1.
Ancient Greek temple
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Greek temples (Ancient Greek, Ναός, Naós dwelling, semantically distinct from Latin templum were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, since the sacrifices, temples were frequently used to store votive offerings. They are the most important and most widespread building type in Greek architecture, in the Hellenistic kingdoms of Southwest Asia and of North Africa, buildings erected to fulfill the functions of a temple often continued to follow the local traditions. Even where a Greek influence is visible, such structures are not normally considered as Greek temples and this applies, for example, to the Graeco-Parthian and Bactrian temples, or to the Ptolemaic examples, which follow Egyptian tradition. Most Greek temples were oriented astronomically, stylistically, they were governed by the regionally specific architectural orders. Whereas the distinction was originally between the Doric and Ionic orders, an alternative arose in late 3rd century BC with the Corinthian order. A multitude of different ground plans were developed, each of which could be combined with the superstructure in the different orders. From the 3rd century BC onwards, the construction of temples became less common, after a short 2nd century BC flourish. Thereafter, only structures were newly begun, while older temples continued to be renovated or brought to completion if in an unfinished state. Greek temples were designed and constructed according to set proportions, mostly determined by the diameter of the columns or by the dimensions of the foundation levels. The nearly mathematical strictness of the basic designs thus reached was lightened by optical refinements, in spite of the still widespread idealised image, Greek temples were painted, so that bright reds and blues contrasted with the white of the building stones or of stucco. The more elaborate temples were equipped with rich figural decoration in the form of reliefs. The construction of temples was usually organised and financed by cities or by the administrations of sanctuaries, private individuals, especially Hellenistic rulers, could also sponsor such buildings. New temples now belonged to the tradition of Roman architecture, which, in spite of the Greek influence on it, aimed for different goals and followed different aesthetic principles. The Mycenaean Megaron was the precursor for later Archaic and Classical Greek temples, the basic principles for the development of Greek temple architecture have their roots between the 10th century BC and the 7th century BC. In its simplest form as a naos, the temple was a rectangular shrine with protruding side walls. Until the 8th century BC, there were also apsidal structures with more or less semi-circular back walls, by adding columns to this small basic structure, the Greeks triggered the development and variety of their temple architecture. The columns and superstructure were wooden, door openings and antae were protected with wooden planks, the mud brick walls were often reinforced by wooden posts, in a type of half-timbered technique
2.
Ancient Greek architecture
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Ancient Greek architecture is best known from its temples, many of which are found throughout the region, mostly as ruins but many substantially intact. The second important type of building that all over the Hellenic world is the open-air theatre. Ancient Greek architecture is distinguished by its highly formalised characteristics, both of structure and decoration, nikolaus Pevsner refers to the plastic shape of the temple. placed before us with a physical presence more intense, more alive than that of any later building. The architecture of ancient Rome grew out of that of Greece, the successive styles of Neoclassical architecture and Greek Revival architecture followed and adapted Ancient Greek styles closely. The mainland and islands of Greece are rocky, with deeply indented coastline, the most freely available building material is stone. Limestone was readily available and easily worked, there is an abundance of high quality white marble both on the mainland and islands, particularly Paros and Naxos. This finely grained material was a contributing factor to precision of detail. Deposits of high quality potters clay were found throughout Greece and the Islands and it was used not only for pottery vessels, but also roof tiles and architectural decoration. The climate of Greece is maritime, with both the coldness of winter and the heat of summer tempered by sea breezes and this led to a lifestyle where many activities took place outdoors. Colonnades encircling buildings, or surrounding courtyards provided shelter from the sun, the light of Greece may be another important factor in the development of the particular character of ancient Greek architecture. The light is extremely bright, with both the sky and the sea vividly blue. The clear light and sharp shadows give a precision to the details of landscape, pale rocky outcrops and this clarity is alternated with periods of haze that varies in colour to the light on it. In this characteristic environment, the ancient Greek architects constructed buildings that were marked by precision of detail, the gleaming marble surfaces were smooth, curved, fluted, or ornately sculpted to reflect the sun, cast graded shadows and change in colour with the ever-changing light of day. Historians divide ancient Greek civilization into two eras, the Hellenic period, and the Hellenistic period, during the earlier Hellenic period, substantial works of architecture began to appear around 600 BC. Before the Hellenic era, two cultures had dominated the region, the Minoan, and the Mycenaean. The Mycenaean culture, which flourished on the Peloponnesus, was different in character. Its people built citadels, fortifications and tombs rather than palaces, following these events, there was a period from which few signs of culture remain. This period is often referred to as a Dark Age
3.
