ClipArt ETC

This ClipArt gallery offers 209 illustrations of ancient Greek architecture.

"The following example of Sepulchral Heroon will give a general idea of monuments of this kind." — Smith, 1873.

Sepulchral Heroon

"The following example of Sepulchral Heroon will give a general idea of monuments of this kind." —…

"The Sepulchral Stelai were frequently ornamented with a kind of arabesque work." — Smith, 1873.

Sepulchral Stelai

"The Sepulchral Stelai were frequently ornamented with a kind of arabesque work." — Smith, 1873.

The Stele-crest is a Greek tomb-tone. It is an upright tablet that bears an inscription with decoration on the top.

Stele-Crest

The Stele-crest is a Greek tomb-tone. It is an upright tablet that bears an inscription with decoration…

The Temple of Minerva in Athens.

Temple

The Temple of Minerva in Athens.

"West Front of Temple at Aegina" — Morey, 1903

Temple Aegina

"West Front of Temple at Aegina" — Morey, 1903

Temple at Assus, Greece.

Temple at Assus

Temple at Assus, Greece.

The front elevation of the Temple of Aegina, restored.

Temple of Aegina

The front elevation of the Temple of Aegina, restored.

Temple of Jupiter at Olympia.

Temple of Jupiter

Temple of Jupiter at Olympia.

An ancient Greek temple devoted to the god Neptune.

Temple of Neptune

An ancient Greek temple devoted to the god Neptune.

A, in antis; B, prostyle; C, amphiprostyle; D, peripteral (The Parthenon); N, Naos; O, Opisthodomus; S, statue.

Types of Greek Temple Plans

A, in antis; B, prostyle; C, amphiprostyle; D, peripteral (The Parthenon); N, Naos; O, Opisthodomus;…

"Elevation of a Greek Ionic attached Tetrastyle in Antis." — Encyclopedia Britanica, 1893

Tetrastyle

"Elevation of a Greek Ionic attached Tetrastyle in Antis." — Encyclopedia Britanica, 1893

The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek Goddess Athena, who was considered as the protector of the city of Athens. The Temple was built in the 5th B.C. on Athenian Acropolis. The Parthenon is designed in a Doric Order style which consists of vertical columns that stand flat without a base, and a smooth capital.

The Parthenon

The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek Goddess Athena, who was considered as the protector of the city…

An illustration of the theater of Dionysus at Athens.

Theater of Dionysus

An illustration of the theater of Dionysus at Athens.

A medium sized greek theater.

Epidauros Theater

A medium sized greek theater.

The theatres were originally built on a very large scale to accommodate the large number of people on stage, as well as the large number of people in the audience, up to fourteen thousand. Mathematics played a large role in the construction of these theatres, as their designers had to able to create acoustics in them such that the actors' voices could be heard throughout the theatre, including the very top row of seats.

Ground Plan of the Theatre at Iassus

The theatres were originally built on a very large scale to accommodate the large number of people on…

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure located on the south slope of the Acropolis of Athens. It was built in 161 AD by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped amphitheater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof, and was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000.

Ground Plan of the Theatre of Herodes Atticus

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure located on the south slope of the Acropolis…

O, orchestra; L, logeion; P, paraskenai; SK, skene; ST, stoa.

Plan of Greek Theatre

O, orchestra; L, logeion; P, paraskenai; SK, skene; ST, stoa.

"Theatrum, a theatre. The Athenians before the time of Aeschylus had only a wooden scaffolding on which their dramas were performed. Such a wooden theatre was only erected for the time of the Dionysiac festivals, and was afterwards pulled down. The first drama that Aeschylus brought upon the stage was performed upon such a wooden scaffold, and it is recorded as a singular and ominous coincidence that on that occasion (500 b.c.) the scaffolding broke down. To prevent the recurrence of such an accident, the building of a stone theatre was forthwith commenced on the south-eastern descent of the Acropolis, in the Lenaea; for it should be observed, that throughout Greece theatres were always built upon eminences, or on the sloping side of a hill." &mdash Smith; 1873

Theatrum

"Theatrum, a theatre. The Athenians before the time of Aeschylus had only a wooden scaffolding on which…

The principal city of Baeotia, in ancient Greece, was situated in the south part of the country, onm the slopes of Mt. Teumessus, and between two streams, the Dirce and the Ismenus.

