Greek Architecture

Greek Architecture The Greeks believed in certain ideas like reason, moderation, balance and harmony in their designing of designing and building structures. The most important structure in Greek society was the temple dedicated to the patron god or goddess. They were simple, graceful structures that were made of the finest stone and marble. They served as places for the ancient gods and goddesses to inhabit and for the people to come and give sacrifices. These temples had a walled room in their center called a cella where the statues of the gods and goddess stood. A smaller room was sometimes used as a special treasury to hold gold and other offerings that were given to the temple complex. Large columns supported the roof and at first were carved from wood. Later the Greeks used marble blocks chiseled from stone quarries to form these columns. The three different styles of columns, that the Greeks used were the Doric, Ionic, and the Corinthian. Usually the Greeks would build their temples on an acropolis or the high part of the city. The acropolis would serve as a fortress and the religious center of each city state. The columns of the Greeks are one of the main types of architecture that we use even today in buildings such as the White house, and the Capitol building in Washington. Once the columns were built then the sculptors would come in and design pictures of events that pertained to the god or goddess or honor warriors who had defended their city state.

The Parthenon was one such temple dedicated to Athena the patron goddess of Athens. It was built in 449 B.C. by Pericles the leader of Athens. Pericles asked the famous sculptor Phidias to help design and build a new temple called the Parthenon which in Greek means “dwelling of the maiden”. The building was 228 feet long, 65 feet high and 101 feet wide. It basically held two rooms- the main room held a forty foot statue of Athena made of gold and ivory. Her left hand rested on a twenty foot spear and the right hand held a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory. The other room was the temple treasury. Around these rooms 46 columns of the Doric order went around the four sides. The Parthenon was built throughout of the finest marble that was very light in color and as stated by the Greeks would reflect the suns colors at various times of the day. The two triangular ends of the roof (pediments) were filled with sculpture depicting the birth of Athena (east) and the contest between Poseidon and Athena for possession of Athens (west). Along the frieze of the Cella there was a 524 foot continuous sculpture of 350 people and 125 horses in the Panathenaic procession honoring the birthday of Athena. Many of these sculptures are consider to be some of the greatest sculptures ever made and were taken by a British Lord named Elgin and kept in the British museum in London. The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena but it also clearly showed to the world that Athens and the Athenian people were the most powerful and their glory was second to none.