Greek architecture seems to have emerged from a state of archaic
simplicity in the sixth century before the Christian era. All its finest
creations were between that date and the death of Alexander the Great in
333 B. C.
In the days of their greatest refinement the Greeks sought rather to
adorn their country than their homes. If there were palatial residences,
they were more perishable, and have decayed or been destroyed, leaving
few remains to tell of their former grandeur. We know their architecture
almost exclusively from the ruins of their public buildings, and mostly
from temples and mausoleums. The Greek temple was peculiar, and made
little or no provision for a congregation of worshipers. The design was
largely for external effect. A comparatively small room or cell received
the image of the divinity, and another room behind it seems to have
served as a treasury for votive offerings. But there were no surrounding
chambers, halls or court yards. The temple, though within some precinct,
was accessible to all, and, being open to the sun and air, invited the
admiration of the passer-by. Its most telling features and best sculpture
were on the exterior. The columns and the superstructure which rested on
them must have played a very important part in their temple architecture.
There were in Greece three distinct manners, differing mostly in the
manner in which the column was treated. These are called “orders;” and
are named Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Each of these presents a different
series of proportions, mouldings and ornamentations in the column used,
though the main form of the structure is the same in all. The column and
its entablature being the most prominent features of the building, have
come to be regarded as the index or characteristic, from an inspection of
which the order can be recognized, just as a botanist recognizes plants
by their flowers.
From a study of the column all the principal characteristics of the
different orders are ascertained. The column belonging to any order is,
of course, always accompanied by the use throughout the building of the
appropriate proportions, mouldings and ornaments belonging to that order.
The Doric temple at Corinth is attributed to the seventh century B. C.
This was a massive structure, with short, stumpy columns, and strong
mouldings, but presenting the main features of the Doric style in its
earliest, rudest form. The most complete Greek Doric temple was the
Parthenon—the work of the architect Ictinus. It is selected for our
purpose of illustration, because on many accounts the best, and many of
our readers have seen the plate representing it. The Parthenon stood
on the summit of a lofty rock, within an irregularly shaped enclosure,
entered through a noble gateway. The temple itself was of perfectly
regular plan, and stood quite free from all dependencies of any sort. It
consisted of the _cella_, or sacred cell, in which stood the statue of
the goddess, and behind it the treasury chamber. In both these there were
symmetrical columns. A series of columns surrounded the building, and at
either end was a portico eight columns wide and two deep. There were two
pediments of flat pitch, one at each end. The whole rested on a basement
of steps. The building, exclusive of the steps, was 228 feet long by 101
feet wide, and 64 feet high. The columns were 34 feet 3 inches high,
and more than 6 feet in diameter at the base. The marble of which this
temple was constructed was of the most solid and durable kind, and the
workmanship in all the parts that remain shows great skill and care in
the execution. The roof was probably of timbers covered with marble
tiles; but all traces of the frame work have entirely disappeared, and
hence the mode of construction is not known. Nor do authorities agree as
to what provision was made for the admission of light. It seems probable
that something like the clere-story of a Gothic church was used to light
the Parthenon.
This wonderful structure was Doric, and the leading proportions were as
follows: The column was 5.56 diameters high. The whole height, including
the stylobate or steps, might be divided into nine parts, of which two go
to the stylobate, six to the column, and one to the entablature.
The Greek Doric order is without a base; the shaft of the column springs
from the top step, and is tapering, not in a straight line, but with a
subtle curve, known technically as the entasis of the column. This shaft
is channeled usually with twenty shallow channels, the ridges separating
one from another being very fine lines.
The Parthenon, like many, if not all Greek buildings, was profusely
decorated with colored ornaments, of which nearly every trace has now
disappeared, but which must have contributed largely to the beauty of the
building as a whole, and must have emphasized and set off its parts.
The most famous Greek building in the Ionic style was the temple of
Diana, at Ephesus. This magnificent temple was almost totally destroyed,
and the very site was, for centuries, unknown, till the energy and
sagacity of an English architect enabled him to discover and dig out
the vestiges of the building. Fortunately sufficient traces of the
foundation remained to render it possible to make out the plan of the
temple completely. From the fragments he was able to restore on paper the
general appearance of the famous temple, which must be very nearly, if
not absolutely correct. The walls of this temple were entirely surrounded
by a double series of columns with a pediment at each end. The whole was
of marble and based on a spacious platform of steps.
The Corinthian order, the last to make its appearance, was almost as much
Roman as Greek. It resembles the Ionic, but the capitals are different,
the columns more slender, and the enrichments more florid.
The plan or floor disposition of a Greek building, always simple, was
well arranged for effect, and capable of being understood at once. All
confusion, uncertainty or complications were scrupulously avoided.
Refined precision, order, symmetry and exactness mark the plan as well as
every part of the work.
The construction of the walls of Greek temples rivaled that of the
Egyptians in accuracy and beauty of workmanship; though the wall was
evidently not the principal thing for effect with the Greek architect,
as much of it was overshadowed by lines of columns, which form the main
feature of the building.
The Corinthian order is the natural sequel to the Ionic. Had Greek
architecture continued till it fell into decadence, this order would have
been its badge. As it was, the decadence of Greek art was Roman art, and
the Corinthian order was the favorite order of the Romans.