THE GREEK COLUMNS

DEVELOPMENT & USE

KATHRYN URSENBACH
HUMANITIES 101
There are three different styles (also
called Orders) of Greek architecture:

DORIC IONIC CORINTHIAN

THE DORIC COLUMN
• Developed around the 6th century B.C.
• Used in Greece until about 100 BC
• No Base
• Shaft is wider at the bottom
• Shaft has 20 flutes
• Smooth, round capitals (tops)
• No carvings or other ornaments
The Doric column is oftentimes associated with
strength and masculinity.
The Parthenon Temple
THE IONIC COLUMN

• First used in the mid-6th century BC

• Stands on a base of stacked disks
• Shafts are usually fluted, but can be plain
• A pair of volutes (scroll-shaped ornaments)
decorates the capital

Roman historian Vitruvius compared this delicate

order to a female form, in contrast to the stockier
"male" Doric order.
 The Temple of
Athena Nike
in Athens, Greece
THE CORINTHIAN COLUMN
• Probably invented by Callimachus, a Greek
sculptor and architect who lived in the 5th
century BC

• Named after Corinth, a city in Greece

• Developed in Athens, Greece
• Rarely used in Greece
• Fluted (grooved) shaft
• Capital decorated with scrolls, acanthus
leaves, and flowers

• Ornaments on the capital flare outwards,

suggesting a sense of height
 Temple of
Olympian Zeus
in Athens, Greece.
Digital image. DeviantART. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. <http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=colesseum>.

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<http://architecture.about.com/od/buildingparts/g/doric-column.htm>.

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Styles and Building Design. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.
<http://architecture.about.com/od/buildingparts/g/ionic-column.htm>.

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House Styles and Building Design. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.
<http://architecture.about.com/od/buildingparts/g/corinthian-column.htm>.

•Dietsch, Deborah K. "Greek Architecture: Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian? - For Dummies." How-To
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