Olympia, Greece
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Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times. The Olympic Games were held four years throughout Classical antiquity. The sanctuary, known as the Altis, consists of an arrangement of various buildings. Enclosed within the temenos are the Temple of Hera, the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion, and the area of the altar, to the north of the sanctuary can be found the Prytaneion and the Philippeion, as well as the array of treasuries representing the various city-states. The Metroon lies to the south of these treasuries, with the Echo Stoa to the east, the hippodrome and later stadium were located east of the Echo Stoa. To the south of the sanctuary is the South Stoa and the Bouleuterion, whereas the Palaestra, the workshop of Pheidias, the Gymnasion, very close to the Temple of Zeus which housed this statue, the studio of Pheidias was excavated in the 1950s. Evidence found there, such as tools, corroborates this opinion. The ancient ruins sit north of the Alpheios River and south of Mount Kronos, the Kladeos, a tributary of the Alpheios, flows around the area. Building of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II,13, Pheidias workshop and paleochristian basilica,25. For a history of the Olympic Games, see Olympic Games or Ancient Olympic Games, remains of food and burnt offerings dating back to the 10th century BC give evidence of a long history of religious activity at the site. No buildings have survived from this earliest period of use, the first Olympic festival was organized on the site by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BC – with tradition dating the first games at 776 BC. Major changes were made to the site around 700 BC, including levelling land, Elis power diminished and the sanctuary fell into the hands of the Pisatans in 676 BC. The Pisatans organized the games until the late 7th century BC, the earliest evidence of building activity on the site dates from around 600 BC. At this time the Skiloudians, allies of the Pistans, built the Temple of Hera, the Treasuries and the Pelopion were built during the course of the 6th century BC. The secular structures and athletic arenas were also under construction during this period including the Bouleuterion, the first stadium was constructed around 560 BC, it consisted of just a simple track. The stadium was remodelled around 500 BC with sloping sides for spectators, over the course of the 6th century BC a range of sports were added to the Olympic festival. In 580 BC, Elis, in alliance with Sparta, occupied Pisa, the classical period, between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, was the golden age of the site at Olympia. A wide range of new religious and secular buildings and structures were constructed, the Temple of Zeus was built in the middle of the 5th century BC
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Paeonius
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Paeonius of Mende, Chalkidiki was a Greek sculptor of the late 5th century BC. In any case, he was “attic-trained. ”Paeonius won the commission to decorate the acroteria of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, an ancient account also references Paeonius work at Olympia. Pausanias attributes the front pedimental sculptures of the Temple of Olympian Zeus to Paeonius, the Nike Temple parapet at Athens is also often attributed to Paeonius, on the basis of similarities between the styles of drapery on both monuments. Despite this assertion, scholars continue to debate the reliability of these based upon the various interpretations of the scant additional evidence. The Nike of Paionios featured prominently in the design of medals of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the statue likely influenced later artistic renderings of victory personified. It is on permanent exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, the only work that can be positively attributed to him is the statue of Nike discovered at Olympia. The Nike of Paeonios adorned a three-sided triangular pillar roughly 30 feet tall and she stood in the altis of the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia. With her wings and head intact, the statue itself was about 3 meters tall and her drapery would have been painted red. The German School began excavations at Olympia in 1875, the French School had done earlier in the nineteenth century. The Nike of Paeonius was erected c.420 BC, a few years after the Athenian allies defeated the Spartans at the Battle of Sphacteria in 425 BC, the inscription reads that it was “dedicated by the Messenians and Naupaktians as a tithe of the spoils of their enemies. The Messenians and Naupaktians, allies of the Athenians, are not to mention “their enemies, ” the Spartans. The placement of this statue at Olympia, considered Spartan ground, is most often interpreted by scholars as a deliberate. This sculpture may be understood as political propaganda within the context of the Messenian Wars, at least a century earlier, the Spartans had erected a statue of Zeus in the sanctuary, commemorating a victory over the Messenians. This dedication is also mentioned by Pausanias, the positioning of the Nike may be seen as a visual response, the Nike erected by the Messenians and Naupaktians would appear to the visitor in front of the hand of the Zeus dedication behind it. Paeonios combined both Ionian and Doric traditions in this monument, the erection of an offering on a high pillar is of Ionian origin, as the Dorians tended to use lower bases. By placing a well-known, generic image of triumph upon a pillar to symbolize a specific Victory, the Ionians also favoured marble more often, yet the Nike wears a Dorian peplos. Paeonios slips his own victory into the inscription on his Nike monument. It reads that he was the competitor in the construction of the akroteria for the temple. ”His victory in the competition was likely the result of devising not only the most aesthetically pleasing option
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Alcamenes
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Alcamenes was an ancient Greek sculptor of Lemnos and Athens, who flourished in the 2nd half of the 5th century BC. He was a contemporary of Phidias and noted for the delicacy and finish of his works, among which a Hephaestus. Pausanias says that he was the author of one of the pediments of the temple of Zeus at Olympia, pausanias also refers to a statue of Ares by Alcamenes that was erected on the Athenian agora, which some have related to the Ares Borghese. At Pergamum there was discovered in 1903 a Hellenistic copy of the head of the Hermes Propylaeus of Alcamenes and it is safer to judge him by the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon, in which he must almost certainly have taken a share under the direction of Phidias. Translated by Jones, W. H. S. Aaron J. Atsma
6.
