Identifier: lifeinancientath00tuckuoft (find matches)
Title: Life in ancient Athens, the social and public life of a classical Athenian from day to day
Year: 1907 (1900s)
Authors: Tucker, T. G. (Thomas George), 1859-1946
Subjects: Athens (Greece) -- Social life and customs
Publisher: London Macmillan
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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n the number ofsides upon which columns were erected, in the number ofrows of such columns, and in the quantity and skill ofsculptured decoration. In general a rectangular edifice ofstone—the temple proper—stood upon a platform, and mighthave at one end, at both ends, or on all four sides, a row, ormore than one row, of pillars. The rectangular building mightbe divided into two portions, the one being the shrine contain-ing the statue, the other a rear-chapel, used particularly for atreasury. In the Parthenon the shrine is 100 feet in length,and it contained the colossal gold and ivory statue of Athenathe Virgin, nearly 40 feet in height. It was divided into threenaves and was apparently lighted by openings in the roof, andby the transparent and reflecting quality of the marble in theceiling and around. Behind was a treasury, and around thewhole were columns, 34 feet high and 6 feet in diameter,arranged as in the diagram. The front elevation of a typical Greek temple shows a gable
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o a Oh C 22 chap, in PUBLIC BUILDINGS, STREETS, ETC. 23 or pediment, of which the flat space, or tympanum, is occupiedby sculpture, often more than life-size. Over each angle of thegable is erected an ornament, such as a tripod. Below thegable there are sculptures in relief along the frieze, and, incases where a row of columns surrounds the temple, there maybe further sculptures, running round an inner frieze beneaththe ceiling of the colonnade. So far as they have survived,the sculptures of the Parthenon—which were partly superin-tended by Pheidias—are the admiration of the world, many ofthem, chiefly from the frieze, being familiar in the shape ofthe Elgin Marbles. It was only at a later time that goldenshields also formed a part of the decoration of the outerentablature. The beauty of the Parthenon and similar buildings was thebeauty of great conception, and yet of sublime simplicity ofmass and majesty. It depended mainly on studied proportion,which gave the greatest value to l

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