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Excerpted from Laurie Schneider Adams, A History of Western Art, 1995, 108 – 119.

Classical Architecture

Athens: The Acropolis

Athens is the capital of modern Greece,
and is located on the Saronic Gulf, just
inland from the port of Piraeus. In the
second half of the fifth century B.C.E.,
Athens was the site of the full flowering
of the Classical style in the arts. This
section considers that culmination as it
was embodied in the buildings on the
Acropolis—particularly the Parthenon.
The Acropolis (from the Greek akros,
meaning "high" or "upper," and polis,
meaning " city") (figs. 7.14 and 7.15,
right) is a fortified rock supporting
several temples, precincts, and other
buildings. Its steep walls meant that it could not be
scaled by invaders. Like the Mycenaean citadel, the
Acropolis provided sanctuary for citizens in times of
siege.

The Classical period in Athens is also called the Age of

Pericles, after the Greek general and statesman (c. 500-
429 B.C.E.) who initiated the architectural projects for
the Acropolis. He planned a vast rebuilding campaign to
celebrate Athenian art and civilization after the
devastation of the Persian Wars. The Propylaea and the
Parthenon (fig. 7.16) were completed during his lifetime,
but work on the Temple of Athena Nike (fig. 7.29) and
the Erechtheum (fig. 7.31) was not begun until after his
death:

7.16 West end of the Parthenon, Athens. 448-432 B.C.E. Pentelic

marble, 111 x 237 ft at base. Once through the Propylaea at the
western edge of the Acropolis, the viewer emerges facing east.
Ahead and a little to the right are the remains of the western wall
of the Parthenon. Its damaged State reflects centuries of neglect
and misuse.1n the 5th century C.E., the Parthenon became a
church, and 900 years later the Turks conquered Athens and
converted the temple into a mosque. They stored gunpowder in the
building! When ft was shelled in the 17th century, most of the
interior and many sculptures were destroyed. Centuries of
vandalism and looting, plus modern air pollution, have further
contributed to the deterioration of the Parthenon.

The Parthenon
The Parthenon was designed by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates, and Phidias supervised the sculptural decorations.
Completed in 432 B.C.E. as a temple to Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, the Parthenon celebrates her in her aspect
as a virgin goddess, Parthenos, Greek for “virgin" and the root of the word "parthenogenesis" (virgin birth), was one of
Athena's epithets.
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The Parthenon stands within a

continuum of Doric temples.
Earlier examples are found at
Olympia in the western
Peloponnese and at Paestum in
southern Italy. However, no
previous Greek temple
expresses Classical balance,
proportion, and unity to the
same extent as the Parthenon
(fig. 7.18). Its exceptional
esthetic impact is enhanced by
its so-called refinements, which

are slight architectural adjustments to improve the

visual impression of the building. For example, lines
that are perceived as horizontals actually curve
upward in the middle. The original rationale for this
is not known for certain, but it corrects the tendency
of the human eye to perceive a long horizontal as
curving downward in the middle. Other refinements
involve the columns: all columns are tilted inward
slightly, and are placed closer together toward the
corners of the building. This creates a sense of
stability and accentuates the corners, resulting in an
almost imperceptible frame on each of the four
sides.

7.18 Reconstruction of the Parthenon, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This view is from the northeast corner—
the eastern pediment and the long north side are visible.

The Parthenon sculptures were located in four sections of the building and integrated harmoniously with the architecture.
Their narrative content proclaimed the greatness of Classical Athens.

Pediments Drawings made in the seventeenth century by the Frenchman Jacques Carrey illustrate the condition of the
pediments of the Parthenon three hundred years ago. Carrey's rendering of the east pediment sculptures (fig. 7.20) shows
them still in a relatively good state of preservation, although the central figures had disappeared.
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The three goddesses on the left half of the east pediment (fig. 7.21)—possibly Iris or Hebe, Demeter, and Persephone,
reading from the viewer's right to the left—are posed so that they fit logically into the triangular space. Their repeated
diagonal planes relate to the two diagonals of the pediment, while the graceful curves of their garments harmonize with
the architectural curves of the Doric order below. The reclining male nude to the left could be either Heracles or
Dionysus. His limbs, like those of the goddesses, form a series of zigzag planes. The curve of his torso is repeated in the
domed head and organic muscle structure beneath the skin. Despite the naturalism of his pose and organic form, however,
this figure is idealized—like those of Polyclitus (figs. 7.12 and 7.13), it has no facial expression or personality.

7.20a and b (opposite) The East Pediment of the Parthenon in 1674, from a drawing by Jacques Carrey. Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris. Greek temple sculptures and their background areas were originally painted. The sculptures in the
broken center section of this pediment used to represent Athena's birth on Mount Olympus: Zeus is in the middle and a
Nike is crowning Athena with a laurel wreath. According to the myth, Hephaestus struck Zeus on the head with an ax, and
Athena emerged fully grown and armed. As the goddess of wisdom, as well as of war, she was born like an idea from the
head of the supreme god.

