THERE

GREEK ARCHITECTURE

ARE

FIVE

ORDERS

OF

CLASSICAL

ARCHITECTURE - DORIC, IONIC, CORINTHIAN, TUSCAN,

AND COMPOSITE - ALL NAMED AS SUCH IN LATER
ROMAN TIMES. GREEK ARCHITECTS CREATED THE
FIRST THREE AND HUGELY INFLUENCED THE LATTER
TWO

WHICH

GENUINE

WERE

COMPOSITES

INNOVATIONS.

AN

RATHER

ORDER,

THAN

PROPERLY

SPEAKING, IS A COMBINATION OF A CERTAIN STYLE

OFCOLUMN WITH OR WITHOUT A BASE AND AN
ENTABLATURE (WHAT THE COLUMN SUPPORTS: THE
ARCHITRAVE, FRIEZE, AND CORNICE). THE EARLIER
GREEK ARCHITECTS PROVIDED SOME OF THE FINEST

USE OF WOODEN PILLARS EVENTUALLY EVOLVED INTO

AND MOST DISTINCTIVE BUILDINGS IN THE ENTIRE

THE DORIC COLUMN IN STONE. THIS WAS A VERTICAL

ANCIENT WORLD AND SOME OF THEIR STRUCTURES,

FLUTED COLUMN SHAFT, THINNER AT ITS TOP, WITH

SUCH AS TEMPLES, THEATRES, AND STADIA, WOULD

NO BASE AND A SIMPLE CAPITAL BELOW A SQUARE

BECOME

ABACUS.

STAPLE

AND CITIES FROM

FEATURES
ANTIQUITY

OF

TOWNS

ONWARDS.

IN

THE

ENTABLATURE

FRIEZE

CARRIED

ALTERNATING TRIGLYPHS AND METOPES. THE IONIC

ADDITION, THE GREEK CONCERN WITH SIMPLICITY,

ORDER,

PROPORTION, PERSPECTIVE, AND HARMONY IN THEIR

BCE ASIA MINOR, ADDED A BASE AND VOLUTE, OR

BUILDINGS WOULD GO ON TO GREATLY INFLUENCE

SCROLL

ARCHITECTS IN THE ROMAN WORLD AND PROVIDE

COLUMN. THE IONIC ENTABLATURE OFTEN CARRIES A

THE

FRIEZE

FOUNDATION

FOR

THE

CLASSICAL

WITH

ORIGINS

CAPITAL,
WITH

TO

RICHLY

IN

MID-6TH

SLIMMER,

CARVED

CENTURY

STRAIGHTER

SCULPTURE.

THE

ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS WHICH WOULD DOMINATE

CORINTHIAN COLUMN, INVENTED IN ATHENS IN THE

THE WESTERN WORLD FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO

5TH CENTURY BCE, IS SIMILAR TO THE IONIC BUT

THE PRESENT DAY.

TOPPED
STYLIZED

THE ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS

BY

MORE

ACANTHUS

DECORATIVE
AND

FERN

CAPITAL

LEAVES.

OF

THESE

ORDERS BECAME THE BASIC GRAMMAR OF WESTERN

1

ARCHITECTURE AND IT IS DIFFICULT TO WALK IN ANY

ARGUED THAT CERTAIN DECORATIVE FEATURES OF

MODERN CITY AND NOT SEE EXAMPLES OF THEM IN

STONE COLUMN CAPITALS AND ELEMENTS OF THE

ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.

ENTABLATURE EVOLVED FROM THE SKILLS OF THE

CARPENTER DISPLAYED IN MORE ANCIENT, WOODEN
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS.
THE STONE OF CHOICE WAS EITHER LIMESTONE
PROTECTED BY A LAYER OF MARBLE DUST STUCCO OR
EVEN BETTER, PURE WHITE MARBLE. ALSO, CARVED
STONE WAS OFTEN POLISHED WITH CHAMOIS TO
PROVIDE RESISTANCE TO WATER AND GIVE A BRIGHT
FINISH.

