Editing Ancient Greek architecture (section)

== Style ==
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|header    = Orders of ancient Greek architecture
|image1    = DoricParthenon.jpg
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|image2    = Illustrerad Verldshistoria band I Ill 179.png
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|caption2  = <br />above: Capital of the Ionic order showing volutes and ornamented echinus <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />left: Architectural elements of the Doric order showing simple curved echinus of capital
|image3    = Illustrerad Verldshistoria band I Ill 180.png
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|caption3  = above: Capital of the Corinthian Order showing foliate decoration and vertical volutes.
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=== Orders ===
Ancient Greek architecture of the most formal type, for temples and other public buildings, is divided stylistically into three [[Classical order]]s, 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, they also governed the form, proportions, details and relationships of the columns, [[entablature]], [[pediment]], and the [[stylobate]].<ref name="HG2" /> 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 (Olympia)|Temple of Hera]] at [[Olympia, Greece|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&nbsp;century BC.<ref name="Strong3" /> The early Ionic temples of Asia Minor were particularly ambitious in scale, such as the [[Temple of Artemis]] at [[Ephesus]].<ref name="Strong" /> 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.<ref name="BF3" />

==== 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 Hellenistic examples.<ref name="BF7" /> 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.<ref name="BF7" /> 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 ''[[arris]]es''. 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.<ref name="BF7" />

The columns of an early Doric temple such as the [[Temple of Apollo (Syracuse)|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.<ref name=BF7>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=108–112}}.</ref>

{{multiple image
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|header    = The Doric Order <br /> The Temple of Hephaestos, Athens, is a well-preserved temple of ''peripteral hexastyle'' plan.
|image1  = View of Hephaisteion of Athens in 2008 2.jpg
|width1 = 250
|alt1 =
|caption1 =
|image2    =20100410 athina108.JPG
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|caption2  = The [[entablature]] showing the [[architrave]], [[frieze (architecture)|frieze]] with [[triglyph]]s and [[metope (architecture)|metopes]] and the overhanging cornice
|image3    =20100410 athina110.JPG
|width3    = 200
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|caption3  = The tapered fluted columns, constructed in drums, rest directly on the [[stylobate]].
}}

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.<ref name="BF7" /> 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 [[Molding (decorative)|molding]], 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.<ref name="BF7" />

The pediment is decorated with figures that are in [[relief]] in the earlier examples, though almost free-standing by the time of the [[Elgin Marbles|sculpture on the Parthenon]]. Early architectural sculptors found difficulty in creating satisfactory sculptural compositions in the tapering triangular space.<ref name="Strong4" /> By the Early Classical period, with the decoration of the [[Temple of Zeus, Olympia|Temple of Zeus]] at Olympia (486–460 BC), the sculptors had solved the problem by having a standing central figure framed by rearing [[centaur]]s and fighting men who are falling, kneeling and lying in attitudes that fit the size and angle of each part of the space.<ref name=HG4>{{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004|pp=138–148}}.</ref> 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 [[volute]]d 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.<ref name=BF8>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=125–129}}.</ref>

{{multiple image
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|header       = The Ionic Order<br /> The Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens: a building of asymmetrical plan, for the display of offerings to Athena
|image1       = Erechtheum- Acropolis of Athens.jpg
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|image2       = Erechteion - chapiteau.jpg
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|caption2     = Corner capital with a diagonal [[volute]], showing also details of the fluting separated by fillets.
|image3       = Erechtheion - frise.jpg
|width3       = 205
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|caption3     = Frieze of stylised alternating palms and reeds, and a cornice decorated with "egg and dart" moulding.
}}

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.<ref name="BF8" /> 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''.<ref name="BF8" />

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 [[dentil]]s, meaning "teeth", but their origin is clearly in narrow wooden slats which supported the roof of a timber structure.<ref name="BF8" /> 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.<ref name="BF8" />

[[Caryatid]]s, 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|pp=45, 49}}.</ref>

==== 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.<ref name=BF9>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=137–139}}.</ref> 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 (plant)|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 (sculptor)|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.<ref name="BF9" /> 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.<ref name="BF9" />

{{multiple image
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|header    = The Corinthian Order <br /> The Temple of Zeus Olympia, Athens, ("the Olympieion")
|image1    = Temple Of Olympian Zeus - Olympieion (retouched).jpg
|width1    = 275
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|image2    = Grece athenes olympion det.jpg
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|caption2  = The tall capital combines both semi-naturalistic leaves and highly stylised tendrils forming volutes.
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The Corinthian order was initially used internally, as at the [[Bassae|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–132 AD).<ref name="BF9" /> 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.<ref name="BF9" />
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=== Decoration ===