7.21 a, b, and c Sculptures from the left side of the east 7.22 a and b Sculptures from the right side of the east pediment
pediment of the Parthenon. Pentelic marble, left figure 5 ft of the Parthenon. Pentelic marble, left figure 4 ft 5 in high.
8 in high. British Museum, London. The pediments are British Museum, London. At the left corner Helios's horses mark
almost 100 feet wide at the base and 11 feet high at the the rising of the sun, because Athena was born in the east at
central peak The depth of the pediment bases is, however, dawn. The horse of the moon descends at the right corner. The
only 36 inches, thus restricting the space available for the location of the scene on the eastern pediment also corresponds
sculptures. Since the sides of the pediments slope toward with the sunrise in the east. Thus in this arrangement, the artist
the corner angles, Phidias had to solve the problem of has formally integrated sculpture and architecture with
fitting the sculptures into a diminishing triangular space. iconography, time, and place.

Mirroring the two seated females and the male on the left of the pediment is the group of three goddesses on the right (fig.
7.22). Their identity has been disputed by scholars because they have no attributes. Though posed slightly differently than
their counterparts on the left, they match them closely. The reclining goddess relates to Dionysus/Heracles, and the two
seated figures match Demeter and Persephone in the way they turn and wear curvilinear garments outlining their bodies.

The most dramatic correspondence between the two sides of the east pediment occurs at the angles. On the far left are the
marble remnants of Apollo's horses, pulling the chariot of the sun. They rise, beginning their daily journey across the sky.
On the far right, a single horse's head descends, echoing the triangular shape of the pediment. This is a horse from the
chariot of Selene, a moon goddess. Its form shows a remarkable understanding of anatomy, and the Classical genius for
relating it to an esthetic purpose. Phidias has created the illusion of a triangular cheek plate with one curved side, blood
vessels, and muscles pushing against the inside of the skin. The right eye bulges from its socket, and the ear and clipped
mane emerge convincingly from beneath the surface. The open mouth produces another triangular space, echoing the
head, the cheek plate, and the pediment itself.
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The Orders of Greek Architecture
The Doric and Ionic orders of Greek architecture had been established by about 600 B.C.E. and were an elaboration of
the post and lintel system of elevation (see p.45). Ancient Greek buildings, like their sculptures, were more human in scale
and proportion than those in Egypt. And unlike the animal-based forms of ancient Iran, the Greek orders were composed
of geometric sections with individual meaning and logic. Each part was related to the others and to the whole structure in
a harmonious, unified way.

The oldest order, the Doric, is named for the Dorians, who lived on the mainland. Ionic—after Ionia, which includes the
Ionian islands and the coast of Anatoli—is an eastern order. Its greater elegance results from taller, thinner, curvilinear
elements and surface decoration. The Corinthian capital is most easily distinguished by its acanthus leaf design, and is
never found on the exterior of Greek buildings.

Doric Order The

Doric order begins
with three steps up
from the ground.
Its shaft rises
directly from the
top step (the
stylobate),
generally to a
height about 5 ½
times its diameter
at the foot. The
shaft is composed
of individual
sections—
drums—cut
horizontally and
held together in
the middle by a
metal dowel (peg)
encased in lead.
Shallow, concave
grooves known as
flutes are carved
out of the exterior
of the shaft. Doric
shafts do not stand
in an exact vertical
plane, but taper
slightly from about
a quarter of the way up. The resulting bulge, or entasis (Greek for “stretching"), indicates that the Classical Greeks
thought of their architecture as having an inner organic structure, with a capacity for muscular tension.

At the top of the shaft, three elements make up the Doric capital, which forms both the head of the column and the
transition to the horizontal lintel. The necking is a snug band at the top of the shaft. Above it is the echinus (Greek for
"hedgehog" or "sea urchin")—a flat, curved element, like a plate, with rounded sides. The echinus forms a transition
between the curved shaft and the flat, square abacus (Greek for "tablet") above. The abacus in turn creates a transition to
the architrave—literally, a "high beam."

The architrave is the first element of the entablature (note the "tabl" related to "table"), which forms the lintel of this
complex post and lintel system. The frieze, above the architrave, is divided into alternating sections—square metopes and
sets of three vertical grooves, or triglyphs (Greek tri, meaning "three," and glyphos, meaning "carving"). Finally,
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projecting over the frieze is the top element of the entablature—the thin, horizontal cornice. In Greek temples, a
triangular element known as a pediment rested on the cornice, crowning the front and back of the building.

