Ancient Greek TemplesWeek 8

Compiled by Amy

Images from Google Images

Why Temples

Hello God, Are you home?Used the best quality materialsWanted the Gods and Goddesses to be

happyBeautiful statues, high columns, and

elaborate friezes.Filled with treasures and “priests or

preistesses” that took care of the fires and offerings.

Frieze

• The carvings placed on temples and important buildings in Ancient Greece

• The friezes depicted stories and myths of the Gods

• They were coated in paint or tinted wax.

Parts of Frieze

Pediment

Cornice

Frieze

Entablature

architrave

capital

Marble

• Quarries were outside of the cities.

• The huge stone blocks were taken to the construction site by carriages and wagons.

• They used ropes, pullies, and ramps to put the stones in place.

Tools Used

• Masons used mallets and chisels to carve the marble. This was a painstaking and dangerous task.

• How did they cut the marble so perfectly?

Splitting Marble

• Chisel a Groove in the marble• Hammer wooden wedge into the groove• Soak the wooden wesdge• The wood expands and cracks the marble• Then the pieces were moved to the jobsite• The expert masons would form the final

block• Did not use cement!

Lego Copycats

• Each piece had a perfectly fitted knob and slot

• Just like our Legos today

• The column pieces were slightly tapered to achieve a stronger column.

Not Good Enough?

Doric

• Simple Square• Used on Mainland

Greece and in Southern Italy

Ionic

• The capital is more elaborate

• Has a thinner capital top but has scolled edges called a Volute

Corinthian

• Extremely Elaborate • Decorated with leaves• Much more costly to

make• Less examples from

Ancient Greece

• Sometimes the masons were truly artists!• The Erectheum has a Porch of Maidens• These columns that hold up the roof are called

Caryatids (usually a woman)

Oracle at Delphi and the Priestess Pythia

• Ancient writers recorded the sweet smell of the oracle locations and of the pythia.

• The sweet smell may have been ethylene.

• Ethylene is a natural gas that causes a person to feel like they are floating and to feel a sense of happiness.

Book List Week 8

• I wonder Why Greeks Built Temples and other questions about Ancient Greece by Fiona MacDonald

• Ancient Greek Art by Susie Hodge

• Tools of the ancient Greeks by Kris Bordessa

• An Ancient Greek Temple by John Malam and Mark Bergin

Assingments Week 8

• Build a Minecraft, Lego, Blocks, or Google Sketchup of an Ancient Greek Temple of your choice to scale

• Place your temple stickers onto your scaled map• Create a Craft column with all three capitals• Find an example in modern architecture America

of all three capitals and a caryatid• Share pictures with us via email or at the next

class.

Column Craft

• We used a hot glue gun to create grooves along a paper towel tube

• When the glue dried we painted the tube to create a column of Marble

• We used paper and cardboard to create all three examples of a capital

Writing Assignment Week 8

• Create a tri-fold travel brochure depicting one of the Ancient Greek Temples.

• Discuss the frieze

• Discuss the Capitals

• Explore the Use and History of the Temple