 The Greek people : their cultures,

characteristics and achievements

 The Greek orders, materials
 Classical Greek buildings and the
proportioning systems they
employ
 The Acropolis (High City of
Athens)
 Parthenon / other temples
Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean
Sea, Ionian Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
Ancient Greece c.1500 BCE – 350 CE
Greek Timeline
The Neolithic Age (c. 6000 - c. 2900 BCE)
Characterized by permanent settlements (in one-room stone houses with a
roof of timber and clay daubing) found in northern Greece, domestication of
animals, and further development of agriculture.

The Cycladic Civilization (c. 3200-1100 BCE)

Earliest evidence of continual human habitation around the islands of the
Aegean Sea. Houses and temples were built of finished stone and the people
made their living through fishing and trade.

The Minoan Civilization (2700-1500 BCE)

Two phases overlap, merge and developed on the island of Crete. The
Minoan good in writing system and made advances in ship building,
construction, ceramics, the arts and sciences, and warfare.

The fall of Minoan (1650-1550 BCE)

Highly deforestation; eruption of the volcano and tsunami. Alexander The Great
(356-323 BCE)
The Mycenaean Civilization (approx. 1900-1100 BCE)
The beginning of Greek culture. The civilization destroyed by an invasion of
Doric Greeks.
Greek Timeline
Greek Dark Ages (approx. 1100-800 BCE)

The Archaic Period (800-500 BCE)

Characterized by the introduction of Republics instead of Monarchies
organised as a single city-state or polis, the institution of laws, the great
Panathenaeic Festival, distinctive Greek pottery and sculpture and the first
coins produced.

Classical Period of Greek (480-323 BCE)

323 BCE – the death of Alexander the Great; full scale invasion of Persia.
Golden Age of Athens, when Pericles initiated the building of the Acropolis.

Hellenistic Age (323-31 BCE)

After the death of Alexander the Great, his vast empire was divided
between four of his generals. Roman invasion of Greece.
168 BCE - Greece steadily came under the influence of Rome.
31 BCE - Julius Caesar annexed the country as a province of Rome. Greece Julius Ceaser
a part of the Roman Empire.
(63 BCE – 14 CE)
“Greeks sought for man’s harmony with the
universe, communed with the abstract and
expressed their cosmic consciousness in art as
fine as man’s purest ideals.”

Greece is the birthplace of Western philosophy

(Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle), literature
(Homer and Hesiod), mathematics (Pythagoras
and Euclid), history (Herodotus), drama
(Sophocles, Euripedes, and Aristophanes), the
Olympic Games, and democracy.
 T h e P e o p le
Herodotus (484 – 425/413 BCE) was a writer /
historian. He was called `The Father of History’ by
the Roman writer and orator Cicero for his famous
work, The Histories but has also been called “The
Father of Lies” by critics who claim these `histories’
are little more than tall tales.

Socrates (469/470-399 BCE) was a Greek

philosopher and is considered the father of western
philosophy. Plato was his most famous student and
would teach Aristotle who would then tutor
Alexander the Great.
The people and their
c u l t u r e
It was the war tribes who dominated the art of
Greece.
 The people and their
c u l t u r e
Pottery was decorated with simple
geometric patterns and where a scene was
to be represented it formed part of this
strict design.

geometrical Red figure Black figure

• Greek culture was aimed at worshipping
their multitude of gods and goddess.

• One way of worshipping was to build

temples fitting to house and represent
these divine forces.
The temples

Temple model found in the

Sanctuary of Hera, mid-8th century.
BCE, terra cotta

• In these early days, simplicity & clear arrangement was introduced

by Greeks into building styles.
• Early temples were built of timbers, mud and bricks. It consisted of
little else than a small wall cubicle to hold the image of God.
• Wooden props turned into columns which supported the strong
crossbeams of stone.
The temples

Hence NO BUILDING can be said to be well designed which wants

symmetry and proportion. In truth they are as necessary to the
beauty of a building as to that of a well formed human figure...
Vitruvius
The temples
• The only guidance came from geometry. Geometry offered a
kind of guidance to communicate divinity because orderly
geometry reflected the order of the divine world.
• Employed regular multiples and fractions of that module to
determine the dimensions of everything else in the scheme,
using relative proportions of the elements in plan and elevation
from simple geometrical figures.
 Geometrical forms
contrasting and
complementing the nature
organic surrounding of
mountains, valleys and seas,
in which they are sited.

