HOUSES OF PRAYER

GREECE: THE ACROPOLIS

OBJECTIVES:

1. Be able to describe the three orders of Greek architecture.

2. Be able to describe and to discuss the main features of the buildings on the Acropolis.

3. Be able to explain how "form follows function" in the Parthenon.

4. Be able to explain the primary architectural components of the Parthenon and of Greek temples in general.

5. Be able to discuss and to explain the Greek view of the purpose and nature of art as seen through the quotations below and the Acropolis.

FAMOUS QUOTATIONS ON THE GREEK VIEW OF ART AND ARTISTS:

From Plato:

Beauty is "effectiveness for some good purpose." Hippias Major

The "Virtue and Beauty and Rightness of every manufactured article, living creature, and action is assessed only in relation to the purpose for which it was made or naturally produced." The Republic

"Every cause for a thing passing from not being to being is poiesis, so that manufacturing activities in all branches of industry are forms of poiesis and all artisans and craftsmen are poietai (poets)."

From Aristotle:

Techne is "a capacity to do or make something with a correct understanding of the principle involved."

OUTLINE

I. Greek aesthetics

A. The Social Function of Art

B. Plato's theory of art
i) The Hippias Major beauty is "effectiveness for some good purpose"
ii) The Republic: "The virtue and beauty of every manufactured article, living creature, and action is assessed only in relation to the purpose for which it is made or produced."
iii) Was the art effective for its purpose?
iv) Was the purpose a good one?

C. Art and its relation to manufacturing
i)artists must know the "good" of their craft
ii) techne
a) Aristotle's definition: "A capacity to make or do something with a correct understanding of the principle involved"
b) a branch of knowledge after science and practical wisdom
c) always directed to an end vs. art for its own sake
d) Plato: poiesis
i) every craftsperson is a poet
ii) art as an inferior form of knowledge

II. Houses of Prayer: The Athenian Acropolis

A. Brief History of the Acropolis in antiquity through Pericles

i) Mythology: Theseus, Athena and Poseidon
ii) early palace
iii) temples: the Erectheus and statues of Athena
iv) The battle of Marathon and the Parthenon
v) The Persians in 480 B.C.E.
vi) Pericles and the Rebuilding of the Acropolis (5th century B.C.E.)

B. Virtual Tour of the Acropolis

i) the three orders of Greek architecture

a) Doric

i) form follows function: fluting and wood
ii) Egyptian influences: reed bundles
iii) as a way to disguise column joints

b) Ionian
c) Corinthian

ii) The Propylaea: function and form

a) slope of the hill
b) Doric and Ionic
c) Decor
d) Looking down from the Propylaea

iii) temple of Athena Nike: function and form
iv) The Erechteon

a) The Caryatids

v) Parthenon

a) Ictinus and Callicrates
b) Lines and Curves: Why?
c) architectural
terms:

i) the columns
ii) the echinus
iii) the abacus
iv) the entablature

a) Architrave
b) Frieze
c) triglyphs

i) form follows function: earlier wooden structures

d) metope
e) cornice

III. Epilogue: The Acropolis after Pericles

A. Sulla in 86 B.C.E.

B. Byzantine Church and Catholic Cathedral

C. Turks in 1456 C.E.

D. siege of Venetians in 1686

E. Lord Elgin in 1801-1803

F. Restoration of the Acropolis

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