ANCIENT GREECE

-500 0 500 1000 1500 2000

Archaic period (1100-450 BC)
Hellenistic period (306-30 BC)
Classical period (450-306 BC) Classical period (450-306 BC)
CLASSICAL GREECE (450-306 BC)
CLASSICAL GREECE (450-306 BC)
Athens, the Acropolis
Small town of 50 000 freemen
Pericle and the Golden Age
The maturity of Greek architecture
Acropolis, the Parthenon
The purity of style
The perfect harmony
The technical perfection
How to recognize a Classical Greek building
The so-called "post-and-lintel" type - standard
Greek practice
Straight lines predominated
There were no arches or curves
Classical Greece

How to recognize a Classical Greek building
The two main components
of a building are
the entablature and
the column.
Within the entablature are
the cornice,
the frieze, and
the architrave.
The column is made up of
the capital,
the shaft, and
the base.
cornice
frieze
architrave
capital
shaft
base
entablature
column
Classical Greece
How to recognize a Classical Greek building
The two main components
of a building are
the entablature and
the column.
Within the entablature are
the cornice,
the frieze, and
the architrave.
The column is made up of
the capital,
the shaft, and
the base.
The triangular element on the top is
the fronton
Classical Greece
Types of buildings in Greek architecture
Temples
The most important buildings
Some temples were circular in shape,
but the majority were rectangular
Always built on an elevated
platform with steps leading up to it
The main entrance always faced east
Classical Greece
Types of buildings in Greek architecture
Temples
Symmetry was achieved irrespective
of the direction from which the building
was seen
The altar was always on the outside
of the building, and all the rituals and
festivities were held outside
The most important buildings
Some temples were circular in shape,
but the majority were rectangular
Always built on an elevated
platform with steps leading up to it
The main entrance always faced east
Classical Greece
Types of buildings in Greek architecture
Temples
The temple contained two inner chambers: one small, in the rear
(the treasury) - and a larger chamber (the naos), which contained
a statue of the god to whom the temple was dedicated.
Classical Greece
Types of buildings in Greek architecture
Theatres
Next in importance to the temples
Open-air theatres were usually cut
into the side of a hill
Classical Greece
Types of buildings in Greek architecture
Theatres
Next in importance to the temples
Open-air theatres were usually cut
into the side of a hill
The central part of the theatre
was reserved for the chorus
The auditorium formed a semi-circle
around it
The front rows, with beautifully carved marble
seats, were reserved for the priests and
important dignitaries
Classical Greece
GREEK ORDERS
Classical Greece
DORIC
CORINTHIAN
IONIC
GREEK ORDERS
Classical Greece
DORIC
CORINTHIAN
IONIC
GREEK ORDERS
Classical Greece
DORIC
CORINTHIAN
IONIC
GREEK ORDERS
Classical Greece
DORIC
The frieze is decorated with a series of
tablets with vertical flutings, alternating with
square spaces which were either left plain
or decorated with relief carvings.
Is the most massive of the three orders
It is the only style in which the column
has no base and the shaft is placed
directly on the platform
The capital can be described as a plain
convex moulding
The architrave can be plain or
decorated with intermittent rows of
small triangular carvings
DORIC
IONIC
CORINTHIAN
DORIC
GREEK ORDERS
Classical Greece
IONIC
The shaft is taller and more slender
Occasionally the shafts are replaced
by female figures (caryatids)
The capital has two sets of spirals,
rather like a rolI of paper with its
ends curled towards each other
The architrave is made up of three
horizontal planes, each projecting
slightly beyond the one below
The frieze can be plain or sculptured
DORIC
IONIC
CORINTHIAN
IONIC
IONIC
GREEK ORDERS
Classical Greece
CORINTHIAN
Is quite similar to the Ionic . The main
difference is in the capital, which is
much more richly decorated
A Corinthian capital is like an inverted
bell . Some of them are decorated with
acanthus leaves surmounted by four
symmetrical scrolls
The shaft is taller and more slender
DORIC
IONIC
CORINTHIAN
CORINTHIAN
MATHEMATICAL RULES IN GREEK ARCHITECTURE
The Greeks never used more than
one style for the whole of a
building. The only exception to this
rule was to have one order for the
exterior and another for the interior
All the measurements used by the
architects, such as the height of a
column, were expressed in multiples
of the diameter at the base of the
shaft
Doric column 1/6
Ionic column 1/910
Corinthian column 1/1012