end of the
building. At the front and rear of each temple,
the entablature supports a triangular structure
called the "pediment". The triangular space
framed by the cornices is the location of
the most significant sculptural decoration
on the exterior of the building.
==== Masonry ====
Every temple rested on a masonry base called
the crepidoma, generally of three steps, of
which the upper one which carried the columns
was the stylobate. Masonry walls were employed
for temples from about 600 BC onwards. Masonry
of all types was used for ancient Greek buildings,
including rubble, but the finest ashlar masonry
was usually employed for temple walls, in
regular courses and large sizes to minimise
the joints. The blocks were rough hewn and
hauled from quarries to be cut and bedded
very precisely, with mortar hardly ever being
used. Blocks, particularly those of columns
and parts of the building bearing loads were
sometimes fixed in place or reinforced with
iron clamps, dowels and rods of wood, bronze
or iron fixed in lead to minimise corrosion.
==== Openings ====
Door and window openings were spanned with
a lintel, which in a stone building limited
the possible width of the opening. The distance
between columns was similarly affected by
the nature of the lintel, columns on the exterior
of buildings and carrying stone lintels being
closer together than those on the interior,
which carried wooden lintels. Door and window
openings narrowed towards the top. Temples
were constructed without windows, the light
to the naos entering through the door. It
has been suggested that some temples were
lit from openings in the roof. A door of the
Ionic Order at the Erechtheion (17 feet high
and 7.5 feet wide at the top) retains many
of its features intact, including mouldings,
and an entablature supported on console brackets.
(See Architectural Decoration, below)
==== Roof ====
The widest span of a temple roof was across
the cella, or internal space. In a large building,
this space contains columns to support the
roof, the architectural form being known as
hypostyle. It appears that, although the architecture
of ancient Greece was initially of wooden
construction, the early builders did not have
the concept of the diagonal truss as a stabilising
member. This is evidenced by the nature of
temple construction in the 6th century BC,
where the rows of columns supporting the roof
the cella rise higher than the outer walls,
unnecessary if roof trusses are employed as
an integral part of the wooden roof. The indication
is that initially all the rafters were supported
directly by the entablature, walls and hypostyle,
rather than on a trussed wooden frame, which
came into use in Greek architecture only in
the 3rd century BC.Ancient Greek buildings
of timber, clay and plaster construction were
probably roofed with thatch. With the rise
of stone architecture came the appearance
of fired ceramic roof tiles. These early roof
tiles showed an S-shape, with the pan and
cover tile forming one piece. They were much
larger than modern roof tiles, being up to
90 cm (35.43 in) long, 70 cm (27.56 in) wide,
3–4 cm (1.18–1.57 in) thick and weighing
around 30 kg (66 lb) apiece. Only stone walls,
which were replacing the earlier mudbrick
and wood walls, were strong enough to support
the weight of a tiled roof.The earliest finds
of roof tiles of the Archaic period in Greece
are documented from a very restricted area
around Corinth, where fired tiles began to
replace thatched roofs at the temples of Apollo
and Poseidon between 700 and 650 BC. Spreading
rapidly, roof tiles were within fifty years
in evidence for a large number of sites around
the Eastern Mediterranean, including Mainland
Greece, Western Asia Minor, Southern and Central
Italy. Being more expensive and labour-intensive
to produce than thatch, their introduction
has been explained by the fact that their
fireproof quality would have given desired
protection to the costly temples. As a side-effect,
it has been assumed that the new stone and
tile construction also ushered in the end
of overhanging eaves in Greek architecture,
as they made the need for an extended roof
as rain protection for the mudbrick walls
obsolete.Vaults and arches were not generally
used, but begin to appear in tombs (in a "beehive"
or cantilevered form such as used in Mycenaea)
and occasionally, as an external feature,
exedrae of voussoired construction from the
5th century BC. The dome and vault never became
significant structural features, as they were
to become in ancient Roman architecture.
==== Temple plans ====
Most ancient Greek temples were rectangular,
and were approximately twice as long as they
were wide, with some notable exceptions such
as the enormous Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens
with a length of nearly 2½ times its width.
