Manuel L.

Quezon University
790 EDSA, Diliman, Quezon City

ASSIGNMENT IN PHILOSOPHY

(CONCEPTS AND APPLICATION OF

DESIGN OF GREEK/ROMAN
COLUMNS)

Submitted by:
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M.
15-00326

Submitted to:
Mr. Edmund C. Osias
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Mr. Edmund C. Osias
PHLO III-1 (Introduction to Philosophy) 22August2019

CONCEPT AND APPLICATION OF DESIGN OF

GREEK/ROMAN COLUMNS

Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus or the Theseion is a well-
preserved Greek temple located in Athens, Greece.
The said temple is built in honor to the name of Hephaestus was the
patron god of metal working, craftsmanship, and fire. There were numerous
potters' workshops and metal-working shops in the vicinity of the temple, as befits
the temple's honoree.
It is a Doric order temple, which means it has a few architectural
trademarks. For one, the columns are fluted, or grooved. Above the columns is a
thick, horizontal element called the frieze. Doric friezes are decorated with
alternating patterns of triglyphs and metopes. Triglyphs are panels with three
vertical lines, which historians theorize were meant to symbolize the wooden beams
that would have previously been used to hold up the roofs before the switch to
stone architecture.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Mr. Edmund C. Osias
PHLO III-1 (Introduction to Philosophy) 22August2019

The metopes are blank panels in between the triglyphs. Very often, Doric
metopes were carved with reliefs of scenes from Greek mythology, and the Temple
of Hephaestus is no exception.

The pediment of the temple also seems to have been decorated with
larger sculptures (which was a common practice in the Greek world). In this case,
archeologists believe that the sculptures depict the hero Theseus and the people
known as the Lapiths battling against the centaurs. We call this scene
the Centauromachy.
A Doric column has a very plain, straightforward design, much more
simple than the later Ionic and Corinthian column styles. A Doric column is also
thicker and heavier than an Ionic or Corinthian column. For this reason, the Doric
column is sometimes associated with strength and masculinity. Believing that Doric
columns could bear the most weight, ancient builders often used them for the
lowest level of multi-story buildings, reserving the more slender Ionic and
Corinthian columns for the upper levels.