The harmonious relationship between the parts of the Doric order is achieved by formal repetitions and logical transitions.
The steps, sides of the abacus, architrave, metopes, frieze, and cornice are rectangles lying in a horizontal plane. The
columns, spaces between columns, flutes, and triglyphs are all vertical. The outline of the three steps, the echinus, and
each individual drum is a trapezoid (a quadrilateral with two parallel sides).

Groups of three predominate: three steps; a capital consisting of necking, echinus, and abacus; triglyphs; and the
entablature, which is made up of architrave, frieze, and cornice. The sudden shift from the horizontal steps to the vertical
shaft is followed by a gradual transition via the capital to the entablature. The pediment may be read as a logical,
triangular crown completing the trapezoid formed by the outline of the steps.

Ionic Order The more graceful Ionic order has a round base with an alternating convex and concave profile. The shaft is
taller in relation to its diameter (height is about nine times the diameter at the foot). The fluting is narrower and deeper.
Elegant volutes, or scroll shapes, replace the Doric echinus at each corner, and virtually eclipse the thin abacus. In the
Ionic frieze, the absence of triglyphs and metopes permits a continuous narrative extending its entire length.

Corinthian Order There is no evidence of the existence of the Corinthian order earlier than the latter part of the fifth
century B.C.E. The origin of the term Corinthian is obscure, but it suggests that the acanthus-leaf capital was first
designed by the metalworkers of Corinth and later transferred to marble. Unlike Doric and Ionic columns, Corinthian
columns were used only in interiors by the Greeks—they were associated with luxury, and therefore with "feminine"
character.
**********************************************
7.24 Lapith and Centaur, from South Metope XXVII of the
Parthenon. Pentelic marble, 4 ft 5 in high. British Museum,
London. Each metope is approximately 4 feet square and
contains high relief sculptures. There were fourteen metopes on
the short east and west sides, and thirty-two on the long north
and south sides. Most of them showed scenes of single
combat.

The Doric Metopes The Parthenon metopes illustrate

four mythological battles. The best preserved were
originally located on the south wall and represented the
battle between Lapiths, a Greek tribe, and Centaurs, who
were part human and part horse. According to this myth,
the Lapiths invited the Centaurs to a wedding, but the
Centaurs got drunk and tried to rape the Lapith boys and
girls. The violent energy of the battle (fig. 7.24} contrasts
dramatically with the relaxing gods on the east pediment.
The strong diagonals of the Lapith, the repeated curved
folds of his cloak, and the backward thrust of the
Centaur's contrapposto enliven the metope.

The three other metope battles depicted Greeks against Amazons on the west, the Trojan War on the north, and Olympians
overthrowing Giants on the east. Each set of metopes expressed one aspect of the Greek sense of superiority. The Lapiths
and Centaurs symbolized the universal human conflict between animal instinct or lust—exemplified by the drunken
Centaurs—and rational self-control—embodied by the Lapiths. The Greek victory over the Amazons symbolized the
triumph of Greek patriarchal culture over an earlier matriarchy. In the Trojan War, west triumphed over east, and in the
clash between Giants and Olympians, the more human Greek gods wrested control of the universe from the primitive and
cannibalistic pre-Greek Titans. According to the Parthenon metopes, therefore, the civilization of Classical Greece was
rational, patriarchal, and western, with an established human-based religion.
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The Ionic Frieze Over the outside of the inner wall of the Parthenon (figs. 7.25 and 7.26), a 525-foot Ionic frieze
illustrated the Greater Panathenaic procession (fig. 7.27). This was held every four years, and the entire city participated
and presented a sacred robe to Athena. The continuous nature of the Ionic frieze, uninterrupted by triglyphs, is consistent
with its content. Thus the shape of the frieze corresponds with the form of a procession. In order to maintain the horizontal
plane of the figures, Phidias adopted the sculptural convention of isocephaly (from the Greek isos, meaning "equal," and
kephalos, meaning "head"). When a work is isocephalic, the heads are set at approximately the same level.

7.26. (above left) Cutaway perspective drawing of the

Parthenon showing the Doric and Ionic friezes,
7.25 (top) The Parthenon, looking up through the outer Doric peristyle at the Ionic frieze.
metopes and a pediment (after G. Niemann).
7.27 (above) Equestrian group from the north frieze of the Parthenon. c.442-439 B.C.E. Pentelic
marble, 3 ft 53/4 in high. British Museum, London. The riders illustrate Phidias's technique of
making the horses small in relation to the riders. He carved the horses' legs in higher relief than
their bodies and heads. The effect is to cast heavier shadows on the lower part of the frieze
which, together with the multiple zigzags, increase the illusion of movement.