A number of surviving temple-like structures
are circular, and are referred to as tholos.
The smallest temples are less than 25 metres
(approx. 75 feet) in length, or in the case
of the circular tholos, in diameter. The great
majority of temples are between 30–60 metres
(approx. 100–200 feet) in length. A small
group of Doric temples, including the Parthenon,
are between 60–80 metres (approx. 200–260
feet) in length. The largest temples, mainly
Ionic and Corinthian, but including the Doric
Temple of the Olympian Zeus, Agrigento, were
between 90–120 metres (approx. 300–390
feet) in length.
The temple rises from a stepped base or "stylobate",
which elevates the structure above the ground
on which it stands. Early examples, such as
the Temple of Zeus at Olympus, have two steps,
but the majority, like the Parthenon, have
three, with the exceptional example of the
Temple of Apollo at Didyma having six. The
core of the building is a masonry-built "naos"
within which is a cella, a windowless room
originally housing the statue of the god.
The cella generally has a porch or "pronaos"
before it, and perhaps a second chamber or
"antenaos" serving as a treasury or repository
for trophies and gifts. The chambers were
lit by a single large doorway, fitted with
a wrought iron grill. Some rooms appear to
have been illuminated by skylights.On the
stylobate, often completely surrounding the
naos, stand rows of columns. Each temple is
defined as being of a particular type, with
two terms: one describing the number of columns
across the entrance front, and the other defining
their distribution.Examples:
Distyle in antis describes a small temple
with two columns at the front, which are set
between the projecting walls of the pronaos
or porch, like the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnus.
(see left, figure 1.)
Amphiprostyle tetrastyle describes a small
temple that has columns at both ends which
stand clear of the naos. Tetrastyle indicates
that the columns are four in number, like
those of the Temple on the Ilissus in Athens.
(figure 4.)
Peripteral hexastyle describes a temple with
a single row of peripheral columns around
the naos, with six columns across the front,
like the Theseion in Athens. (figure 7.)
Peripteral octastyle describes a temple with
a single row of columns around the naos, (figure
7.) with eight columns across the front, like
the Parthenon, Athens. (figs. 6 and 9.)
Dipteral decastyle describes the huge temple
of Apollo at Didyma, with the naos surrounded
by a double row of columns, (figure 6.) with
ten columns across the entrance front.
The Temple of Zeus Olympius at Agrigentum,
is termed Pseudo-periteral heptastyle, because
its encircling colonnade has pseudo columns
that are attached to the walls of the naos.
(figure 8.) Heptastyle means that it has seven
columns across the entrance front.
==== Proportion and optical illusion ====
The ideal of proportion that was used by ancient
Greek architects in designing temples was
not a simple mathematical progression using
a square module. The math involved a more
complex geometrical progression, the so-called
Golden mean. The ratio is similar to that
of the growth patterns of many spiral forms
that occur in nature such as rams' horns,
nautilus shells, fern fronds, and vine tendrils
and which were a source of decorative motifs
employed by ancient Greek architects as particularly
in evidence in the volutes of capitals of
the Ionic and Corinthian Orders.
1
φ
=
φ
−
1
;
φ
=
1
+
5
2
≈
1.618
{\displaystyle {\frac {1}{\varphi }}=\varphi
-1;\;\varphi ={\frac {1+{\sqrt {5}}}{2}}\approx
1.618}
The ancient Greek architects took a philosophic
approach to the rules and proportions. The
determining factor in the mathematics of any
notable work of architecture was its ultimate
appearance. The architects calculated for
perspective, for the optical illusions that
make edges of objects appear concave and for
the fact that columns that are viewed against
the sky look different from those adjacent
that are viewed against a shadowed wall. Because
of these factors, the architects adjusted
the plans so that the major lines of any significant
building are rarely straight.
The most obvious adjustment is to the profile
of columns, which narrow from base to top.
However, the narrowing is not regular, but
gently curved so that each columns appears
to have a slight swelling, called entasis
below the middle. The entasis is never sufficiently
pronounced as to make the swelling wider than
the base; it is controlled by a slight reduction
in the rate of decrease of diameter.
