Saturday, October 31, 2009

Greek Architecture

The first settlers of the Greek civilizations built very basic structures. "The houses were mainly built with a circular, oval, apsidal, or rectangular shape." Most of the home in Greece had one room, not very often would one find a house with two rooms. These Structures were made with mud bricks, there would be stone and reeds in the mud of their buildings. source

Greek Architecture( google book source) like most everything deluded over the years. When people from Minoan come to Greece, they built houses with many rooms. However, at this time they didn't build public places. In the classic Greek architecture period they are made out of three orders that you mostly find in the temples. The three orders are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Also, they are known for their columns style. link

The most of Buildings that is best known is the Parthenon and the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, are Doric. "the Greek temple has always been seen as fundamentally distinct from and superior to most other early religious types, partly because of the simplicity of its form, partly because of the exquisite refinement of the best examples, and partly because it is seen to reflect the emergence in Greece of a rational, philosophical approach to art that replaced earlier belief systems. " source


The Greeks had many thing made with Marble. However, they didn't really start to use marble until the 5th cent. B.C. "In addition to temples, the Greeks also built a number of other kinds of structures. Their public spaces included monumental tombs; agoras , in ancient Greece, the public square or marketplace of a city, or public meeting places; stoas stoa, in ancient Greek architecture, an extended, roofed colonnade on a street or square...... Click the link for more information. , or colonnaded shelters; stadiums stadium, racecourse in Greek cities where footraces and other athletic contests took place. Palaestrae, or gymnasiums for athletic training; propylaea, or entrance gateways to cities; and amphitheaters. " The As Greece grew the people built more and more public buildings source

"The Greek culture had a huge impact on on the history of the world. There is something Greek in almost everything, especially in the world's architecture." They have repeated the architecture over and over in many buildings. The white house of the USA is from the basic Greek Architecture.

Friday, October 23, 2009

The greek gods


The Greeks ( google books) were Polytheism, they had many gods and goddesses. The Greeks worshiped their gods a what they call a pantheon. Each one of the gods were the god of something, they had there own power. The Stories or myths of the Greek gods told why things were the way the were, humans, life, the sun."The ancient Greeks viewed their gods as being a large interrelated group or society that had a very complex hierarchical system in which they all functioned collectively" source, Link
Zeus is king of the gods, god of the sky. He was the ruler of all the gods and goddesses.When Zeus would get mad, which happened a lot, he would throw down thunder bolts. Hera was Zeus's wife however, Zeus had many other kids that was not Hera. The Greek gods were very much like humans with super powers, or celebrates. link
"The Greek goddess Athena is usually portrayed as one of the most benevolent goddesses . . .strong, fair, and merciful." Athena is the goddess of wisdom. She was born out of her father Zeus's head. The Greeks loved her so much that they named a city after her, Athens Greece.
Also, she was the goddess of war. Being the god of war she was not in expertise in violence, but more so in disciplined part of war. Source ,link
Hera was the goddess of marriage, the wife to Zeus. She was also Zeus's sister.
Zeus had many kids, however, not with Hera. Naturally this would make any woman mad. Time and time again, Hera tried to get rid of them. google books
The Greek gods are very interesting. They have a lot of human characteristics about them. The people of Greece worshiped their gods in a pantheon. The Greek gods also had favorites humans that they would help out. One can learn a lot about them from the Iliad and the odyssey, which were the great epic poems that were written by homer.link

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Greeks and Egyptians




"The arrival of the Greeks brought an unprecedented amount of change in Egypt as they overlaid the existing society with that of their own." The Greeks and Egyptians influenced each other in many ways. Mostly In the art and architecture, and in religion. Also, they changed each other because of trade. source books.google-source

The Egyptians had a long lasting artistic tradition. The Greeks art the very much so based on their history. However, they used many of the same subjects mostly the same symbols. There art, meant different thing to each other. source google.books source

With Different rulers coming to rule the culture would be the same in some ways. Alexander the III, or Alexander the great took over Egypt and had a influence on them even more so then before. "Greek travelers had actually been visiting Egypt for centuries, many of them setting up trading colonies or acting as mercenaries." source

"Greek temples are most famous part of Greeks architecture. They combine the Greek tradition of the megeron house with the Egyptian temple to make a new simple, and elegant from." The Greeks and Egyptians would combine ideas from one in other. this was easy because the Greeks were working in Egypt from time to time. source

The Egyptians were polytheistic ( they had more then one god, many in fact.) Also, were the Greeks. Then the Greeks come in to their land the Egyptians started worship their god and the Greeks. The Egyptians got ideas from the Greeks, and the Greek did the same as the Egyptians. They could take a idea and build on it and make it better, just as we should to do. source