The Ionic column rests upon a base. Its shaft is tall and
slender. The beautifully carved capital swells outward into two spiral rolls,
the ends of which are curled under to form the "volutes." The Ionic
order flourished particularly in Asia Minor. It was well known, too, at Athens.
NATURE OF THE GREEK TEMPLE
The temple formed the chief structure in a Greek city. It
was very simple in outline—merely a rectangular building provided with doors,
but without windows. Around it was a single or a double row of columns. Above
them rose the architrave, a plain band of massive stones which reached from one
column to another. Then came the frieze, adorned with sculptured reliefs, then
the horizontal cornice, and at the ends of the building the triangular
pediments formed by the sloping roof. The pediments were sometimes decorated
with statues. Since the temple was not intended to hold a congregation of
worshipers, but only to contain the image of the god, the interior usually had
little ornamentation.
UNIQUENESS OF THE GREEK TEMPLE
Greek temples were not very large, for hugeness was no
object to the builders. They were not even lavishly decorated. Their beauty
lies, most of all, in their harmonious proportions and perfect symmetry. In the
best examples of the Greek temple there are, for instance, no straight lines.
The columns are not set at equal intervals, but closer together near the
corners of the building. The shafts of the columns, instead of tapering upward
at a uniform rate, swell slightly toward the center. The artistic eyes of the
Greeks delighted in such subtle curves. These characteristics make a classical
temple unique of its kind.