The Parthenon, the Temple to the Goddess Athena
on the Acropolis in Athens, is referred to
by many as the pinnacle of ancient Greek architecture.
Helen Gardner refers to its "unsurpassable
excellence", to be surveyed, studied and emulated
by architects of later ages. Yet, as Gardner
points out, there is hardly a straight line
in the building. Banister Fletcher calculated
that the stylobate curves upward so that its
centres at either end rise about 2.6 inches
above the outer corners, and 4.3 inches on
the longer sides. A slightly greater adjustment
has been made to the entablature. The columns
at the ends of the building are not vertical
but are inclined towards the centre, with
those at the corners being out of plumb by
about 2.6 inches. These outer columns are
both slightly wider than their neighbours
and are slightly closer than any of the others.
== Style ==
=== Orders ===
Ancient Greek architecture of the most formal
type, for temples and other public buildings,
is divided stylistically into three "orders",
first described by the Roman architectural
writer Vitruvius. These are: the Doric Order,
the Ionic Order and the Corinthian Order,
the names reflecting their regional origins
within the Greek world. While the three orders
are most easily recognizable by their capitals,
the orders also governed the form, proportions,
details and relationships of the columns,
entablature, pediment and the stylobate. The
different orders were applied to the whole
range of buildings and monuments.
The Doric Order developed on mainland Greece
and spread to Magna Graecia (Italy). It was
firmly established and well-defined in its
characteristics by the time of the building
of the Temple of Hera at Olympia, c. 600 BC.
The Ionic order co-existed with the Doric,
being favoured by the Greek cities of Ionia,
in Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands. It did
not reach a clearly defined form until the
mid 5th century BC. The early Ionic temples
of Asia Minor were particularly ambitious
in scale, such as the Temple of Artemis at
Ephesus. The Corinthian Order was a highly
decorative variant not developed until the
Hellenistic period and retaining many characteristics
of the Ionic. It was popularised by the Romans.
==== Doric Order ====
The Doric order is recognised by its capital,
of which the echinus is like a circular cushion
rising from the top of the column to the square
abacus on which rest the lintels. The echinus
appears flat and splayed in early examples,
deeper and with greater curve in later, more
refined examples, and smaller and straight-sided
in Hellenistc examples. A refinement of the
Doric column is the entasis, a gentle convex
swelling to the profile of the column, which
prevents an optical illusion of concavity.
This is more pronounced in earlier examples.
Doric columns are almost always cut with grooves,
known as "fluting", which run the length of
the column and are usually 20 in number, although
sometimes fewer. The flutes meet at sharp
edges called arrises. At the top of the columns,
slightly below the narrowest point, and crossing
the terminating arrises, are three horizontal
grooves known as the hypotrachelion. Doric
columns have no bases, until a few examples
in the Hellenistic period.The columns of an
early Doric temple such as the Temple of Apollo
at Syracuse, Sicily, may have a height to
base diameter ratio of only 4:1 and a column
height to entablature ratio of 2:1, with relatively
crude details. A column height to diameter
of 6:1 became more usual, while the column
height to entablature ratio at the Parthenon
is about 3:1. During the Hellenistic period,
Doric conventions of solidity and masculinity
dropped away, with the slender and unfluted
columns reaching a height to diameter ratio
of 7.5:1.
The Doric entablature is in three parts, the
architrave, the frieze and the cornice. The
architrave is composed of the stone lintels
which span the space between the columns,
with a joint occurring above the centre of
each abacus. On this rests the frieze, one
of the major areas of sculptural decoration.
The frieze is divided into triglyphs and metopes,
the triglyphs, as stated elsewhere in this
article, are a reminder of the timber history
of the architectural style. Each triglyph
has three vertical grooves, similar to the
columnar fluting, and below them, seemingly
connected, are guttae, small strips that appear
to connect the triglyphs to the architrave
below. A triglyph is located above the centre
of each capital, and above the centre of each
lintel. However, at the corners of the building,
the triglyphs do not fall over the centre
the column. The ancient architects took a
pragmatic approach to the apparent "rules",
simply extending the width of the last two
metopes at each end of the building.
