THE GREEK ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE Of ancient buildings, the only ones which have come down to us in any sort of preservation are the temples built for the religious wor ship of the various peoples. All their domestic architecture was evidently of such an ephemeral character that it has long since dis appeared. It is therefore evident that religion, of whatever form, has been directly responsible for the growth of architecture to the monu mental style to which it has since attained, as these nations might other wise never have invented for their ordinary shelters, or even for the palaces of their kings and rulers, the impressive forms that have sur vived. But, more than this, we know that many of the different parts of architecture had at one time a direct religious significance and meaning. Indeed, there seems to have been an especial pride evinced in adding this element of symbolism to the architectural forms in common use.
The Greek temples, in which the Order as we study it to-day first assumed its definite form, were as a rule the simplest and most elemen tal kind of buildings—a rectangle longer than its width, with two roof planes leaning upon each other and forming a ridge at the center with a gable at each end.
Derivation of Greek Temple. The Temple of Diana Propylæa at Eleusis is an instance of a temple that shows the characteristics of Greek architecture at its simplest and best. The elevation and plan of the porch, as well as the details of its ornament and construction, -are both well shown in the two illustrating plates. The entrance porch (Plat e XXXV), indicates a close relationship and a possibly direct derivation from the Egyptian rock-cut temple (Fig. 31), as the drawings show; and its plan (Fig. 32) displays the simplest use of the Doric column 'in antis, or placed between the two asters (antæ)that are formed on the end of the side walls of the building.
The plain outside enclos ing wall of the Egyptian and the early Greek temples was soon replaced by an exterior row of columns, and the stone wall placed inside these, as in the plan of the Temple of Theseus (Fig. 33), so that only the central portion of the building was actually enclosed.
The Greek columned temple passed rapidly through many stages of development until it reached in the Parthenon its highest type; and still the plan (Fig. 34) shows how little it has changed in its essentials from the small Temple of Diana Propylæa; but by re placing the plain exterior side and rear walls by a single or double row of columns, a great addition has been made to the impressive exterior effect of the whole.
This change must be recalled when studying the entablature of the Greek Doric order, as it will help to explain the characteristics that go to make up the frieze and cornice, if we remember that it prob ably first crowned a wall and not a colonnade.
Development of the Column. In these Greek temples, wholly of stone construction the spacing and size of the columns, as well as the development, artistic and structural, of their buildings must first have been determined by the various considerations of material. As the entire Greek system of architecture was based upon the principle of the lintel (Frontispiece), we know that the spacing of the column was governed by the length of stone blocks which they were able to quarry and place across and upon the columns with some assurance of their supporting the weight of the roof; and so also the size of the column itself was probably first determined more by the ease of quarrying the blocks of stone of which they were composed, and of handling and placing them in position, than by any great regard for their artistic effect, although this undoubtedly immediately followed.
In the Egyptian and Greek temples, the column developed peculiarities of form that were evidently demanded by the higher artistic cultivation of the people. In the early examples its purpose had been purely structural, but later on it was used to produce an important part of the effect of the building, and while still utilized for structural purposes, it was treated as a decorative unit, until fi nally the column (or rather the Order) becomes the very basis of Classic architectural design.