THE

BEST

MARBLE

CAME

FROM NAXOS, PAROS, AND MT. PENTELICON NEAR

ATHENS.

CORINTHIAN CAPITAL
MATERIALS

TEMPLES, TREASURIES & STOAS

THE GREEKS CERTAINLY HAD A PREFERENCE FOR

ARCHITECTS USED SOPHISTICATED GEOMETRY

MARBLE, AT LEAST FOR THEIR PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

AND OPTICAL TRICKS TO PRESENT BUILDINGS

INITIALLY, THOUGH, WOOD WOULD HAVE BEEN USED

AS PERFECTLY STRAIGHT AND HARMONIOUS.

FOR

NOT

ONLY

SUCH

BASIC

ARCHITECTURAL

ELEMENTS AS COLUMNS BUT THE ENTIRE BUILDINGS

THE ANCIENT GREEKS ARE RIGHTLY FAMOUS FOR

THEMSELVES. EARLY 8TH CENTURY BCE TEMPLES

THEIR MAGNIFICENT DORIC AND IONIC TEMPLES, AND

WERE SO CONSTRUCTED AND HAD THATCH ROOFS.

THE

FROM THE LATE 7TH CENTURY BCE, TEMPLES, IN

THE PARTHENON OF ATHENS. BUILT IN THE MID 5TH

PARTICULAR, SLOWLY BEGAN TO BE CONVERTED INTO

CENTURY BCE IN ORDER TO HOUSE THE GIGANTIC

MORE DURABLE STONE EDIFICES; SOME EVEN HAD A

STATUE

MIX OF THE TWO MATERIALS. SOME SCHOLARS HAVE

WORLD THE GLORY OF ATHENS, IT STILL STANDS

EXAMPLE PAR

EXCELLENCE IS

OF ATHENAAND

TO

UNDOUBTEDLY

ADVERTISE

TO

THE

MAJESTICALLY ON THE CITYS ACROPOLIS. OTHER

THEREFORE, NOT ONLY FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURES

CELEBRATED

THE

BUT ALSO THAT THE BUILDING ITSELF, AS A WHOLE,

MASSIVE TEMPLE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA(COMPLETED

WAS SYMBOLIC AND AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN THE

C.

CIVIC LANDSCAPE.

460

EXAMPLES
BCE),

ARE
THE

TEMPLE

OF ARTEMIS AT EPHESUS(COMPLETED C. 430 BCE),

WHICH WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE WONDERS OF
THE ANCIENT WORLD, AND THE EVOCATIVE TEMPLE
OFPOSEIDON AT SOUNION (444-440 BCE), PERCHED
ON THE CLIFFS OVERLOOKING THE AEGEAN. THE
LATTER IS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE GREEK DESIRE THAT
SUCH PUBLIC BUILDINGS SHOULD NOT JUST FULFIL
THEIR TYPICAL FUNCTION OF HOUSING A STATUE OF A
GREEK DEITY, AND NOT ONLY SHOULD THEY BE
ADMIRED FROM CLOSE-UP OR FROM THE INSIDE, BUT
ALSO THAT THEY SHOULD BE ADMIRED FROM AFAR. A

TEMPLE OF HERA, SELINUS

GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT WAS MADE TO BUILD

GREEK TEMPLES, AT LEAST ON THE MAINLAND,

TEMPLES IN PROMINENT POSITIONS AND, USING

FOLLOWED

SOPHISTICATED GEOMETRY, ARCHITECTS INCLUDED

ALMOST ALL WERE RECTANGULAR AND PERIPTERAL,

OPTICAL TRICKS SUCH AS THICKENING THE LOWER

THAT

PARTS OF COLUMNS, THICKENING CORNER COLUMNS,

CONSISTED

AND HAVING COLUMNS EVER SO SLIGHTLY LEAN

EXCEPTIONS

INWARDS SO THAT FROM A DISTANCE THE BUILDING

ECCENTRIC ERECHTHEION OF

SEEMED PERFECTLY STRAIGHT AND IN HARMONY.