Naos The purpose of temples in antiquity was generally to house the statue of
a god. Accordingly, the Parthenon naos contained the great statue of Athena
herself. In the reconstruction in figure 7.28 she is armed and represented in her
aspect as the goddess of war. She stands and confronts her viewers directly,
wearing Medusa's head on her breastplate and holding a Nike, or winged
Victory, in her right hand and a shield in her left. Both shield and pedestal
were decorated with reliefs by Phidias. This colossal statue—an exception to
the human scale of Classical art—embodied Athena's importance as the patron
goddess of Athens. Her central position in the pediments and the offering of
the peplos in the frieze reflected her wisdom and power as well as the
Athenians' devotion to her.
7.28 (left) Reconstruction of Phidias's Athena, from the cella of the Parthenon. Original c.438-432
B.C.E. Wood covered with gold and ivory plating, model c.4 ft high. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
Like many cult statues, that of Athena was over lifesize, standing 40 feet high on a pedestal. Phidias
constructed the statue around a wooden frame, covering the skin area with ivory, and the armor and
drapery with gold. This combination of media is called chryselephantine, from the Greek chrysos,
meaning "gold," and elephantinos, meaning "made of ivory." The original statue has long since
disappeared and has been reconstructed from descriptions, small copies, and images on coins.
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The Temple of Athena Nike
Athena was honored as the goddess of victory in the small Temple of Medusa
Athena Nike that crowns the southern edge of the Acropolis (fig. 7.29). It Medusa, the only mortal of the three
has a square naos and a front and back porch, each with four Ionic columns Gorgon sisters in Greek mythology, turned
and four steps. This repetition reflects the Classical insistence on unifying any man who looked at her to stone. She
the parts within the whole. The small size and graceful Ionic order of the had snaky hair, glaring eyes, fanged teeth,
Nike temple contrast with the heavier proportions of the Doric columns in and emitted a loud roar. Following the wise
the Parthenon. advice of Athena to look at her only in the
reflection of his shield, the hero Perseus
decapitated Medusa. He took her head to
Athena, who adopted it as her shield device.
The Medusa head, or gorgoneion,
subsequently became a popular armor
decoration in the West, symbolically
petrifying—i.e. killing—one's enemies.

The best example

of relief sculpture
from the Nike
temple is the Nike
Adjusting her
Sandal (fig. 7.30),
originally located
on a balustrade of
the parapet. This
figure combines a
graceful curved
torso with diagonal
planes in her legs.
The sheer, almost
transparent
7.29 (above, left) Temple of Athena Nike from the east, Acropolis, Athens. 427-424
B.C.E. Pentelic marble. drapery—called
7.30 (above, right) Nike Adjusting her Sandal, from the balustrade of the Temple of "wet drapery"
Athena Nike. 410-409 B.C.E. Pentelic marble, 3 ft 5 ¾ in high. Acropolis Museum, because it appears
to cling: to the
body—falls in a pattern of elegant repeated folds. Behind the Nike is the remnant of an open wing. Its smooth surface
contrasts with the activated drapery, and at the same time echoes and frames the torso's curve.

The Erechtheum
The Erechtheum (figs. 7.31 and 7.32) is on the northern side of
the Acropolis, opposite the Parthenon. A more complex Ionic
building than the Nike temple, the Erechtheum is built on an
uneven site. The eastern room was dedicated to Athena in her
aspect as patron of the city.
7.31 The Erechtheum, Acropolis, Athens. 421 – 405 B.C.E. Porch figures c.
8 ft high. This temple was named for Erechtheus, a legendary king of Athens
who was worshiped with Athena and various other gods and ancestors in this
building. As a result of this large number of dedicatees, the building itself is
unusually complex for a Classical Greek temple.
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The Erechtheum’s small southern porch (fig. 7.32) is distinctive for its six caryatids—sculptured females performing
the architectural function of columns. Each stands in a relaxed contrapposto pose, with drapery that defines the body, and
the ideal form characteristic of Classical style. A perfect symmetry is maintained within the ensemble so that each set of
three, right and left, is a mirror image of the other. The two corner caryatids, like the corner columns of the Parthenon, are
perceived as aligned with the four front figures when viewed from the front, and with the two back figures when viewed
from the sides. Again, a smooth visual transition between front and side is achieved.

In the metaphorical transformation of columns into

human form, several features are necessarily adapted.
For example, the vertical drapery folds covering the
support leg recall the flutes of columns. In the capital
over the caryatid's head, the echinus has been replaced
by a kind of headdress which creates a transition from
the head to the abacus. At the same time, the headdress
is an abstract geometric form, related to organic human
form only by its proximity to the head. Whereas the
Doric echinus effects a transition from vertical to
horizontal and from curved elements to straight, the
headdress satisfies the additional transition from human
and organic to geometric and abstract. These caryatids
thus illustrate the harmonious metaphorical relationship
between ideal and organic, human and abstract, that
characterizes Classical style.
7.32 The caryatid porch of the Erechtheum.