Temple of Poseidon
 The Golden Section
or 1 : 1.618

• The Golden Section has

been referred to as the
Divine Proportion, the
Golden Rectangle.
• The Golden Section is more
than just a simple
rectangle. The proportions
represented are a simple, yet
mesmerizing, mathematical
sequence.
The Golden Section
Greek structures and elements were
based on their concept of beauty and
harmony, as it were based on orderly
proportion, symmetry controlled forms
that symbolised dignity and status.
Cut it into half
• Greek architecture had the ability to bring man, nature and
God together
• Celebrated the exterior more than the interior -- material
used : marble, limestone & wooden roof construction --
symbolic of the Greek culture. It was used to commune or
socialise and be part of nature, as part of interaction
between man and God.

Temple of Hephaestus, Athens Greece

• Post and beam structure - simple and practical structure to suit
the Mediterranean climate.

• Principle of column and lintel, when linking together to form a long

colonnade (a row of columns supporting a roof)

• To allow as much light into the interior space as possible. The

Greeks were more concerned with the form and the interplay with
the light and shadows to create dramatic effects, such as ‘purity,
elasticity, and clearness.’
G r e e k
Orders
The Greeks developed three
architectural systems, called
orders, each with their
distinctive proportions and
detailing.

To the Greeks, these orders

represented the perfect
expression of beauty and
harmony.
Doric Order

• The Doric temple appeared

between 500-700 BC in mainland
Greece.

• Earliest, simplest, serious and

formal.

• Stood directly on the flat pavement

with no base, plain capitals and
undecorated grooving along.
Ionic Order

• Originated in the islands of Asia Minor

during the 6th Century BC.
• Slimmer and lighter.
• More delicately sculpture, on a
decorated base that separates the shaft
of the column from the stylobate or
platform.
• Identified by the volutes on the capitals
that look like rams’ horns or scroll rolled
up at either ends.
Co ri n t h i a n O r d e r

• Often seen in Roman architecture and

seldom in Greek architecture.
• Highly detailed, later developed of the
Ionic order, more slender.
• Capital shaped like a basket surrounded
by acanthus leaves — managed to solve
the problem with the corner pillars and
lavish and dramatic.
• Its column is almost always fluted.
Caryatid
• It always comes together with Ionic Order.

• Sculpted female figure serving as an

architectural support taking the place of a
column with an entablature on her head.

• It was modeled after the girls from Karyæ

who were considered especially beautiful,
tall, strong, and capable of giving birth to
strong children.
The Porch of Caryatids,
Erechtheion, Athens
(421-407 BCE)
What type of temple is
this?
 Stylos Numbers of Columns
Distyle 2
Tristyle 3
Tetrastyle 4
Pentastyle 5
Hexastyle 6
Heptastyle 7
Octastyle 8
Enneastyle 9
Decastyle 10

** Stylos = Greek Word for Column

 Te m p le L ay o u t

Peripteral Peristyle
a single row of columns a range of columns
surrounding the building surrounding the building
 Te m p le L ay o u t

In Antis Amphiprostyle
with columns placed between columns at the front and
the ends of the side walls rear of the temple
 Te m p le L ay o u t

Prostyle Dipteral
with columns placed in the row double row of columns on
in front of the side walls each side
 Te m p le L ay o u t

Pseudo-peripteral Pseudo-dipteral
columns in the front or back, but the single peristyle surrounding the
columns along the sides are engaged cella at the distance of two
in the peripheral walls of the building intercolumns and one column
What type of temple is
this? 1 Hexastyle
2
3
4
5
6

Double row
columns
Dipteral

Hexastyle Dipteral Temple

 Why Greek
Architecture is very
importance?

Because of its
Because of its Because of its
invention of the
logic and order influence on
classical "orders"
other schools

Because of its exquisite

architectural sculpture
To be continue…
Questions?
 Parthenon
Erechtheum Temple of Zeus

The Acropolis of Athens is so well known that although there are

many other acropoleis (pural) in Greece, it is commonly known
as The Acropolis without any qualification.

pROPYLAEA

Temple of Athena Nike

Acropolis of Athens
pROPYLAEA
Monumental gate / entranceway to the
acropolis (High City)
Architects : Mnesicles (yes, that’s the name)
Construction : Pentelic marble, their design was
avant-garde. (built during 437-432 BC)
 Propylaea

Ionic
Doric
Temple of
Athena Nike
 Southwest wing view

Frontal view

The Propylaia is unique on the Acropolis in

that is not dedicated to any deity
(God/Goddess). Thus, there were no expense
of adorning it with sculptures and other
decorations. It was a purely functional
building, and achieved its purpose in
introducing visitors to the Acropolis.
PARTHENON
The most famous & most proportionate
temple - Doric
Architects : Ictinus and Callicrates with Phidias
Construction : Bearing masonry & cut stone
(built during 432 – 447 BC)
Dedicated to : Goddess Athena Pallas
BALANCE & PROPORTION
 The ceiling was of
wood, with painted and
gilded decoration.