INNOVATIVE CARYATID COLUMNS AND THE TEMPLES

MANY OF THESE REFINEMENTS ARE INVISIBLE TO THE

OF THE CYCLADES WHICH, ALTHOUGH STILL DORIC,

NAKED EYE, AND EVEN TODAY ONLY SOPHISTICATED

ONLY

MEASURING

(PROSTYLE), WHICH WAS OFTEN WIDER THAN THE

DEVICES

CAN

DETECT

THE

MINUTE

DIFFERENCES IN ANGLES AND DIMENSIONS. SUCH

REFINEMENTS INDICATE THAT GREEK TEMPLES WERE,

IS

REMARKABLY

THEIR

HAD

LENGTH

OF

OF

EXTERIOR
ROWS

COLUMNS

SIDES

OF

INCLUDED

THE

SIMILAR

BUILDING.

AND

AND

FAADES

COLUMNS.

NOTABLE

THE

ON

PLAN

MAGNIFICENTLY

ATHENS

THE
SO

WITH

FRONT
TOO,

ITS

FAADE
TEMPLES
3

FROM IONIA TENDED TO DIFFER FROM THE NORM,

FROM GREEK MYTHOLOGY OR GREAT EPISODES IN

USUALLY HAVING A DOUBLE COLONNADE (DIPTERAL).

THAT PARTICULAR CITYS HISTORY.

HOWEVER, RETURNING TO THE STANDARD GREEK

TEMPLE LAYOUT, THE RECTANGULAR PERISTYLE OF

TEMPLES ALSO INDICATE THAT GREEK ARCHITECTS

COLUMNS (8 X 17 IN THE CASE OF THE PARTHENON, 6

(ARCHITEKTONES) WERE PERFECTLY AWARE OF THE

X 13 FOR THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA)

PROBLEMS

SURROUNDED AN INNER CHAMBER OR CELLA WITH

ABLE

THE WHOLE STANDING ON A STEPPED PLATFORM OR

WATER DRAINAGE AND THE USE OF CONTINUOUS

STYLOBATE

WITH

BASES ON FOUNDATIONS ABOVE VARIOUS LAYERS OF

USUALLY

FILL MATERIAL (CONGLOMERATE SOFT ROCKS, SOIL,

RAISED ALONG A CENTRAL RIDGE WITH A SLOPE OF

MARBLE CHIPS, CHARCOAL, AND EVEN SHEEPSKINS)

APPROXIMATELY

WAS

ALLOWED LARGE GREEK BUILDINGS TO BE BUILT IN

CONSTRUCTED FROM WOODEN BEAMS AND RAFTERS

THE BEST POSITIONS REGARDLESS OF TERRAIN AND

COVERED IN OVERLAPPING TERRACOTTA OR MARBLE

TO WITHSTAND THE RIGOURS OF WEATHER AND

TILES. DECORATIVE ACROTERIA (PALMS OR STATUES)

EARTHQUAKE OVER CENTURIES. INDEED, ABSOLUTE

OFTEN STOOD AT EACH POINT OF THE PEDIMENT.

STABILITY

FINALLY, THE DOORS TO TEMPLES WERE MADE OF

SETTLING OR SUBSIDENCE IN ANY PART OF THE

WOOD (ELM OR CYPRESS) AND OFTEN DECORATED

BUILDING WOULD RENDER USELESS THE OPTICAL

WITH BRONZE MEDALLIONS AND BOSSES.

REFINEMENTS DISCUSSED ABOVE. IT IS REMARKABLE

AND

RECTANGULAR

THE

SLABS.
15

INTERIOR
THE

ROOF

PAVED
WAS

DEGREES

AND

TO

OF

PROVIDING

SUPPORT

WAS

STABLE

LARGE

ESSENTIAL,

FOUNDATIONS

BUILDINGS.

