Parts/thenon

Stereobate

The continuous stone base located below the stylobate.

Stylobate

The topmost pavement step of a structure of three steps on which a colonnade is placed. (slightly curved upwards)

Flutes

The concave channels in the shafts of columns or pilasters, cut perpendicularly.

Drum

The shaft blocks of a column.

Shaft

The body of a column between the capital and the base.

Echinus

A molding below the abacus of a Greek Doric capital.

Abacus

The slab at the top of a capital, crowning the column and supporting the entablature.

Capital

The upper part or head of a column, set over the shaft.

Column

An upright masonry element comprised of a base, shaft, and capital (except in the case of the Greek Doric Order, which has no base.)

Architrave

The lowest element of a classical entablature that rests directly on the abaci of supporting columns. Also called the Epistyle.

Metope

Panels arranged between triglyphs located in a Doric frieze carved with figural reliefs depicting mythological scenes such as the Centauromachy, Amazonmachy, Trojan War and Gigantomachy

Triglyph

The characteristic ornamental panel in a Doric frieze, consisting of a vertical raised block composed of three vertical bands separated by indented flutes or channels.

Frieze

A continuous ornamental low relief sculpture along the inside of the outer wall of the parthenon, depicting the procession of the Panathenaic Festival

Geison

A horizontal molded projection that runs the full perimeter of a Greek temple, also known as a corona

Pediment

A triangular space where fully developed sculptures are placed, depicting either the myth of Athena’s birth and the challenge between Athena and Poseidon

Raking Geison

A molded projection that follows the slope of the pediment

Raking Sima

The terracotta or stone gutter of atop a pediment, placed above the raking cornice. Continuous, while others on the flanks of a building are provided with downspouts for rainwater, often in the form of lions’ heads.

Acroterion

An architectural ornament placed on a flat base and mounted at the apex or lower extremities of a pediment.

Cornice

The projecting, uppermost horizontal member of a classical entablature.

Entablature

The complex upper structure of the temple, supported by columns and consisting of an architrave, frieze, and pediment.

Colonnade

A row of columns supporting an entablature. The space between columns is called the intercolumniation.

Pteromata

Ambulatory or passageway between the cell of a Greek temple and the columns of the peristyle.

Portico

A structure forming a porch in front of a building, and consisting of a roofed space open or partially enclosed at the sides, with columns, forming the entrance.

Pronaos

The open vestibule in front of the cell (naos) of the temple; the front portico.

Cella

The main sanctuary or ceremonial space of a Greek temple, the part of a temple enclosed within the walls.

Opisthodomos

The rear portico, an open porch at the rear of the cell of a temple, entered from the colonnade, which often served as a rear entrance, treasury, or other function.

Mutule

A projecting rectangular block or bracket under the cornice, centered above the triglpyh.

Guttae

A series of small ornaments in the shape of truncated cones in a Doric entablature.

Taenia

The projecting fillet or band at the top of a Doric architrave, separating it from the top of the frieze.

Regula

A band below the taenia and above the guttae in a Doric architrave.

Peristyle

When a colonnade surrounds a building

East Pediment

Birth of Athena

West Pediment

Challenge between Athena and Poseidon

West Metope

Amazonomachy

South Metope

Centauromachy

North Metope

Trojan War

East Metope

Gigantomachy

Construction for the Parthenon began…

447/446 BCE

Construction for the Parthenon finished….

438 BCE

The frieze was carved during….

440-430 BCE

Isocephalism

A technique in which all characters within a relief sculpture where all heads of the human figures are kept at the same level

Overlapping figures

In sculpture, where figures limbs and bodies overlap with others

The pediments were installed in…

432 BCE

Figures in East Pediment

Hepaestus, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Hestia, Aphrodite, Hera, Demeter, Dionysus, Selene, Helios, Kore, Triptolemus, Dione

Figures in West Pediment

Hermes, Nike, Iris, Amphritrite, Kekrops, Illisos, Calai, Callirrhoe