==== Architectural ornament ====
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|header    = Architectural ornament of fired and painted clay
|image1    = Gorgona pushkin edited.jpg
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|caption1  = This Archaic gorgon's head ''antefix'' has been cast in a mould, fired and painted.
|image2    = Delphi Museum2 edited.jpg | width2    = 205
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|caption2  = The lion's head gargoyle is fixed to a revetment on which elements of a formal frieze have been painted.
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Early wooden structures, particularly temples, were ornamented and in part protected by fired and painted [[terracotta]] 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.<ref name="Boardman2" /> 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 [[Acroterion|acroteria]] and along the sides of the building, [[antefix]]es. Early decorative elements were generally semi-circular, but later of roughly triangular shape with moulded ornament, often palmate.<ref name=Boardman2>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|pp=22–25}}.</ref><ref name=BF19>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|p=163}}.</ref> Ionic cornices were often set with a row of lion's masks, with open mouths that ejected rainwater.<ref name="BF5" /><ref name="BF19" /> From the Late Classical period, acroteria were sometimes sculptured figures (see [[Architectural sculpture]]).<ref name="Dorig" />

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.<ref name="Boardman2" /> In later Ionic architecture, there is greater diversity in the types and numbers of mouldings and decorations, particularly around doorways, where voluted [[Bracket (architecture)|brackets]] sometimes occur supporting an ornamental cornice over a door, such as that at the Erechtheion.<ref name="BF5" /><ref name="BF21" /><ref name="Boardman2" /> 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 pointed ones.<ref name="BF5" /><ref name="Boardman2" /><ref>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|p=164}}.</ref>

==== Architectural sculpture ====
[[File:Горгона артеміда.jpg|thumb|left|The Archaic [[Gorgon]] of the western [[pediment]] from the Artemis Temple of Corfu, [[Archaeological Museum of Corfu]].]]
[[Architectural sculpture]] showed a development from early Archaic examples through Severe Classical, High Classical, Late Classical and Hellenistic.<ref name="BDFH" /> Remnants of Archaic architectural sculpture (700–500 BC) exist from the early 6th century BC with the earliest surviving [[pedimental sculpture]]s being fragments of a Gorgon flanked by heraldic panthers from the centre of the pediment of the [[Temple of Artemis (Corfu)|Artemis Temple of Corfu]].<ref name=Strong13>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=39–40}}.</ref> A metope from a temple known as "Temple C" at Selinus, Sicily, shows, in a better preserved state, [[Perseus]] slaying the Gorgon [[Medusa]].<ref name=Strong4>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=58–60}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="Strong13" />

Early pedimental sculptures, and those on smaller temples, were usually in [[relief]], and the late free-standing ones were often in terracotta, which has survived only in fragments. The sculptures were covered with a layer of stucco and painted or, if terracotta, painted with the more restrained fired colours of Greek pottery.<ref>{{harvnb|Lawrence|1957|pp=110–111}}.</ref>

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.<ref name="Strong5" /> The western pediment has Apollo as the central figure, "majestic" and "remote", presiding over a battle of [[Lapith]]s and [[Centaur]]s, in strong contrast to that of the eastern pediment for its depiction of violent action, and described by Donald E. Strong as the "most powerful piece of illustration" for a hundred years.<ref name=Strong5>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=61–62}}.</ref>
[[File:Elgin Marbles east pediment.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Classical figurative sculpture from the eastern pediment of the Parthenon, [[British Museum]].]]

The 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]].<ref name=HG10>{{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004|pp=143–148}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="HG10" /> 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".<ref>{{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004|p=145}}.</ref>

The names of many famous sculptors are known from the Late Classical period (400–323 BC), including [[Timotheus (sculptor)|Timotheos]], [[Praxiteles]], [[Leochares]] and [[Skopas]], but their works are known mainly from Roman copies.<ref name="BDFH" /> 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 the 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 range of human emotions, fear, horror, cruelty and lust for conquest.<ref name=Dorig>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|p=435}}.</ref> 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 (mythology)|Nike]], poised against the wind.<ref name="Dorig" />

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 [[Winged Victory of Samothrace|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.<ref>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|pp=509–510}}.</ref>

{{multiple image
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| header            = Metopes, friezes and caryatid
| image1            = DSC00401 - Tempio C di Selinunte - Perseo e Medusa - Sec. VI a.C. - Foto G. Dall'Orto crop.jpg
| width1            = 184
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| caption1          = Archaic metope: ''Perseus and Medusa'', Temple C at Selinunte.
| image2            = Metopa-templo-zeus2 crop.jpg
| width2            = 206
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| caption2          = Severe Classical metope: ''Labours of Hercules'', Temple of Zeus, Olympus
| image3            = East frieze 34-35 Parthenon BM.jpg
| width3            = 170
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| caption3          = High Classical frieze: ''Panathenaic Ritual'', Parthenon, Athens
| image4            = Pergamon Museum Berlin 2007017.jpg
| width4            = 170
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| caption4          = Hellenistic frieze: ''Battle of Gods and Titans'', the Pergamon Altar.
| image5            = Erechtheion detail.jpg
| width5            = 170
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| caption5          = Ionic caryatid from the Erechtheion, Athens
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