Zeus
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Zeus /ˈzjuːs/ is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who ruled as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter and his mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of the Indo-European deities such as Indra, Jupiter, Perun, Thor, and Odin. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, in most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus. At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses. He was equated with many foreign weather gods, permitting Pausanias to observe That Zeus is king in heaven is a common to all men. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak, in addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical cloud-gatherer also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses, standing, striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his right hand. The gods name in the nominative is Ζεύς Zeús and it is inflected as follows, vocative, Ζεῦ Zeû, accusative, Δία Día, genitive, Διός Diós, dative, Διί Dií. Diogenes Laertius quotes Pherecydes of Syros as spelling the name, Ζάς, Zeus is the Greek continuation of *Di̯ēus, the name of the Proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky, also called *Dyeus ph2tēr. The god is known under this name in the Rigveda, Latin, Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology. The earliest attested forms of the name are the Mycenaean Greek
7.
Doric order
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The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture, the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognised by the simple circular capitals at the top of columns and it was the earliest and in its essence the simplest of the orders, though still with complex details in the entablature above. The Greek Doric column was fluted or smooth-surfaced, and had no base, the capital was a simple circular form, with some mouldings, under a square cushion that is very wide in early versions, but later more restrained. In stone they are purely ornamental, the relatively uncommon Roman and Renaissance Doric retained these, and often introduced thin layers of moulding or further ornament, as well as often using plain columns. The Doric order was used in Greek Revival architecture from the 18th century onwards, often earlier Greek versions were used, with wider columns. Since at least Vitruvius it has been customary for writers to associate the Doric with masculine virtues and it is also normally the cheapest of the orders to use. In their original Greek version, Doric columns stood directly on the pavement of a temple without a base. The Parthenon has the Doric design columns and it was most popular in the Archaic Period in mainland Greece, and also found in Magna Graecia, as in the three temples at Paestum. These are in the Archaic Doric, where the capitals spread wide from the column compared to later Classical forms, pronounced features of both Greek and Roman versions of the Doric order are the alternating triglyphs and metopes. The triglyphs are decoratively grooved with two vertical grooves and represent the original wooden end-beams, which rest on the plain architrave that occupies the half of the entablature. Under each triglyph are peglike stagons or guttae that appear as if they were hammered in from below to stabilize the post-and-beam construction and they also served to organize rainwater runoff from above. The spaces between the triglyphs are the metopes and they may be left plain, or they may be carved in low relief. The spacing of the triglyphs caused problems which some time to resolve. The architecture followed rules of harmony, since the original design probably came from wooden temples and the triglyphs were real heads of wooden beams, every column had to bear a beam which lay across the centre of the column. Triglyphs were arranged regularly, the last triglyph was centred upon the last column and this was regarded as the ideal solution which had to be reached. Changing to stone instead of wooden beams required full support of the architrave load at the last column. At the first temples the final triglyph was moved, still terminating the sequence, even worse, the last triglyph was not centered with the corresponding column. That “archaic” manner was not regarded as a harmonious design, the resulting problem is called the doric corner conflict
8.
Gaia (mythology)
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In Greek mythology, Gaia, also spelled Gaea, is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the mother of all life, the primal Mother Earth goddess. She is the parent of Uranus, from whose sexual union she bore the Titans and the Giants. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra, the Greek word γαῖα is a collateral form of γῆ meaning Earth, a word of uncertain origin. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin, in Mycenean Greek Ma-ka also contains the root ga-. Gaia is the personification of the Earth and these are her offspring as related in various myths, some are related consistently, some are mentioned only in minor variants of myths, and others are related in variants that are considered to reflect a confusion of the subject or association. *Some said that those marked with a * were born from Uranus blood when Cronus castrated him, hesiods Theogony tells how, after Chaos, wide-bosomed Gaia arose to be the everlasting seat of the immortals who possess Olympus above, and the depths of Tartarus below. He then tells that Gaia brought forth her equal Uranus to cover her on every side, Gaia also bore the hills, and Pontus, without sweet union of love. After them was born Cronos the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, as each of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires were born, Uranus hid them in a secret place within Gaia, causing her great pain. She created a grey flint sickle, and Cronus used the sickle to castrate his father Uranus as he approached Gaia to have sex with her. From Uranus spilled blood, Gaia produced the Erinyes, the Giants, from the testicles of Uranus in the sea came forth Aphrodite. By her son Pontus, Gaia bore the sea-deities Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia. Because Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by one of his children, but when Rhea was pregnant with her youngest child, Zeus, she sought help from Gaia and Uranus. When Zeus was born, Rhea gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling-clothes in his place, which Cronus swallowed, with the help of Gaias advice, Zeus defeated the Titans. But afterwards, Gaia, in union with Tartarus, bore the youngest of her sons Typhon, according to Hyginus, Earth, along with Heaven and Sea were the children of Aether and Day. According to Apollodorus, Gaia and Tartarus were the parents of Echidna, Zeus hid Elara, one of his lovers, from Hera by stowing her under the earth. His son by Elara, the giant Tityos, is sometimes said to be a son of Gaia. Gaia is believed by some sources to be the deity behind the Oracle at Delphi