Thebes

The principal city of Baeotia, in ancient Greece, was situated in the south part of the country, onm…

"The Theseum is situated on a height to the north of the Areopagus, and was built to receive the bones of Theseus, which Cimon brought from Seyros in B.C. 469. It was probably finished about 465, and is the best preserved of all the monuments of ancient Athens. It was at once a tomb and a temple, and possessed the privileges of an asylum. It is of the Doric order, 104 feet in length by 45 feet broad, and surrounded with columns." — Smith, 1882

Thesium restored

"The Theseum is situated on a height to the north of the Areopagus, and was built to receive the bones…

"The Temple of Theseus at Athens." —D'Anvers, 1895

Temple of Theseus

"The Temple of Theseus at Athens." —D'Anvers, 1895

On the apex and two lower angles of the pediment were introduced acroteria, sometimes ornaments of flowers and tendrils, and sometimes statues of gods or animals. These were placed on small pedestals, and offered an æsthetic contrast to the sliding effect which would otherwise have been produced by the oblique lines of the pediment.

Façade Tile from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus

On the apex and two lower angles of the pediment were introduced acroteria, sometimes ornaments of flowers…

The Tower of the Winds, also called horologion (timepiece), is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower on the Roman agora in Athens. The structure features a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind vane. It was supposedly built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus around 50 BC, but according to other sources might have been constructed in the 2nd century BC before the rest of the forum.

Tower of the Winds

The Tower of the Winds, also called horologion (timepiece), is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower…

Peculiar vaulted buildings often existed in connection with the palaces for the preservation of valuables; the base of these treasure-houses is circular, and their covering of a dome shape; it does not, however, form an arch, but courses of stones are laid horizontally over one another in such a way that each course projects beyond the one blow it. till the space at the highest course becomes so narrow that a single stone covers it. Ornamental fragments, which belonged to these buildings, lead to the conjecture that Mesopotamian art had some influence on the earliest Grecian buildings.

Pillar Fragment from the Treasury of Atreus

Peculiar vaulted buildings often existed in connection with the palaces for the preservation of valuables;…

Peculiar vaulted buildings often existed in connection with the palaces for the preservation of valuables; the base of these treasure-houses is circular, and their covering of a dome shape; it does not, however, form an arch, but courses of stones are laid horizontally over one another in such a way that each course projects beyond the one blow it. till the space at the highest course becomes so narrow that a single stone covers it. Of all those that have been preserved till the present day, the treasure-house of Atreus at Mycenæ is the most remarkable.

Section of the Treasury of Atreus

Peculiar vaulted buildings often existed in connection with the palaces for the preservation of valuables;…

A triglyph is an ornament on a Doric frieze, consisting of three square projections, or parallel nicks, and supposed to represent the ends of beams.

Triglyph

A triglyph is an ornament on a Doric frieze, consisting of three square projections, or parallel nicks,…

"The walls of Homeric Troy, built about 1500 B.C." -Breasted, 1914

Troy

"The walls of Homeric Troy, built about 1500 B.C." -Breasted, 1914

These volutes, or scrolls, when viewed from the side, appear to meet in the middle, and form a wavy line over the echinus. The intervals of the spiral coils are slightly hollowed, in order to bring them into more relief, and in this way the so-called channel is formed, which is continued in the horizontal portion which connects the volutes.

Section of a Volute of an Ionic Capital

These volutes, or scrolls, when viewed from the side, appear to meet in the middle, and form a wavy…

"Athens is said to have derrived its name from the prominence given to its worship of Athena by its king erechtheus. The inhabitants were previously called Crannai and Cecropidae, from Cecrops, who, according to tradition, was the original founder of the city. This at first occupied the hill or rock which afterwards became the <em>Acropolis</em>, but gradually the buildings began to spread over the ground at the southern foot of this hill. It was not till the time of Pisitratus and his sons (B.C. 560-514) that the city began to assume any degree of splendour. The most remarkable of these building deposits was the gigantic temple of the Olympian Zeus, which, however, was not finished till many centuries later."&mdash; Smith, 1882

Temple of the Olympian Zeus

"Athens is said to have derrived its name from the prominence given to its worship of Athena by its…