Architectural mythology

Part of the Parthenon Frieze

Before 600 BC worship was done in the open, but when the Greeks began to represent their Gods by large statues, it was necessary to provide a building for this purpose. This led to the development of temples.[3]

The ancient Greek temples were often enhanced with mythological decorations from the columns to the roof. The architectural functions of the temple mainly concentrated on the cella with the cult statue. The architectural elaboration served to stress the dignity of the cella.

Ancient Greek Temples were to be served as almost as a home for an ancient greek god or godest that looked over the community. Whatever the gods needed the community provided mainly in worship. Everyone belived that the gods controlled the sun and water. Because Greek civilization belived they controlled the weather they heavily worshiped them in their temples out of hope that they would help their crops flourish, another reason for worshiping and making sure the gods had everything they wanted was to ensure that they didn't turn on the community.

The ancient Greek temples were often enhanced with mythological decorations from the columns to the roof. The architectural functions of the temple mainly concentrated on the cella with the cult statue. The architectural elaboration served to stress the dignity of the cella.

Within the temple there would be statues representing the god or godess. Often times the statue would occupy the central part of the temple. In the ealry days of the temples, wood was iften used to create these stautes, but as time went on they decided to create the statues out of more luxury material like crystalphatine ( a gold and ivory mixture), stone, or cast bronze.

The way these temples were layed out were on the base of a megaron. A megaron is a house like structure that was formed in the Bronze Age. What these megarons had were what they call cella or noas which is a rectangular room in the center of the megaron. Then are projecting walls that are called antae that fram a porch at one end framing a porch.

The earliest shrine that is recorded to date were built in Lefkandi in Greece. IN 1980, Archeologists found a shrine like strucure used to worship Geek Gods. The shrine like buildings were first built out of wood, but later as Greece strived and grew those shrines and buildings began to be made out of stone. Archeologists have dug up a shrine in Lefkandi. Even though Lefkandi had shrines and built them out of stone and wood, Lefkandi shows neither signs of dispersion or lack of highly developed strucure. The layout of the shrine goes as follows. Called the "Toumba" on the site of discovery is a long aspidal structure with many rooms within. The "Toumba" is recorded to be at least ten times bigger than any other contemperary strucures anywhere else. Now, beneath the "Toumba" is a rich burial site. Where luxury goods would be deposited for safe keeping. These find in the burial deposit show that there were connections to trade outside of Greece.

Archetecture was able to be divided into two groups, the Doric and the Ionic. Both two different type of Archetectures.

The Doric Order. This type of Archetecture was predominant in the mainland of Greece and the western Greeks of Sicily and Southern Italy. The Doric Order was heavly introduced in the middle of the Sixth Century B.C. Throughout the shrinesand temples the Doric and the Ionic has vastly different additions to their own strucure. The Doric columns had no base and very simple Capitals, the top of the column. These columns supported a simples stone cross beam that helped hold of the strucure. Now the decorative factor the Doric had were composed of alternating stone panels, nothing to crazy or extravagant. The culmns themselves were craved with grooves that followed up the strucure all the way to the top. This type of decoration on the columns were used widley all throughout early Egypt.

The Ionic Order. The Ionic Order can be foudn throughout Greece but it was not as common as the Doric order. The Ionic Orders columns different severely, with their columns being slimmer and slnderer porportions of the entire structure. The capitals, the tops of the columns, were comonaly decorated with scrolls carved out of stone. These columns of Ionic Order were much more decorated, showing very skilles masons and their capabilities. The columns and the slnderness of the strucure if the defining factor between the two orders.

• Folly

• Giedion, S.: The Beginnings of Architecture: The Eternal Present: A Contribution on Constancy and Change, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1981
• Lethaby, William Richard: Architecture, Mysticism and Myth Cosimo (first published 1892), English, 288 pages, ISBN 1-59605-380-1 (Online PDF)
• Mann, A.: Sacred Architecture, Shaftesbury: Element, 1993
• Donald E. Strong, The Classical World, Paul Hamlyn, London (1965)

• Bruno Queysanne: Architecture and Mythology (Southern California Institute of Architecture: Media Archive)