Athenian Civic Architecture

Democracy is a system of government where the people equally run a country. For example, America practices a form of government where the people have the right to elect those who are in power when they become eighteen years of age. In addition, a citizen of this country can practice a religion of their choice along with several other freedoms. In my opinion, Athens was not a democratic society by today’s standards.

Ancient Greek architecture advanced over hundreds years; starting in the new stone age, and ending in the archaic period. The Greeks are known for their large stone columns and huge stone buildings. Ancient architects are even credited for building one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the statue of Zeus at Olympia. The earliest buildings were

Just before you go to sleep, you image yourself taking a ride to the White House. You then notice it's beautiful columns. As you look through columns, this type of architecture is ancient Greek. There are other place to find these Greek columns. Besides architecture, other developments from ancient civilizations have an impact on our world today, such as roads and Gregorian calendar.

Ancient Athens (800 B.C. - 300 B.C.) is not a democracy. A democracy is a government controlled by the population, whereas the Athenian government was being controlled by only male citizens. According to Doc D, the ancient Athens were in fact an oligarchy, a government ruled by male citizens. The majority of the population does not vote in the Athenian politics.

Ancient Athens was built on a democratic government. A democracy is when a government allows all of its people, no matter what class and how wealthy they are, to vote and agree on their own laws. There are many documents and resources that can prove that Ancient Athens was truly built to be a democratic government.

Greek creators used precise mathematical calculations to establish height, width, and length of their creations. The Greeks put their hard work and effort into creating majestic public buildings as a place for men to meet and discuss politics. Pictured in Document 1 is the Parthenon, “Architecture was very important to the ancient Greeks. One of the most famous examples of Greek architecture is the Parthenon...Modern architecture is often modeled after Greek architecture.” (Document 1) Greek Architecture has influenced modern day architecture in the use of columns, statues inside of buildings, detail to symmetry and geometric proportion. “If two straight lines cut one another the vertical, or opposite, angles shall be equal.” (Document 4) Today all over the United States, you see can find buildings that are modeled after the Ancient Greek architecture. Some examples are seen in capitals of states/countries, colleges/universities, government buildings, and even some houses namely The White

The ancient Athens aimed for perfection with every detail in their lives; from the art, architecture, philosophy, they wanted nothing less than perfect. This high standard of perfection is known as the classical ideal. The ancient Athens’s society was based solely on high standards of living. The classical ideal was expressed in many ways in the Athens culture. Philosophy and religion helped paved the mind with perfect thoughts (Sayre). By just glancing at the beautiful art and sculptures of the Athens, you can tell how much thought and detail went into it to make it absolutely perfect. The art is evidence that the Athens only wanted perfection. From the statues to other art pieces, we are reminded again and again how perfect everything had to be in that culture. This is also true with the architecture. The architecture leaves us in awe. It is hard to imagine that a building can be so beautiful. We are reminded of how beautiful it is everyday because we have adapted most of their architecture in our own country. To make sure everything was perfect, there were certain rules and regulations, which are known as the classical ideal. The classical ideal of ancient Athens stressed about the high standards of perfection and excellence and this theme is illustrated time and time again throughout their traditions and culture.

Both the Greeks and the Romans made a number of contributions to western culture in the field of architecture, many of which can still be seen to this very day. Architecture played a pivotal role in both the religion and daily life of ancient Greek society. The Greeks produced some of the world’s most enduring architectural monuments, many of which are still standing today. These include the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, and the Temple of Poseidon. Perhaps one of the largest contributions of the ancient Greeks to western civilization in regards to architecture was their development of the three fundamental architectural systems of design, the Doric, Iconic, and Corinthian orders. The following excerpt from an article

Many of the buildings in Ancient Greece have influenced us today because of how they were built back then. One of the buildings in Ancient Greece was the Acropolis. The Acropolis was one of the more important buildings in Ancient Greece. The Acropolis stood about 150 meters above sea level. It was seen to be a fortress to protect Ancient Greece from enemy attacks. This famous building Contributed today because you can see many buildings like it. For example, the Acropolis had many pillars surrounding it just like the Jefferson memorial. Another example is the Capitol Hill has artwork and architecture that was similar to Ancient Greece. The Buildings on Capitol Hill were inspired by the way Greek buildings were built. Like how the pillars are tall and decorative like buildings in Greece were. Also, the shape and style of the buildings are all similar to Ancient Greece's style of architecture. Buildings have made a big impact on us today about how we make our

Today, much of the world’s governments have converted to democracies. Some governments work better with a monarchy, for others a democracy is the right choice. For Athens a democracy brought the city to peace, but they went through many different types of governments before they settled on the democratic government. The Athenian government moved and changed from a monarchy, aristocratic oligarchy, tyranny, and finally to a direct democracy, through the different rulings of different archon emperors and leaders.

Due to Alexander’s great conquests into Egypt and Asia, money was plentiful for the Greeks and new cities had to be built and beautified. This is where we first see new cities being laid out on grids which were introduced by Hippodumus of Miletus in fifth century B.C. However this is just one accomplishment in architecture during the Hellenistic Age. One place we see a change from Classical Greece to Hellenistic is how architects began to move away from the balanced tension and idealism that we saw in the fifth century B.C. With this, they moved toward the sentimental, emotional and realistic mode of the fourth century B.C. One place where we see this is in the marble statue called the Laocoon (see pg. 89) which was carved in Rhodes in the second century B.C. and then later taken to

Ancient Greek architecture was very intricately made and well thought out. The Greeks used different methods and reasonings behind their architecture because they made sure that their pieces were exquisitely made to represent the things they thought were important. They valued their Gods and their worship of the Gods. It was important for them to always represent or have symbolic meaning behind all of their architectural designs. There are many hidden symbols that are involved in Greek architecture like trees, trophies, leaves, hair, and sacrifices to name a few. Greek architecture includes these hidden symbols to worship Gods, and to represent culture in their pieces.

White the Doric order became the standard for mainland Greece, the Ionian colonies in the eastern Aegean were developing a very different system of columns and entablature based on Egyptian and Near Eastern architecture. The tall slender columns, low entablature, and

A. J. Polyzoides, an honorary senior lecturer at Birmingham University, states: “The western world has adopted and developed their discoveries throughout the centuries.” (Polyzoides 1). As the Hellenistic society shifted away from the Classical ideals of perfectionism and idolization of the elites and gods in sculpture, artists began to be fixated on illustrating imperfection of a variety of individuals faced with the ruthless authenticity of their emotional struggles. Whereas, Classical architecture focused on dedicating massive structures to the gods to emphasize their divinity, but Hellenistic architecture used advanced technology to exemplify Alexander the Great’s magnificence. Thus, differences in the architecture can be seen in the sophisticated town of Alexandria with structures such as the lighthouse that show how Alexander the Great influenced town planning that was centralized on the creation of a superior city, likewise, The Altar at Pergamon expresses the loss of focus on the divine through unique sculptural techniques. Change can also be seen in the sculptures of The Boxer and The Old Market Woman as they are depicted to be imperfectly individualistic and in emotional distress.

The Corinthian style was not used nearly as much as the Doric or Ionic styles by the classical Greeks. Its capital is extremely elaborate and decorated with acanthus leaves. Corinthian is by far the most ornate of all the Greek orders, and was also the latest to develop. It did not arrive on the scene in full roar until the middle of the 4th century BC. The oldest known example of the Corinthian style is the temple of Apollo at Bassae (c. 420 BC). However, the best known example of this style is the temple of Zeus at Athens.