The cornice is a narrow jutting band of complex
moulding which overhangs and protects the
ornamented frieze, like the edge of an overhanging
wooden-framed roof. It is decorated on the
underside with projecting blocks, mutules,
further suggesting the wooden nature of the
prototype. At either end of the building the
pediment rises from the cornice, framed by
moulding of similar form.The pediment is decorated
with figures that are in relief in the earlier
examples, though almost freestanding by the
time of the sculpture on the Parthenon. Early
architectural sculptors found difficulty in
creating satisfactory sculptural compositions
in the tapering triangular space. By the Early
Classical period, with the decoration of the
Temple of Zeus at Olympia, (486-460 BC) the
sculptors had solved the problem by having
a standing central figure framed by rearing
centaurs and fighting men who are falling,
kneeling and lying in attitudes that fit the
size and angle of each part of the space.
The famous sculptor Phidias fills the space
at the Parthenon (448-432 BC) with a complex
array of draped and undraped figures of deities
who appear in attitudes of sublime relaxation
and elegance.
==== Ionic Order ====
The Ionic Order is recognized by its voluted
capital, in which a curved echinus of similar
shape to that of the Doric Order, but decorated
with stylised ornament, is surmounted by a
horizontal band that scrolls under to either
side, forming spirals or volutes similar to
those of the nautilus shell or ram's horn.
In plan, the capital is rectangular. It is
designed to be viewed frontally but the capitals
at the corners of buildings are modified with
an additional scroll so as to appear regular
on two adjoining faces. In the Hellenistic
period, four-fronted Ionic capitals became
common.
Like the Doric Order, the Ionic Order retains
signs of having its origins in wooden architecture.
The horizontal spread of a flat timber plate
across the top of a column is a common device
in wooden construction, giving a thin upright
a wider area on which to bear the lintel,
while at the same time reinforcing the load-bearing
strength of the lintel itself. Likewise, the
columns always have bases, a necessity in
wooden architecture to spread the load and
protect the base of a comparatively thin upright.
The columns are fluted with narrow, shallow
flutes that do not meet at a sharp edge but
have a flat band or fillet between them. The
usual number of flutes is twenty-four but
there may be as many as forty-four. The base
has two convex mouldings called torus, and
from the late Hellenic period stood on a square
plinth similar to the abacus.The architrave
of the Ionic Order is sometimes undecorated,
but more often rises in three outwardly-stepped
bands like overlapping timber planks. The
frieze, which runs in a continuous band, is
separated from the other members by rows of
small projecting blocks. They are referred
to as dentils, meaning "teeth", but their
origin is clearly in narrow wooden slats which
supported the roof of a timber structure.
The Ionic Order is altogether lighter in appearance
than the Doric, with the columns, including
base and capital, having a 9:1 ratio with
the diameter, while the whole entablature
was also much narrower and less heavy than
the Doric entablature. There was some variation
in the distribution of decoration. Formalised
bands of motifs such as alternating forms
known as "egg and dart" were a feature of
the Ionic entablatures, along with the bands
of dentils. The external frieze often contained
a continuous band of figurative sculpture
or ornament, but this was not always the case.
Sometimes a decorative frieze occurred around
the upper part of the naos rather than on
the exterior of the building. These Ionic-style
friezes around the naos are sometimes found
on Doric buildings, notably the Parthenon.
Some temples, like the Temple of Artemis at
Ephesus, had friezes of figures around the
lower drum of each column, separated from
the fluted section by a bold moulding.Caryatids,
draped female figures used as supporting members
to carry the entablature, were a feature of
the Ionic order, occurring at several buildings
including the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi
in 525 BC and at the Erechtheion, about 410
BC.
==== Corinthian Order ====
The Corinthian Order does not have its origin
in wooden architecture. It grew directly out
of the Ionic in the mid 5th century BC, and
was initially of much the same style and proportion,
but distinguished by its more ornate capitals.
