A Brief History of Ancient Greek Architecture

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Greek Architecture is one of the earliest styles of architecture. It is also one of the leading forerunners for some of the modern architecture we see today. Although there are very few of the Greek’s masterpieces left to view to this day they are still masterpieces to behold. Architectural styles are used for decoration and structure. Greek Architecture isn’t just for the glamour and decoration, but also for the creative method and styles in which a building was built

Greek architecture originated in Crete formed by the Dorians hence the Doric columns. In Greece the Dorians developed their forms of construction at such rapid paces that between the 10th and the 6th cent. B.C. a defined system of construction was established or what we call architecture. However, prior to the evolution of the grand marble temples of the 5th century B.C., there were unquestionably developing stages in which walls were made of sun-dried bricks and roofs, friezes and columns were made of wood (info please.)

The different styles of columns that were used in Ancient Greece include Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. These different types differentiate from simple to complex, ranging from the kind of building or the wealth of the home owner.

Doric is the simplest of the three column types, has little to no elaborate design on it. There is a capital at the top of the column, which is usually round or square. Then there is the shaft the tall long part of the column usually with groves going vertically. But what makes the Doric order unique is that there is no base, which makes it unique in its own way compared to the other orders (Bruce R.). The Doric style was also the first of the three kinds used, at first being made out of wood then later on out o...

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....” Ancient-Greece. Ancient-Greece.org. 2002. Web. http://www.ancient-greece.org/architecture/minoan-archi.html

“Origins of Greek Architecture.” Info please. 2012. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press. http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/greek-architecture-origins-greek-architecture.html

“The Parthenon.” Ancient-Greece. 2002. Web. http://www.ancient-greece.org/architecture/parthenon.html

“The Parthenon.” Ancient Greece. University Press Inc. 2003. Web. http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Parthenon/

“Parthenon.” Wikipedia. 2014. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon

Rodenwaldt, Gerhart. The Acropolis. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1958.

Thompson, Homer and R. E., Wycherley. The Agora of Athens. Volume XIV. Princeton: The American School of Classical studies at Athens, 1972.

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