3.04 Greek Temple Basics

Now your head may be swimming after the last two lessons on ancient Greek art, given all the terms and works you had to learn. Still, you may want to hold on to something because this lesson may cause you to faint! Keep in mind, though, that we are studying the most important period of art history in Western civilization. The terms and works, which we will learn in these lessons, will reappear, in some form or another, time and time again in our study Therefore, it is vital that you learn this information well. You may also take heart that after these lessons, assuming that you do in fact learn them well, everything else will seem easy!

Most of the earliest ancient Greek structures were built with mud-brick and wood and, needless to say, did not survive. At the beginning of the Archaic period, however, building in stone began in earnest. Influenced by the great columned halls of Egypt, the Archaic Greeks started constructing columned stone temples with double-sloped roofs. These buildings are not only the most important structures which we have studied so far, but they will also prove to have an effect like no other on later Western architecture. Architectural sculpture also adorned most temples and it was always painted.

Note, too, that the Greek temple was also not a place of public worship, for altars were placed outside the structures. Instead, the temples were seen as homes for the cult statues of the deities to the buildings had been dedicated. This should become apparent as we proceed.

Although there were many varieties of Greek temples (see below), they all had the same basic plan. These "variations on a theme" illuminated the ancient Greek ideal of proportion, balance and symmetry. In general, ancient Greek architects also strove for a 1:2 ratio of width to length, a matter which we will explicate later.

Below, you will find the general plan for canonical Greek temples (meaning structures that follow a particular canon). At the center was a windowless cella or naos which housed the cult statue. In front was the pronaos or porch usually with columns placed between extended walls or antae. The back porch, or opisthodomos, had no function and simply provided balance and symmetry. The level on which the columns rest is known as the stylobate.

Most temples had colonnades of various kinds as well:

• prostyle: columns across the front porch only
• amphiprostyle: columns across the front and back porch
• peristyle: columns around the cella

There were also variations of peristyle temples:

• peripteral: single row of columns around the cella
• dipteral: double rows of columns around the cell
• pseudo dipteral: only an outermost row of colums

Temple in Antis at Delphi by SR

Peripteral Temple at Agrigento by SR

We will now study the terminology of temple elevation from the bottom to the top. Typically, Greek temple elevation is divided into three sections (from the ground up):

• platform
• colonnade (columns)
• superstructure (what rests on the columns)

In the Archaic period, two systems, or orders, arose around which most of the temples conformed. The first was the Doric order, found mainly on the mainland of Greece and in the western colonies (so-called after the Dorian Greeks). The second was the Ionic order (after the Ionian Sea), which was most prevalent on the Aegean islands and in Asia Minor.

Let us now take a closer look at the three sections of a Greek temple elevation, one for each order. It may prove helpful to print this section now (instead of later) so that you will be able to refer the diagrams below as you read the notes.

• Platforms are more technically known as stylobates, and were the same for both orders.

• Columns of both orders were drummed, fluted and tapered towards the top, though the elevations were different.
  • Doric columns were comprised of a shaft and a capital. The capital included a necking (the transition area between shaft and capital), a cushion-like echinus and an abacus which served as a support for the superstructure.
  • Ionic columns were comprised of a base, shaft and capital. The capital was a spiral volute under an abacus.

• Superstructures are better known as entablatures, and were different for both orders.
  • The first part of the entablature was the architrave, which we have previously called a lintel.
    • Doric architraves were left plain.
    • Ionic architraves were divided into three bands or fasciae.
  • Above the architrave stood the frieze.
    • Doric friezes were comprised of alternating triglyphs (a projecting, grooved section) and metopes (open area between triglyphs often used for architectural sculpture).
    • Ionic friezes were left open primarily for continuous sculptural reliefs.
  • The cornice, the same for both orders, topped the structure and also framed the pediment, which too held architectural sculpture.

Doric Elevation of the Parthenon in Athens by SR

Ionic Elevation of the Erechtheion in Athens by SR

• parts of a temple
  • cella
• pronaos
• antae
• opisthodomos
• peristyle
• stylobate
• types of temples
  • in antis
  • prostyle
  • amphiprostyle
  • tholos
  • peripteral
  • dipteral
  • pseudo dipteral
• Doric order elevation
  • shaft
  • capital
  • necking
  • echinus
  • abacus
  • entablature
  • architrave
  • frieze
  • triglyph
  • metope
  • cornice
  • ranking cornice
  • pediment
• Ionic order elevation (in addition to the Doric terms)
  • base
  • volute
  • fasciae

Assignment 3.04 - Multiple Choice Practice

After you have reviewed your cumulative notes, complete the online assessment 3.04. Remember that your first submission should be done with a time constraint and without notes.