The capital was very much deeper than either
the Doric or the Ionic capital, being shaped
like a large krater, a bell-shaped mixing
bowl, and being ornamented with a double row
of acanthus leaves above which rose voluted
tendrils, supporting the corners of the abacus,
which, no longer perfectly square, splayed
above them. According to Vitruvius, the capital
was invented by a bronze founder, Callimachus
of Corinth, who took his inspiration from
a basket of offerings that had been placed
on a grave, with a flat tile on top to protect
the goods. The basket had been placed on the
root of an acanthus plant which had grown
up around it. The ratio of the column height
to diameter is generally 10:1, with the capital
taking up more than 1/10 of the height. The
ratio of capital height to diameter is generally
about 1.16:1.The Corinthian Order was initially
used internally, as at the Temple of Apollo
Epicurius at Bassae (c. 450–425 BC). In
334 BC it appeared as an external feature
on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in
Athens, and then on a huge scale at the Temple
of Zeus Olympia in Athens, (174 BC – AD
132). It was popularised by the Romans, who
added a number of refinements and decorative
details. During the Hellenistic period, Corinthian
columns were sometimes built without fluting.
=== Decoration ===
==== Architectural ornament ====
Early wooden structures, particularly temples,
were ornamented and in part protected by fired
and painted clay revetments in the form of
rectangular panels, and ornamental discs.
Many fragments of these have outlived the
buildings that they decorated and demonstrate
a wealth of formal border designs of geometric
scrolls, overlapping patterns and foliate
motifs. With the introduction of stone-built
temples, the revetments no longer served a
protective purpose and sculptured decoration
became more common.
The clay ornaments were limited to the roof
of buildings, decorating the cornice, the
corners and surmounting the pediment. At the
corners of pediments they were called acroteria
and along the sides of the building, antefixes.
Early decorative elements were generally semi-circular,
but later of roughly triangular shape with
moulded ornament, often palmate. Ionic cornices
were often set with a row of lion's masks,
with open mouths that ejected rainwater. From
the Late Classical period, acroteria were
sometimes sculptured figures.See "Architectural
sculpture"In the three orders of ancient Greek
architecture, the sculptural decoration, be
it a simple half round astragal, a frieze
of stylised foliage or the ornate sculpture
of the pediment, is all essential to the architecture
of which it is a part. In the Doric order,
there is no variation in its placement. Reliefs
never decorate walls in an arbitrary way.
The sculpture is always located in several
predetermined areas, the metopes and the pediment.
In later Ionic architecture, there is greater
diversity in the types and numbers of mouldings
and decorations, particularly around doorways,
where voluted brackets sometimes occur supporting
an ornamental cornice over a door, such as
that at the Erechtheion. A much applied narrow
moulding is called "bead and reel" and is
symmetrical, stemming from turned wooden prototypes.
Wider mouldings include one with tongue-like
or pointed leaf shapes, which are grooved
and sometimes turned upward at the tip, and
"egg and dart" moulding which alternates ovoid
shapes with narrow pointy ones.
==== Architectural sculpture ====
Architectural sculpture showed a development
from early Archaic examples through Severe
Classical, High Classical, Late Classical
and Hellenistic. Remnants of Archaic architectural
sculpture (700–500 BC) exist from the early
6th century BC with the earliest surviving
pedimental sculpture being fragments of a
Gorgon flanked by heraldic panthers from the
centre of the pediment of the Artemis Temple
of Corfu. A metope from a temple known as
"Temple C" at Selinus, Sicily, shows, in a
better preserved state, Perseus slaying the
Gorgon Medusa. Both images parallel the stylised
depiction of the Gorgons on the black figure
name vase decorated by the Nessos painter
(c. 600 BC), with the face and shoulders turned
frontally, and the legs in a running or kneeling
position. At this date images of terrifying
monsters have predominance over the emphasis
on the human figure that developed with Humanist
philosophy.The Severe Classical style (500–450
BC) is represented by the pedimental sculptures
of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, (470–456
BC). The eastern pediment shows a moment of
stillness and "impending drama" before the
beginning of a chariot race, the figures of
Zeus and the competitors being severe and
idealised representations of the human form.
