Editing Ancient Greek architecture (section)

=== 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
|align     = left
|direction = horizontal
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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
|width2    = 200
|alt2      =
|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
|alt3      =
|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
|align        = right
|direction    = horizontal
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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
|width1       = 265
|alt1         =
|caption1     =
|image2       = Erechteion - chapiteau.jpg
|width2       = 210
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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
|alt3         =
|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
|align     = left
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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
|alt1      =
|caption1  =
|image2    = Grece athenes olympion det.jpg
|width2    = 232
|alt2      =
|caption2  = The tall capital combines both semi-naturalistic leaves and highly stylised tendrils forming volutes.
}}

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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