The general architectural character of the early works of the
Hellenic period is heavy and severe, and the in
fluence of the Mycenaean
period is apparent; but a gradual change towards re
finement and beauty took place, and in the later periods the proportions of
the columns were more slender, and the mouldings more refined.
Unity of effect in the larger temples was obtained by the colonnade
surrounding the shrine cell, forming a contrast with the number of
courts, halls, and chambers, decreasing in size from the entrance
pylons, comprised in a typical Egyptian temple. Greek buildings
have the qualities of harmony, simplicity and unity, because of the
excellence of their proportions, their truthful and apparent construction,
and the employment of one constructive principle.
Many refinements in design were used in the best period of
Greek art, in order to correct optical illusions and especially in the
Parthenon.
The long lines of the architrave, stylobate, pediments
and other features, which, if built straight in reality, would appear
to sag or drop in the middle of their length, were formed with slight
convex lines. For instance, in the Parthenon the stylobate has an
upward curvature towards its centre of 2.61 inches on the east and
west fronts, and of 4.39 inches on the
flanks. The vertical features
were made so as to incline inwards in order to correct the tendency
which such features have: they appear to fall outwards at the top.
Thus, in the Parthenon the axes of the outer columns incline inwards
2.65 inches, and would meet if produced at a distance of a
mile above ground. The faces of the architrave were also given an
inward inclination.
The shafts usually have an entasis which, in the case of the
Parthenon column, amounts to about three-quarters of an inch in a
height of 34 feet.
The angle columns were increased in thickness as it was found
that seen against the sky owing to irradiation they would appear
thinner than those seen against the darker background formed by
the cella wall.
Sculpture and carving of the highest class completed the effectiveness
of their most important buildings, and these were influenced very largely by the hard,
fine-grained marble employed,
which rendered possible the gentle adjustment and refined treatment
characteristic of this period.
The Greeks developed the so-called “Orders of Architecture”
and used the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.
To these, in later times, the Romans added the Tuscan and Composite. An “order” in Greek
and Roman architecture consists of the column or support, including
base and capital, and the entablature, or part supported. The
latter is divided into the architrave or lowest portion; the frieze, or
middle member, and the cornice or uppermost part. The proportions
of these parts vary in the different orders, as do the mouldings and
decorations applied.
