Order From Chaos: The Greek Temple and the Classical
Orders
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I. Greek prehistory: the Bronze Age in the Aegean Sea,
1700-1400 B.C. (Kostof, ch. 5)
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Bronze-Age Mycenae, Greece, c. 1400 BC I. A. 1. Where were
cities situated?
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The megaron of the Mycenaean palace at Pylos, Greece, c. 1400
BC I. A. 2. What were the priorities in architecture: the case of
the megaron?
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I. A. 2. a. What forms did tombs take? A tholos tomb at
Mycenae, Greece, ca. 1400-1300 BC
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II. The Archaic period (800-480 BC ): the cultural turn in
Greece and the invention of the Greek temple, 9 th -7 th centuries
BC
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II. Archaic period Classical period Hellenistic period
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The Greek polis (city-state): governed by citizen councils
Human-centered: Gods imagined as humans in ideal form Faith in
human reason: Socrates (470-399 B.C.) II. A. Historical context:
Emergence of the Greek polis (city-state); the Greek gods; science
and philosophy; formation of Greek cultural identity through
religion
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II. A. The Greek temple at Segesta, Italy, 430-420 BC
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II. B. Greek temple basics Temple of Hera I at Samos, Greece, 8
th cen. B.C. phase 1 phase 2
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II. B.
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Temple of Hera I, phase 1 II. B. 1. Where was the altar?II. B.
2. What was in the cella (Greek naos)?II. B. 3. What were the
building materials of the early Archaic temples? late 9 th or early
8 th cen. B.C.
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Temple of Hera II at Samos, mid 7 th cen. B.C. II. B. 4. What
was the setting like? stoa (portico) and west corner of Hera
II
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The megaron of Mycenaean palace Pylos, c. 1400 B.C. II. C.
Precedents for the archaic Greek temple 1. Bronze-Age megarons
Temple of Hera I, phase 1 Samos, late 9 th /early 8 th cen.
B.C.
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8 th -cen. B.C. Greek shrine II. C. 2. 8 th -century Greek
shrine, clay model from Argos, Greece Temple of Hera I, phase 1
late 9 th or early 8 th cen. B.C.
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Temple of Hera I at Samos, phase 1Temple of Hera I at Samos,
phase 2 II. D. Architectural form: What is significant about the
addition of the peristyle? 1. How does the addition of the
peristyle reflect the polis-centered culture of Greek peoples? late
9 th / early 8 th cen. mid 8 th cen.
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II. D. 1. mid 8 th cen. Temple of Hera I at Samos, phase 2
Temples of Hera II, III, and IV, superimposed ca. 650-522 BC
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II. D. 2. What are the initial signs of a classical order?
Doric order (half in wood, half in stone)Wood: Hera II at Samos,
mid 7 th cen. B.C.
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II. F. What was the predominant architectural theory in
pre-Classical times? Evidence from an excerpt of To Apollon, a
Homeric hymn of the 8th century B.C.: Apollo laid out the
foundations, broad and very long from the beginning to end; and on
them the sons of Erginos, Trophonios and Agamedes [architects],
dear to the immortal gods, placed a threshold of stone. And the
numberless races of men built the temple all around with hewn
stone... (from assigned reading in Gelernter, p. 41). Temple of
Hera I at Samos, phase 2 mid 8 th cen. B.C.
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Doric Temple of Hera at Olympia III. The first stone temples
and the invention of the orders in the Archaic period, 6 th -5 th
century B.C. Doric Temple of Hera I at Paestum Ionic Temple of Hera
at Samos Doric Temple of Artemis at Corfu
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III. Temple of Hera I at Paestum, Italy, 6 th cen. BC (c. 530
BC), Archaic Temple of Hera II at Paestum, Italy, 5 th cen. BC (c.
460), Early Classical
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III. Three temples at Paestum, 6 th - 5 th cen. BC Greek temple
as mid-space object Greek temple at Segesta, ItalyTemple of Demeter
at Paestum, 5 th cen. BC
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Greek colony of Paestum in Italy (Western Greece) Hera I III.
Hera I
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Proto-Doric columns at Hatshepsuts Temple, c. 1500 B.C. Greek
Doric Order at the Temple of Hera I in Paestum III.
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Temple of Hera I at Paestum (Archaic), 530 B.C. III. A. What
are new parts are added to the plan of a Doric temple? generic
Greek temple plan
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Temple at Hera I at Paestum III. A.
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Temple at Hera I at Paestum III. A. Temple of Concordia,
Agrigento, Italy
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III. B. The Classical Orders: 1. What are the essential
components of a Classical order? Doric Order of the Temple of Hera
I at Paestum less well preservedbetter preserved Doric Order of the
Temple of Hera II at Paestum
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III. B. 2. What parts may correspond to the primitive wood
version of the Doric order? Doric order (half in wood, half in
stone)Doric Order of the Temple of Hera II at Paestum guttae
triglyph
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entasis III. C. 3. Greek empathy: human experience counts a.
How can we explain entasis in the Doric column? Temple of Hera I at
Paestum
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Temple of Zeus at Olympia IV. The Early Classical period
(480-450 BC ): shift in temple design that went with the new-found
power to create and preserve the conditions in which man lived
Temple of Hera II at Paestum Temple E at Selinus
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IV. A. Political context: To what event can we ascribe greater
self-confidence but also greater uneasiness among Greeks on the
mainland in the early Classical period?
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III. Temple of Hera i at Paestum, Italy, 6 th cen. BC, Archaic
Temple of Hera II at Paestum, Italy, 5 th cen. BC (c. 460), Early
Classical
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IV. A. 1. Why did the Early Classical style invented by Greeks
on the mainland reject excessive ornament and gigantism in temples?
Doric Temple of Hera II at Paestum (460 BC )Ionic Temple of Hera IV
at Samos (538-22 BC )
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Great Archaic Ionic temples IV. A. 1. Temple of Artemis at
Ephesos, Turkey (formerly Ionia), 560-550 BC Temple of Hera IV at
Samos 538-22 BC
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Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, Turkey (formerly Ionia), 560-550
B.C. IV. A. 1.
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Hera I at Paestum (Archaic), 530 BC Hera II at Paestum (Early
Classical), 460 BC IV. B. Design changes in the Early Classical
temple 1. What has changed in the plan of the Early Classical
temple?
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IV. B. 2. What is the secret of the new compactness and
simplicity (severity) of the Early Classical temples compared to
Archaic temples? Temples of Hera I (left, Archaic) and II (right,
Early Classical) at Paestum
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Temple of Hera I at Paestum (Archaic) Temple of Hera II at
Paestum (Early Classical) IV. B. 2. symmetria = commensurability of
parts
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III. C. Theory: What was the predominant architectural theory
in the Archaic period? 1. How is the trust in numbers and
proportion part of the Greek cultural turn? Gods imagined as humans
in ideal proportions Temples built by the numbers Pythagorus of
Samos (580-500 BC )
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III. C. 2. In what way are numerical harmonies
(proportionality) actually spiritual, and therefore an appropriate
part of sacred architecture? Temple of Hera II at Paestum (Early
Classical)
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The Classical moment: the Parthenon in Athens For Monday: J.J.
Pollitt, Art and Experience in Classical Greece, ch. 3, On
E-Reserve.