212 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL. 



[JlXY, 



"here that festive god presidetl. That of Ceres was in the open 

 plains, wliere the husbaRtiinan mijfht pursue liis daily toil under 

 her protecting influence. Every fcmntaiii liad its attendant nymi)h, 

 and every grove its dryades, who were i)ropitlated hy offerings of 

 milk, oil, and honey. 



After the successful termination of any enterprise, gratitude 

 was expressed to the favouring god by votive offerings, the warrior 

 jiresenting shields and armour; the .igriculturist ]iis first fruits; 

 :.itd each worshipper according to his ability and avocation. These 

 "tfering were sduietimes of great value, and were jireserved in 

 t e temple, or tlie sacred inclosure. 



In nothing did the Greeks dis|day tlicir sense of beauty and 

 love of thejiicturesque more than in tlie choice of a site for their 

 temples. They were generally placed on elevated ground, where 

 they could be seen from afar, as the I'arthenon, and those of 

 Jupiter I'anlielleniiis at ^'F,gin?i, and .Minerva at Sunium. ^^'here 

 this was not the case, they were separated from the noise and 

 hustle of the city by their periholus, or sacred inclosure, wliich 

 was adorned with statues and altars, and planted with trees; thus 

 inviting meditation hy the charm of repose. In some instances 

 the periholus, or temenos, was so extensive as to contain other 

 iuferior temples, and even theatres and |)orticoes; as the groves 

 of Jupiter at Olynipia, and of ji'Isculapius at Epidaurus. The 

 periholus was frequently surrounded by a peristvle, and contained 

 the dwellings of the priests, and all those employed in the service 

 of the temple. These, with their families, formed a village within 

 the periholus, and lived, as it were, under the immediate protec- 

 tion of the divinity. 



The (ireek temples were rectangular in form. A few ruins of 

 circular buildings have been found, called by the Greeks "tholi;" 

 hut it appears uncertain whether these were sacred structures. The 

 temple was raised above the level of the periholus by a platform or 

 stylobate; sometimes this was ascended by steps only in the front; 

 liut w here there was a peristyle the steps of the stylobate were con- 

 tinued all round. Vitruvius i-ecommends that the nuniher should 

 he unequal, that the level of the temple may he gained by the 

 right foot. Three was tlie customary number in the Temple of 

 Diana Propylea at Eleusis; however, there are five; and in that 

 of Theseus at Athens, onlv two. This is supposed to hare distin- 

 guished it as a heroum, or temple to an inferior divinity. 



The stylobate occasionally formed a sort of area round the 

 building. On this it was the custom to place a larse altar in front 

 of the naos, as at the Temple of Minerva at Priene, on which 

 public sacrifices were offered, in view of the congregation assem- 

 bled in the periholus. Access to the naos or cella w as prohibited 

 to the populace; this was denoted hy a cord extended across the 

 doorway. The proportions of the temple differed according to 

 the number of apartments required. Sometimes, in addition to 

 the cella, there was a pronaos; sometimes both a pronaos and a 

 posticus; and generally in the larger temples, an opisthodomos 

 also, where the treasures and sacred utensils were kept. 



Frequently, the opisthodomos of the principal temple was the 

 })ublic treasury of the state; this was the case at Athens, and at 

 Delphi. The interior of the cella was lighted through the roof; 

 or, sometimes by the door only. On the recurrence of great festi- 

 vals, the whole interior of the temple was artificially illuminated. 

 In the earlier temples the roofs were formed of tiles, or terra- 

 cotta, stuccoed and i)ainted; but Bygcs of Naxos, who lived in 

 the time of Solon, about 380 d.c, invented a mode of roofing in 

 marble, for which he was honoured with an inscribed statue, a 

 mark of distinction equivalent to a title in the present day. This 

 in\ention consisted in the means adopted to prevent the water 

 oozing through the joints of the flat marble slabs. This was done 

 liy placing over them ridges of small slabs, resembling tiles. At 

 the extremities of each ridge, antifixae were placed, generally in 

 the palmette form. IJelow the antifixie was a channel for the 

 water, which passed off through the perforated lions' heads on the 

 crowning member of the cornice. 



Vitruvius directs that the lions' heads over the columns should 

 alone be perforated, while the iiitervening ones are left solid, to 

 avoid the inconvenience of water dripping upon persons entering 

 the peristyle. 



Greek temples are divided by Vitruvius into seven classes, which 

 Jie denominates in mdis, prosti/lt; finiiiliiprosti//<\ periijtern/, dipteni/, 

 ]incudo-dij)teral, and hypcethrdl ; though few of the Greek examples 

 exactly agree with the rules laid down by Vitruvius, they bear a 

 sufficiently close resemblance to be thus classified. The temple in 

 tiiitis (or as the Greeks termed it, vaa.s en purn.stasin) is the most 

 simple, consisting merely of a cella, the walls of which are termi- 

 nated in front by antw, or pilasters, between which two columns 



are placed, supporting the entablature; the whole is crowned b; 

 pediment. 



TeiTij)Ie in Aiitis 1 bfiuis ^t Rliaiarms. 



A beautiful example of an Ionic temple in antis was found in 

 Asia Minor, a drawing of which is given in the 'Ionian Anti(|uities,' 

 published by the Dilettanti Society. There is also an ancient 

 example at Khamnus in Attica, called the Temple of Themis; 

 this is constructed with polygonal blocks of marble, and is of the 

 Doric order; it is only 35 feet in length by 25 feet in breadth. A 

 variety of this class is seen in the Temple of Diana Pnqjyiea 

 at Eleusis, in which the form of the front is repeated in the rear, 

 thus being to the simple temple in aniis what the amphiprostyle 

 is to the prostyle. In the Temple of Esculapius at Agrigen- 

 tum, there are two engaged columns between the antie in the 

 rear. The great Temple of Ceres at Eleusis was in nntis until the 

 time of Demetrius (307 B.C.), when the architect Philo added to 

 it a magnificent dodecastyle portico, thus bringing it under the 

 second class, the prostyle. This was similar to the temple in antis. 



Prostyle Templo at Selinunte. Amphiprostyle Temple on tfie Ilissus. 



only with the addition of a portico ; the angular columns of the 

 portico are placed in front of the ant le, terminating the wall; in 

 this class a pronass, or vestibule, was sometimes added to the cella. 

 The amphiprostyle temples have a portico in the rear, as well as 

 one in the front; this posticus is generally added when a second 

 entrance is required. An example of this class is the Ionic temple 

 on the Ilissus, a restoration of which is given in Stuart's 'Athens.' 

 The larger Greek temples are mostly peripteral; that is, they have 

 an ambulatory or peristyle along the flank, as well as porticoes in 

 front and rear. Of this class is the Temple of Theseus at Athens, 

 now in better preservation than any building of ancient Greece. 



