Editing Pythius of Priene

{{Short description|Greek architect of the 4th century BCE}}
{{other uses|Pythius (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Temple of Athena & Acropolis, Priene (2).jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Temple of Athena Polias (Priene)|Temple of Athena Polias]] at [[Priene]] ]]

'''Pythius''' ({{langx|el|Πύθιος}}), also known as '''Pytheos''' ({{langx|el|Πυθεός}}) or '''Pythis''', was a [[Architecture of Ancient Greece|Greek architect]], [[Architectural theory|architecture theorist]], and [[Ancient Greek sculpture|sculptor]] of the 4th century BC. He designed the [[Temple of Athena Polias (Priene)|Temple of Athena Polias]] at [[Priene]] and the [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]], which was regarded in antiquity among [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World|the Seven Wonders of the World.]] It is presumed that he came from the Greek city of [[Priene]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=J. J.|first=Pollitt|title=Art in the Hellenistic Age|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0521276726|pages=243}}</ref>  The first-century BC [[Roman Architecture|Roman architect]] [[Vitruvius]] called Pythius a "celebrated builder" (''de Architectura'' I.1.12) and referenced [[Vitruvius#Lists of names given in Book VII Introduction|lost treatises on architecture]] written in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] by Pythius as sources for his [[Latin]] architecture manual ''[[De architectura|de Architectura]]'' (I.1.15).<ref>[[Banister Fletcher]], ''A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method'', p.31</ref>

== Architectural theory ==

=== The Discipline of Architecture ===
Pythius' ''Commentaries'' are lost, but [[Vitruvius]] paraphrases his philosophy of architectural education, in which the architect should aim to be a [[polymath]] knowledgeable "in all the arts and sciences (''[[De architectura]]'' I.1.12)." Pythius was a pioneer because he "propounded the importance of architecture as a [[Academic discipline|learned discipline]] and sought to establish standards for it."<ref name=":0" />

=== Criticism of the Doric Order ===
[[File:Horse Halicarnassus BM 1002.jpg|thumb|A colossal marble horse from the quadriga on top of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, a sculpture group made by Pythius. British Museum.]]
Pythius together with [[Arcesius (architect)|Arcesius]] and [[Hermogenes of Priene|Hermogenes]] disparaged the [[Doric order]], according to Vitruvius (IV.3.1), for the "faults and incongruities" caused by the frieze of [[triglyph]]s, which required altering the regular spacing of columns at the corners ("[[Doric order#Spacing the triglyphs|the Doric corner conflict]]"). Pythius, who worked in [[Ionia]], appears to have used the [[Ionic order]] exclusively.

=== Grid Planning ===
[[Temple of Athena Polias (Priene)#Layout|The plan for the Temple of Athena Polias at Priene]] is based on a regular grid with uniformly spaced columns and marks an important development of [[Grid plan#Ancient Greece|the grid plan in Greek architecture]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coulton|first=J. J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3066415|title=Ancient Greek architects at work : problems of structure and design|date=1977|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=0-8014-1077-0|location=Ithaca, N.Y.|pages=70–71|oclc=3066415}}</ref> J.J. Pollitt called Pythius' grid-based design "'order' in an extreme degree" and a display of "a kind of icy, intellectual elegance."<ref name=":0" /> The grid designs of Pythius were a major influence on the Hellenistic architect [[Hermogenes of Priene|Hermogenes.]]

== Works ==

=== The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus ===
Pythius and [[Satyros]] were the co-designers of the [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]] (modern-day [[Bodrum|Bodrum, Turkey]]), the tomb for the [[Carians|Carian]] king [[Mausolus]]. The Mausoleum was covered in statues and reliefs by four important 4th-century Greek sculptors: [[Leochares]], [[Bryaxis]], [[Scopas]] of [[Paros]], and [[Timotheus (sculptor)|Timotheus]]. Pythius, however, is credited with sculpting the great marble [[quadriga]] on top of the structure, fragments of which survive and are today displayed in the [[British Museum]].

=== Temple of Athena Polias at Priene ===
An inscription on an anta of the Temple of Athena Polias at Priene, which today is in the [[British Museum]], records [[Alexander the Great]] as the temple's dedicator ca. 330 BC. The temple was not completed until much later.

[[File:Mausoleum at Halicarnassus at the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.jpg|thumb|Model of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

*{{1911|wstitle=Pythis}}

{{Authority control}}

[[File:Dedication of Alexander the Great to Athena Polias at Priene.jpg|thumb|225x225px|Ancient Greek inscription from the Temple of Athena Polias at Priene, which says "King Alexander dedicated the temple to Athena Polias." British Museum]]

[[Category:Ancient Greek architects]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Greek sculptors]]
[[Category:4th-century BC architects]]
[[Category:Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]]