Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Ancient Greek architecture
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== 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.<ref name=Boardman1>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|pp=10β14}}.</ref> There is an abundance of high quality white [[marble]] both on the mainland and islands, particularly [[Paros]] and [[Naxos (island)|Naxos]]. This finely grained material was a major contributing factor to precision of detail, both architectural and sculptural, that adorned ancient Greek architecture.<ref name=BF1>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=89β91}}.</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Higgins|Higgins|1996|loc=Chapter 3}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="BF1" /> 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 the 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 the precision of detail.<ref name="BF1" /> 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. {{multiple image |align = center |direction = horizontal |header_align = center |header = |image1 = Rhamnous-1.jpg |width1 = 225 |alt1 = |caption1 = The rugged indented coastline at [[Rhamnous]], Attica |image2 = Ac.delphi1.jpg |width2 = 200 |alt2 = |caption2 = The Theatre and Temple of Apollo in mountainous country at [[Delphi]] |image3 =Acropolis.JPG |width3 = 200 |alt3 = |caption3 = The Acropolis, [[Athens]], is high above the city on a natural prominence. |image4 = Cape Sounion AC.JPG |width4 = 200 |alt4 = |caption4 = The Islands of the Aegean from [[Cape Sounion]] }}{{clear}} === 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 β 30 AD).<ref name="BF3" /> During the earlier Hellenic period, substantial works of architecture began to appear around 600 BC. During the later (Hellenistic) period, Greek culture spread 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.<ref name="BDFH" /><ref name=HG1>{{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004|pp=110β114}}.</ref> Before the Hellenic era, two major cultures had dominated the region: the [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] ({{Circa|2800|1100 BC}}), and the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] (c. 1500β1100 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 [[Minoan palaces]], and for its pottery, the most famous of which painted with floral and [[Marine Style|motifs of sea life]]. The Mycenaean culture, which flourished on the [[Peloponnesus]], was different in character. Its people built citadels, fortifications and tombs, 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.<ref name=HG>{{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004|pp=90β109}}.</ref> Following these events, there was a period from which only a village level of culture seems to have existed. This period is thus often referred to as the [[Greek Dark Age]]. === Art === {{multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | header_align = center | image1 = Boxers Staatliche Antikensammlungen 1541.jpg | width1 = 168 | caption1 = Black figure ''Amphora'', Atalante painter (500β490 BC), shows proportion and style that are hallmarks of ancient Greek art | image2 = 009MA Kritios.jpg | width2 = 101 | caption2 = ''The Kritios Boy'', (c. 480 BC), typifies the tradition of free-standing figures }} The art of the Hellenic era is generally subdivided into four periods: the Protogeometric (1100β900 BC), the Geometric (900β700 BC), the Archaic (700β500 BC) and the Classical (500β323 BC)<ref>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996}}; {{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004}}.</ref> with sculpture being further divided into Severe Classical, High Classical and Late Classical.<ref name=BDFH>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967}}.</ref> 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.<ref name=Strong>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|p=35}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="BDFH" /> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=33β102}}.</ref> 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,<ref>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=39β40, 62β66}}.</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=119β121}}.</ref> === Religion and philosophy === {{multiple image |align = left |direction = horizontal |header_align = center |header = |image1 = Model of ancient Olympia.jpg |width1 = 250 |alt1 = |caption1 = Above: Modern model of ancient Olympia with the Temple of Zeus at the centre<br /><br /> Right: Recreation of the colossal statue of Athena, once housed in the Parthenon, with sculptor Alan LeQuire |image2 = Athena Parthenos LeQuire.jpg |width2 = 200 |alt2 = |caption2 = }} The [[Ancient Greek religion|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.<ref name="HG1" /> The natural elements were personified as gods of the complete human form, and very human behaviour.<ref name="BF1" /> The home of the gods was thought to be [[Mount Olympus|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]], the god of the sea; [[Demeter]], goddess of the harvest; [[Apollo]], the god of the sun, law, healing, plague, reason, music and poetry; [[Artemis]], goddess of chastity, the hunt and the wilderness; [[Aphrodite]], goddess of love; [[Ares]], God of war; [[Hermes]], the god of commerce and travellers, [[Hephaestus]], the god of fire and metalwork; and [[Dionysus]], the god of wine and fruit-bearing plants.<ref name="BF1" /> Worship, like many other activities, was done in the 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.<ref name=Strong2>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=35β36}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="HG1" /> At the same time, the respect for human intellect demanded a 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. {{clear}} <!---NOTE: Please retain break as it greatly enhances format of next major heading on some screens--->
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)