AS

EVEN

CORRECT

SLIGHT

THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF GREEK BUILDINGS THAT

MANY

TEMPLES

SCULPTURE

ALSO

ARRANGED

CARRIED
TELL

INTERVENTION

PEDIMENTS, FRIEZES, AND METOPES ALL CARRIED

METAL

FIXTURES

SCULPTURE, OFTEN IN THE ROUND OR IN HIGH RELIEF

WEAKENING THE OVERALL STRUCTURE. STRUCTURES

AND ALWAYS RICHLY DECORATED (WITH PAINT AND

NOT

BRONZE

OF HEPHAISTOS IN

WHICH

NARRATIVE.

HAVE COLLAPSED HAVE DONE SO ONLY BECAUSE OF

HUMAN

ADDITIONS),

TO

ARCHITECTURAL

RETOLD

STORIES

INTERFERED

FOR
WITH,
THE

REMOVING
REUSE
SUCH

BLOCKS

OR

ELSEWHERE
AS

THE

TEMPLE

ATHENS AGORA,

ARE

TESTIMONY

TO

THE

IMPRESSIVE

DURABILITY

OF

GREEK BUILDINGS.
OTHER STRUCTURES WHICH WERE CONSTRUCTED
NEAR

TEMPLES

GATES

(SUCH

ACROPOLIS)

WERE
AS

AND

MONUMENTAL

ENTRANCE

THE PROPYLAIA OF
SMALL

BUILDINGS

TO

ATHENS
HOUSE

DEDICATIONS, OFTEN FROM SPECIFIC CITY-STATES.

THESE

VERY

OFTEN

BORROWED

ARCHITECTURAL

ELEMENTS FROM THE TEMPLE SUCH AS COLUMNED

FAADES AND FRIEZES. AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE IS
THE TREASURY OF THE ATHENIANS AT DELPHI (490
BCE).

PROPYLAEA, ATHENS
THE STOA WAS ANOTHER STRUCTURE COMMON TO
MANY TEMPLE COMPLEXES FROM THE 7TH CENTURY
BCE ONWARDS. THIS WAS A LONG, NARROW ROW OF
COLUMNS BACKED BY A PLAIN WALL AND ROOFED.
OFTEN PLACED AT RIGHT-ANGLES TO CREATE AN
ENCLOSED OPEN SPACE, STOAS WERE USED FOR ALL
MANNER OF PURPOSES SUCH AS MEETING PLACES
AND STORAGE. THE AGORA OR MARKET PLACE OF
MANY ANCIENT GREEK TOWNS WOULD BE COMPOSED
OF A LARGE OPEN SQUARE SURROUNDED BY A STOA.
5

ONE UNUSUAL STOA IS THAT OF THE SICILIAN COLONY

COLUMNS HAVE PROVIDED THE MOST TANGIBLE

OF SELINUS. THIS WAS CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN 580

ARCHITECTURAL LEGACY FROM THE GREEK WORLD,

AND 570 BCE AND WAS A TRAPEZOID IN SHAPE. MORE

AND IT IS PERHAPS IRONIC THAT THE ARCHITECTURE

INTERESTINGLY, THE NEARBY SHOPS ALL PRESENT

OF GREEK RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS HAS BEEN SO

THE SAME FAADE DESPITE BEING DIFFERENT TYPES

WIDELY ADOPTED IN THE MODERN WORLD FOR SUCH

OF BUILDINGS. THIS IS EVIDENCE THAT THERE WAS

SECULAR

SOME SORT OF CENTRALLY CONTROLLED PLANNING

GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.

AUTHORITY

WHICH

ARCHITECTURE

IN

ENSURED
IMPORTANT

HARMONY
PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

AS

COURT

HOUSES

AND

OF

PLACES.