The western pediment has Apollo as the central
figure, "majestic" and "remote", presiding
over a battle of Lapiths and Centaurs, in
strong contrast to that of the eastern pediment
for its depiction of violent action, and described
by D. E. Strong as the "most powerful piece
of illustration" for a hundred years.The shallow
reliefs and three-dimensional sculpture which
adorned the frieze and pediments, respectively,
of the Parthenon, are the lifelike products
of the High Classical style (450–400 BC)
and were created under the direction of the
sculptor Phidias. The pedimental sculpture
represents the Gods of Olympus, while the
frieze shows the Panathenaic procession and
ceremonial events that took place every four
years to honour the titular Goddess of Athens.
The frieze and remaining figures of the eastern
pediment show a profound understanding of
the human body, and how it varies depending
upon its position and the stresses that action
and emotion place upon it. Benjamin Robert
Haydon described the reclining figure of Dionysus
as "... the most heroic style of art, combined
with all the essential detail of actual life".The
names of many famous sculptors are known from
the Late Classical period (400–323 BC),
including Timotheos, Praxiteles, Leochares
and Skopas, but their works are known mainly
from Roman copies. Little architectural sculpture
of the period remains intact. The Temple of
Asclepius at Epidauros had sculpture by Timotheos
working with the architect Theodotos. Fragments
of the eastern pediment survive, showing the
Sack of Troy. The scene appears to have filled
the space with figures carefully arranged
to fit the slope and shape available, as with
earlier east pediment of the Temple of Zeus
at Olympus. But the figures are more violent
in action, the central space taken up, not
with a commanding God, but with the dynamic
figure of Neoptolemos as he seizes the aged
king Priam and stabs him. The remaining fragments
give the impression of a whole range of human
emotions, fear, horror, cruelty and lust for
conquest. The acroteria were sculptured by
Timotheus, except for that at the centre of
the east pediment which is the work of the
architect. The palmate acroteria have been
replaced here with small figures, the eastern
pediment being surmounted by a winged Nike,
poised against the wind.Hellenistic architectural
sculpture (323–31 BC) was to become more
flamboyant, both in the rendering of expression
and motion, which is often emphasised by flowing
draperies, the Nike Samothrace which decorated
a monument in the shape of a ship being a
well-known example. The Pergamon Altar (c.
180–160 BC) has a frieze (120 metres long
by 2.3 metres high) of figures in very high
relief. The frieze represents the battle for
supremacy of Gods and Titans, and employs
many dramatic devices: frenzy, pathos and
triumph, to convey the sense of conflict.
== See also ==
List of Ancient Greek temples
List of ancient architectural records
Ancient Greek temple
Art in ancient Greece
Greek technology
Greek culture
Byzantine architecture
Modern Greek Architecture
== References ==
== Bibliography ==
John Boardman, Jose Dorig, Werner Fuchs and
Max Hirmer, "The Art and Architecture of Ancient
Greece", Thames and Hudson, London (1967)
Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture
on the Comparative method (2001). Elsevier
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Helen Gardner; Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J.
Mamiya, Gardner's Art through the Ages. Thomson
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Michael and Reynold Higgins, A Geological
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Athanasios Sideris A., "Re-contextualized
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Donald E. Strong, The Classical World, Paul
Hamlyn, London (1965)
Henri Stierlin, Greece: From Mycenae to the
Parthenon, Taschen, 2004
Marilyn Y. Goldberg, "Greek Temples and Chinese
Roofs," American Journal of Archaeology, Vol.
87, No. 3. (Jul., 1983), pp. 305–310
Penrose, F.C., (communicated by Joseph Norman
Lockyer), The Orientation of Geek Temples,
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Örjan Wikander, "Archaic Roof Tiles the First
Generations," Hesperia, Vol. 59, No. 1. (Jan.
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William Rostoker; Elizabeth Gebhard, "The
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== External links ==
Media related to Ancient Greek architecture
at Wikimedia Commons
The Foundations of Classical Architecture
Part Two: Greek Classicism - free educational
program by the ICAA (published August 29,
2018)