Inside the colonnades,

Light was admitted, as towards the end, there stood
normally in Greek the gold and ivory statue of
temples, only through Athena Parthenos.
the doorway when the

Plan of Parthenon
great doors were opened.
Optical
Illusion?
 After the correction… Without correction…

No straight lines on the Parthenon. Columns of the

peristyle taper on a slight arc as they reach the top of the
building giving the impression that they are swollen from
the entasis (tension).
 outside inside

Visual illusion, designed columns at the corners of the temple to be

1/40th larger in diameter than all other columns, while the other
columns made the space around them smaller than the rest of the
columns --- it made the columns appear a little thinner when they are set
against the sky and little further apart then the columns set against the
darker background of the building.
Temple of Athena Nike &
Erechtheum
The earliest Ionic temple & the finest
Ionic temple
Architects : Callicrates
Construction : Bearing masonry, cut stone
(built during 427-424 BC)
Dedicated to : Goddess Athena Nike
 A

Temple of Athena Nike Plan Temple of Athena Nike Section A–A

Temple of Athena
Nike
The ratio of the
height of the column
to its base diameter
is low: 7:1 instead of
the normal Ionic 9:1
or 10:1
 Architects : Mnesicles
Construction : Bearing masonry & cut stone
(built during 421 - 407 BC)
Dedicated to : King Erechtheus
(he was the son of Hephaestus and
Gaia or Athena or Atthis???)

Erechtheum
The famous porch!

Plan of
Erechtheum
Temple of Zeus
Corinthian order
Architects : Callicrates
Construction : Bearing masonry, cut stone
(built during 427-424 BC)
Dedicated to : God Zeus
Temple of Zeus

acropolis
Temple of Zeus
Other Greek sites
Like a civic centre, or 'open
place of assembly’.

Impressive open space where

officially the market-place,
gathered around itself the
meeting halls used for
government & laws.
Established the principle of
representative of democracy
(freedom of speech)

Agora
As in Greece, the
women frequented at
the out-door market to
shop while the men
would meet there to
discuss politics or
events of the day.

Later, the agora defined

as open-air, often
tented, hosted all
manner of merchants,
from confectioners to
slave traders.

Agora
Agora
Stoas were sheltered promenades lined with
shops and offices which became the feature
of the agora.

A simple influential invention of the Greeks,

which took the principle of the column and
lintel.

Agora
Bouleuterion
 The old bouleuterion is the
actual meeting place of the
boule (the Senate) of
Athens.

It was used to
accommodate the members
of the Boule, a council with
major advisory, legislative
and administrative
responsibilities in the
Athenian Democracy.

Bouleuterion
 Bouleuterion

Old bouleuterion

The building consisted of a large, oblong ante-

chamber, and a rectangular main hall with a
capacity of 700 persons. A colonnade which
New bouleuterion had the shape of the Greek letter "Π"
supported the roof.
A Bouleuterion was built using stone or
marble and they used the Ionic order for the
building's capitals.
The word hypocrisy comes
from the Greek ὑπόκρισις
(hypokrisis), which means
"play-acting", "acting out",
"coward" or "dissembling“.

Theatre
A Greek theater building, or theatron, was a large
open-air structure consisting of three parts: the
orchestra, the skene, and the audience.
At the center was the orchestra, or "dancing place." It
was a large circular area about 150 meters across. The
orchestra was the place of the action, the choral
performances, and the religious rites. An altar was in
the middle of the orchestra.

Theatre
 Parts of Theatre

theatron
skene
parodos
proskenion
chorus
altar

orchestra
 well known Theatre

Theatre of Delphi
 Built on 6th century BCE, at the slope of the Acropolis of Athens.
 Bowl shape structure with sloping seats
 It has no outside exterior as it is situated in a natural hollow
below a hill, usually outside the main city
 Nature provided her own backdrop of hill or sea for the players
Theatre

• For public worship as temples were not catered to do.

• Associated with rituals and include a circular or semi-
circular stage or orchestra, for dancing and singing
involved, and an altar for libations with performance.
 well knownTheatre
Theatre of Dionysus
 well known Theatre
Theatre of Epidaurus
 Greek house

Ancient Greek homes were

usually plain and simple. There
were made of:
 Sun-dried mud bricks
 Foundation of stones
 Roof were made of
overlapping clay tiles
 Packed mud floor except in
the andron, sometimes
tiled floor.
 Greek house

(Gynaeceum) women’s room

(Andron) men’s apartment
Rich men house (interior)
 THE END
Questions?