CERTAINLY, DURING THE 5TH CENTURY BCE THERE

WERE PROFESSIONAL TOWN PLANNERS, THE MOST
FAMOUS OF WHICH WAS HIPPODAMOS WHO IS OFTEN
CREDITED

WITH

PLANNING

THE PIRAEUS ANDRHODES. INTERESTINGLY, THERE

IS

VERY

OFTEN

CORRESPONDENCE

BETWEEN

ARCHITECTURAL CHANGES IN TOWNS AND CHANGES

IN POLITICAL REGIME. ONE FINAL FUNCTION OF THE
STOA

IN HELLENISTIC TIMES

WAS

IN

THE GYMNASIUM AND PALAISTRA COMPLEXES,

NOTABLY AT THE GREAT SANCTUARIES OF OLYMPIA,
DELPHI, AND NEMEA. THESE STOAS WERE USED TO
CREATE

AN

ENCLOSED

SPACE

FOR

THEATRE OF DELPHI
THE THEATRE

PHYSICAL

ANOTHER DISTINCTIVE GREEK CONTRIBUTION TO

EXERCISE AND PROVIDE A PRACTICE AREA FOR SUCH

WORLD CULTURE WAS THE AMPHITHEATRE. THE

FIELD EVENTS AS THE JAVELIN AND DISCUS.

OLDEST CERTAIN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF

TEMPLES, TREASURIES, AND STOAS THEN, WITH

THEIR VARIOUS ORDERS AND ARRANGEMENTS OF

THEATRES DATES FROM THE LATE 6TH CENTURY BCE

BUT WE MAY ASSUME THAT GREEKS GATHERED IN
SPECIFIED

PUBLIC

PLACES

MUCH

EARLIER.
6

INDEED, BRONZE

SUCH

IS THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS ELEUTHERIUS ON THE

AS PHAISTOS HAD LARGE STEPPED-COURTS WHICH

SOUTHERN SLOPE OF ATHENS ACROPOLIS WHERE

ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN USED FOR SPECTACLES

THE

SUCH

AESCHYLUS,

AS

AGE MINOAN SITES

RELIGIOUS

PROCESSIONS

AND

BULL-

GREAT

PLAYS

OF SOPHOCLES,

EURIPEDES,

AND ARISTOPHANES WERE

FIRST

LEAPING SPORTS. THEN FROM THE LATE 6TH CENTURY

PERFORMED. ONE OF THE LARGEST IS THE THEATRE

BCE

OFARGOS WHICH

WE

HAVE

RECTANGULAR

THEATRE-LIKE

HAD

CAPACITY

FOR

20,000

STRUCTURE FROM THORIKOS IN ATTICA WHICH HAD A

SPECTATORS, AND ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED IS

TEMPLE DEDICATED TO DIONYSOS AT ONE END. THIS

THE

WOULD SUGGEST IT WAS USED DURING DIONYISTIC

EVERY

FESTIVALS,

OFTEN

PERFORMANCES. THEATRES WERE USED NOT ONLY

PRESENTED. HOWEVER, IT WAS FROM THE 5TH

FOR THE PRESENTATION OF PLAYS BUT ALSO HOSTED

CENTURY BCE THAT THE GREEK AMPHITHEATRE TOOK

POETRY RECITALS AND MUSICAL COMPETITIONS.

AT

WHICH

DRAMAS

WERE

THEATRE

OF EPIDAURUSWHICH

SUMMER

TO

HOST

MAJOR

CONTINUES
DRAMATIC

ON ITS RECOGNISABLE AND MOST INFLUENTIAL FORM.

THIS WAS AN OPEN-AIR AND APPROXIMATELY SEMICIRCULAR ARRANGEMENT OF RISING ROWS OF SEATS
(THEOTRON)

WHICH

PROVIDED

EXCELLENT

ACOUSTICS. THE STAGE OR ORCHESTRA WAS ALSO

SEMI-CIRCULAR AND BACKED BY A SCREEN OR SKENE,
WHICH

WOULD

BECOME

MONUMENTAL

IN

THE

MONUMENTAL

ARCHES

MORE

AND

FOLLOWING
OFTEN

MORE

CENTURIES.

