1. Read and translate the text.

2. Find words in the text that mean:

1. A holy table or surface used in religious ceremonies

2. An image of a person or animal that is made in solid material such as stone or metal and is usually large

3. A tall upright round post used as a support for a roof or bridge

4. To develop and change gradually over a long period of time

5. To recognize and understand the difference between two or more things or people

6. Wood used for building or making things

7. To make a good combination with someone or something else

8. To show respect and love for a god, especially by praying in a religious building.

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What was the main architect’s role in Greek art?

2. How the divine houses were distinguished from the mortals ones?

3. What materials were used for building temples?

4. What new methods of building did Greeks learn from Egyptians?

5. What types of orders are typical for Greek architecture? What’s the difference between them?

6. What main Greek temples do you know?

1. Define whether sentences are true or false:

1. The architect's main role was to design temples;

2. The focus of worship in Greek religion was the statue of Zeus;

3. Temple plans were the same as the house plans - one-room buildings with columnar porches;

4. The first step in architecture was simply the replacement of wooden pillars with stone blocks;

5. The Doric order was invented in the first half of the 7th century;

6. the Erechtheum was built in Ionic style.

Classical oders

A classical order is one of the ancient styles of building design in the Classical tradition, distinguished by their proportions and their characteristic profiles and details, but most quickly recognizable by the type of column and capital employed. Each style also has its proper entablature, consisting of architrave, frieze and cornice. From the sixteenth century onwards, theorists recognized five orders.

Ranged in the engraving (illustration, right), from the stockiest and most primitive to the richest and most slender, they are: Tuscan (Roman) and Doric (Greek and Roman, illustrated here in its Roman version); Ionic (Greek version) and Ionic (Roman version); Corinthian (Greek and Roman) and composite (Roman). The ancient and original orders of architecture are no more than three, the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, which were invented by the Greeks. To these the Romans added two, the Tuscan, which they made plainer than the Doric, and the Composite, which was more ornamental, if not more beautiful, than the Corinthian. The first three orders alone, however, show invention and particular character, and essentially differ from each other; the two others have nothing but that which is borrowed, and differing only accidentally. The Tuscan is the Doric in its earliest state, and the Composite is the Corinthian, enriched with the Ionic.

Greek orders:

There are two distinct orders in ancient Greek architecture: Doric and Ionic. These two were adopted by the Romans, as was the Corinthian order. The Corinthian capital, however, was modified by the Romans. The adaptation of the Greek orders took place in the first century BC. The three ancient Greek orders have since been consistently used in classical Western architecture.

The Doric order originated on the mainland and western Greece. It is the simplest of the orders, characterized by short, faceted, heavy columns with plain, round capitals (tops) and no base. With only four to eight diameters in height, the columns are the most squat of all orders. The shaft of the Doric order is channeled with 20 flutes. The capital consists of a necking which is of a simple form. The echinus is convex and the abacus is square.

The Ionic order came from eastern Greece, where its origins are entwined with the similar but little known Aeolic order. It is distinguished by slender, fluted pillars with a large base and two opposed volutes (also called scrolls) in the echinus of the capital. The echinus itself is decorated with an egg- and- dart motif. The Ionic shaft comes with four more flutes than the Doric counterpart. The Ionic base has two convex moldings called tori which are separated by a scotia.

The Corinthian order is the most ornate of the Greek orders, characterized by a slender fluted column having an ornate capital decorated with acanthus leaves. It is commonly regarded as the most elegant of the five orders. The most distinct characteristics is the striking capital. The capital of the Corinthian order is carved with two rows of leaves and four scrolls.

Roman orders

The Romans adapted all the Greek orders and also developed two orders of their own, basically modification of Greek orders. The Romans also invented the superimposed order. A superimposed order is when successive stories of a building have different orders. The heaviest orders were at the bottom, whilst the lightest came at the top. This means that the Doric order was the order of the ground floor, the Ionic order was used for the middle storey, while the Corinthian or the Composite order was used for the top storey.

The Colossal order was invented by architects in the Renaissance. The Colossal order is characterized by columns that extend the height of two or more stories.

The Tuscan order has a very plain design, with a plain shaft, and a simple capital, base, and frieze. It is a simplified adaptation of the Doric order by the Romans. The Tuscan order is characterized by an unfluted shaft and a capital that only consist of an echinus and an abacus. In proportions it is similar to the Doric order, but overall it is significantly plainer.

The Composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic with the leaves of the Corinthian order. Until the Renaissance it was not ranked as a separate order. Instead it was considered as a late Roman form of the Corinthian order.