Buildings In Ancient Greece

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

Greece has given much to the world and onitnues to impact later generations in terms of Architecture. The acropolis has had a major influence on architecture in following generations. For example the White house in Washington BC is one of the Neoclassical buildings inspired by the Parthenon. The white house is the official resident and workplace of the president of the United States. Both buildings are built in different time periods however they share many similiarities and shows how inspirational the Parthenon was to future architects. Similarites include the built in symmetrical shapen tall columns that rise to the full height of the bulidng. They both have the same influence of design but built in different time periods. Even our very own

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 Parthenon is created as an optical illusion. It appears to consist of straight lines but in fact, almost every surface is built to lean and curved from its columns to its foundations. It gives a unique insight into the best that ancient Greek sculptors could produce at the best period of Greek art. The Parthenon is a Doric peripteral temple; it consists of a rectangular floor plan with a series of low steps, and a colonnade of Doric columns. The three main types of columns used in Greek temples and other public buildings are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Many of the sculpture

The ancient Greek civilization contributed many great new ideas and aspects to everyday life that shaped and inspired the modern day society. The Greeks are well known for their construction of temples, acropolis’ and other grand architectural structures. Among these structures stood one of the most famous, the Parthenon. The Parthenon was a symbol of Greek society and culture as it stood as one of Greece’s most important architectural buildings.

Their columns, and domes have been recreated for buildings all over the United States. Columns and domes were key features of of governmental buildings and important shrines and temples in Ancient Rome. Rome’s architecture made it glorious. The ancient Roman historian Livy puts it perfectly. ¨Rome has grown since its humble beginnings that it is now overwhelmed by its own greatness.¨ The United States has copied this idea of using columns and domes, as evidenced by the governments capitol building. The United States capitol building has massive white columns to support it, and a huge dome for the main building, both originally designed by Ancient Rome.The Ancient Roman arches were built wherever there was a significant military victory. The United States has used this idea in their commemorative buildings everywhere, examples are the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Triumphal Arch, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch, and the Smith Memorial Arch. These all mark a major battle or important event. Without the influence of Ancient Rome, America’s architectural style would not be what it is today.

Approximately one century after the Parthenon was constructed, Alexander the Great began to spread Hellenistic art. Two major statues of Hellenistic art were the Colossus of Rhodes and Nike of Samothrace. The sculptures honored the two gods and commemorated war victories. Similar to Greece, Ancient Rome’s architects designed structures benefiting the general public, political religion, and religion. Many government buildings and the Twelve Tables were located in the Forum, an intricately designed plaza in the center of Rome.

American’s interest in ancient Greek culture develops when they sense that there’s a connection between them: “…the Greek War of Independence against Turkish domination aroused the sympathy of our citizens, who saw in the Greek struggle for freedom a parallel to our own War of Independence” (Downs 173). The parallelism is that they both have experience of battling for freedom from a controlling country. Another relation that makes the Americans appreciate the Greek culture even more is the archeological discovery showing Greece as the birthplace of democracy: “As the Greek Revival style unfolded and developed in the United States it became as indigenous to the soil of our system of law…and our democratic system of government, which was founded on the ancient ideal of individual freedom” (Downs 176). After studying and getting hold of the architectural idea and vocabulary, Greek architecture soon becomes America’s national style. The classical look of the Greek architectural are made up of three primary orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Doric being the oldest and simplest of the three: “The Doric order is characterized by a plain, unadorned column capital and a column that rests directly on the stylobate of the temple without a base…entablature includes a frieze composed of triglyphs and metopes. The columns are fluted and are of sturdy, if not stocky, proportions” (Becker 1). The Doric is best describe as the most understated style with a masculine appearance out of the three orders. Despite the simplest look of the Doric, it is the most popular. The Parthenon, also known as the epitome of Greek culture, is built under the Doric order. Famous works of the Doric order in the United States can be seen on the design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C and the Justice Hall Building in New York City. Next is the Ionic: “notable for its graceful

Greece was a beautiful country of the arts. Ancient Greece’s time was around 2000 to 30 B.C.E. Ancient Greece’s people had to deal with mountainous lands, making it hard to live there. Though these causes were against them, they survived and had beautiful and dramatic plays, arts, and architecture. Greece had many wonderful and terrible leaders, and took over much of the ancient world.. Greece had a very rich religion, counting up thousands of gods. Greece also was known for their arts, from pottery to dramatic plays.

For many years, the architecture aspect (ideas and elements) from the Roman and Greek were borrowed in the Philadelphia’s buildings. One popular building that was label to be a “Greek Revival Style in America” according to Thomas U. Walter from the text book of Philadelphia Architecture A Guide to the City is the Founder’s Hall at Girard College. Founder’s Hall is the only building that many Philadelphians or tourists can experience a similar expectation as one of the Greek’s temples. There are a lot of differences with a few similarities with the Founder’s Hall to the Greek Temples. The three temples that will partake this analysis and comparison to the Founder’s Hall will be the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike and Temple of Hera.

A building with the Corinthian design is the U.S. Supreme Court. Many buildings in America use Greek architectural columns. Such buildings include museums, courthouses, libraries, government buildings, and

Many famous monuments and symbols today are built off of the most influential piece of Greek architecture, the column. Take the White House for example, the columns on the front of it are Ionic. There are 3 types of columns that the Athenians made famous. The Doric, which is a plain and sturdy column, the Ionic, which is simple and more elegant than the Doric; this is the column used on the White House. Finally, the Corinthian is a more elaborate and elegant column.

The Parthenon reflects this Greek culture as it is also built on a platform of three steps. Greeks were famous for their three type of columns Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Most of their temples and the government building had these columns. We see the Greek culture reflected in the Parthenon, as it is a Doric temple with Ionic architectural features. The platform of the Parthenon measures 69.5 by 30.9 meters, surrounded by Doric columns.

Take a look at pictures of the White House or Capitol Building, or stand on the green grass of Washington mall and see for yourself. These buildings, standing so prestigious, have pillars and arches, standing so tall. These buildings have many of the same features of the building in Rome. The breathtaking marble stone is what composes the unique structure of the Capitol building, which is what the Colosseum in Rome is also composed of. The architectural ideas captured in many buildings in the United States, such as the Capitol building and the White House, were invented by Romans. This group of people learned to create buildings that could stand for thousands of years and they used this idea to expand the Roman empire. Because of Roman’s

The Greek ancient culture has surely left its imprint in the world. Ancient Greek society left us with many fascinating things like their art, food, language, writings, and even building structures. One thing that I believe that modern society has implemented into their customs from the ancient Greek society is the architecture of their buildings. Greeks built temples for their gods, that consisted of many symmetrical columns. In todays society we see those architectural details implemented into our buildings. Society uses columns in their buildings not only for structure but also as a form of decoration. Usually buildings with columns tend to be really elegant and spacious. The first thing that I think about when a see a structure with columns