PROVIDED

THE

ENTRANCES (PARADOI) ON EITHER SIDE OF THE

STAGE.
ANCIENT STADIUM, NEMEA, GREECE
EXAMPLES
WORLD

ABOUND

AND

MANY

THROUGHOUT
THEATRES

THE

HAVE

GREEK

THE STADIUM

SURVIVED

REMARKABLY WELL. ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED

7

ANOTHER

LASTING

CONTRIBUTION

HOUSES WERE THE NORM. LATER, FROM THE 5TH

AFTER

THE

CENTURY BCE, BETTER HOUSES WERE BUILT IN

DISTANCE (600 ANCIENT FEET OR AROUND 180

STONE, USUALLY WITH PLASTERED EXTERIOR AND

METRES)

OF

FRESCOED

HOSTED

STADIUMS

CONSTRUCTED

THE

NAMED

FOOT-RACE

THEY

THE STADE OR STADION.

NEAR

EVOLVED

STRUCTURES

WERE

CULTURE

TO NO PARTICULAR DESIGN. ONE- OR TWO-STORIED

THE

STADIA

WORLD

ARCHITECTURAL
WAS

STADIUM.

TO

GREEK

WITH

NATURAL

INTO
ROWS

MORE
OF

ORIGINALLY

INTERIOR

WALLS.

ALSO,

THERE

WAS

INITIALLY

OFTEN NO PARTICULAR EFFORT AT TOWN PLANNING

EMBANKMENTS,

WHICH USUALLY RESULTED IN A MAZE OF NARROW

SOPHISTICATED

CHAOTIC STREETS, EVEN IN SUCH GREAT CITIES AS

STONE

OR

EVEN

ATHENS. COLONIES IN MAGNA GRAECIA, AS WE

MARBLE STEPS FOR SEATING WHICH HAD DIVISIONS

HAVE SEEN IN SELINUS, WERE SOMETHING OF AN

FOR EASE OF ACCESS. CONDUITS RAN AROUND THE

EXCEPTION AND OFTEN HAD MORE REGULAR STREET

TRACK TO DRAIN OFF EXCESS RAINFALL AND IN

PLANS, NO DOUBT A BENEFIT OF CONSTRUCTING A

HELLENISTIC TIMES VAULTED CORRIDORS PROVIDED A

TOWN FROM SCRATCH.

DRAMATIC ENTRANCE FOR ATHLETES AND JUDGES.

FAMOUS EXAMPLES INCLUDE THOSE AT NEMEA AND

IN

CONCLUSION

THEN,

WE

MAY

OLYMPIA WHICH HAD SEATING CAPACITIES OF 30,000

ANCIENT GREEK

AND 45,000 SPECTATORS RESPECTIVELY.

NOT ONLY MANY OF THE STAPLE FEATURES OF

ARCHITECTURE HAS

SAY

THAT

PROVIDED

MODERN WESTERN ARCHITECTURE, BUT IT HAS ALSO

HOUSING

GIVEN THE WORLD TRULY MAGNIFICENT BUILDINGS

WHICH HAVE LITERALLY STOOD THE TEST OF TIME

CONSIDERING MORE MODEST STRUCTURES, THERE

AND CONTINUE TO INSPIRE ADMIRATION AND AWE.

WERE FOUNTAIN HOUSES (FROM THE 6TH CENTURY

MANY OF THESE BUILDINGS - THE PARTHENON, THE

BCE) WHERE PEOPLE COULD EASILY COLLECT WATER

CARYATID PORCH OF THE ERECHTHEION, THE VOLUTE

AND PERHAPS, AS BLACK-FIGURE POTTERY SCENES

OF AN IONIC CAPITAL TO NAME JUST THREE - HAVE

SUGGEST, SOCIALISE. REGARDING PRIVATE HOMES,

BECOME THE INSTANTLY RECOGNISABLE AND ICONIC

THESE WERE USUALLY CONSTRUCTED WITH MUD

SYMBOLS OF ANCIENT GREECE.

BRICK, HAD PACKED EARTH FLOORS, AND WERE BUILT

8