Ancient Greece - Creations A short look at what they saw.

Observation - What do you see in these three pictures. Make a list

of 10 Observations about the images you are about to see.

Be Observant

Architecture Architecture is the art of designing and creating buildings. Greek architecture is a very

specific and influential type of design, which was based off of the post-and-lintel

system. The post-and-lintel system is made up of columns, which are large upright

posts, with a roof, or architrave, over the top. This type of architecture began with the

Greeks, but has persisted throughout the ages to live on today.

Even though it may seem simple, the Greeks created a wonderful and lasting legacy of

architecture. The columns and architraves were carved with leaves and flowers, scenes

of battles, and mythological creatures. The columns were decorated with lines and

bases, and capitals, which topped off the columns and connected them to the

architraves.

Architecture Greek buildings were all built in a very methodical order. This means that there were

many rules that they followed in order to make sure the buildings were all similar.

These rules also helped to make sure that the buildings were safe and strong. Many

Greek buildings were built so well that hundreds of them still exist today, even though

they are thousands of years old!

The rules that Greeks used to build their buildings were precise, and said how wide the

columns could be, how tall the columns could be, and how many columns a building

needed. Eventually these rules became known as orders, and different types of orders

developed, with different styles of architecture.

Archetecture Corinthian: The Corinthian order is a lot like the Ionic order, but the capitals are even more elaborately decorated, usually with leaves and floral patterns.

Ionic: The Ionic order is more decorative than the Doric. The columns are taller and thinner, and the capitals at the top of the columns are decorated with scrolls and other patterns. The bases of the columns are also decorated.

Doric: The Doric order is the oldest and most simple order. The columns have no base and the columns have a very simple capital. In other words, Doric buildings were the least decorated. Archaeologists believe that Doric architectural buildings, which were built in stone, evolved from wooden buildings that were very similar.

Architecture Types of buildings: Besides just houses and marketplaces, Greek cities had many different types of specialized buildings. Many of these buildings can be found in most ancient Greek cities.

Temples: Temples are the most common type of public buildings in ancient Greece. The purpose of a temple was to store a religious statue. Some temples were very large, but others could be very small, depending on the size of the statue and how many people wanted to visit it. Perhaps one of the most famous of Greek temples is The Parthenon.

Stoas: Stoas were a lot like temples, but were extra long, and sometimes they were even two or three stories high. These buildings were big because they were used as large gathering places for the public, such as market places, public offices, and places where people could stroll and meet other people.

Temples and Stoas

Architecture Theatres: Theatre performances and plays were a big part of Greek life, so theatres were an important part of Greek cities. Usually, they were built into a hillside, where the public could sit along the hills and watch the action. In large cities, some theatres could sit tens of thousands of people!

Assembly Hall: An assembly hall was similar to a theatre, but was much smaller. This building was used to have important town meetings.

Gymnasia: Gymnasiums are still a common part of most schools, and these buildings began with the Greeks. Parts of ancient Greek gymnasia were wrestling grounds, which were open to the outside, and running tracks. Other parts of the gymnasia were lecture halls and other smaller rooms where Greek athletes and warriors could train.

Greek Theater and Assembly Hall

Architecture Greek architecture has had a long and important legacy in western history. Even now,

people continue to copy Greek buildings, and many people go visit the ancient

remains of the thousands of ancient Greek buildings still standing today. In fact many

of the great American buildings are based off of Greek and Roman Architecture.

White House

The Parthenon An acropolis is an area of high ground. In ancient Greece, many cities were built around an acropolis. It was easier to defend high ground than it was low ground. They could see the enemy coming and take shelter in the buildings built high above the city.

The most famous acropolis in ancient Greece is probably the one in ancient Athens. The acropolis in Athens is so famous that it is usually capitalized, like a proper name, and referred to simply as "The Acropolis". But there was an acropolis in every Greek city-state, sometime more than one.

The Parthenon is built on The Acropolis (in Athens). It was built by Pericles around 2,400 years ago!

Parthenon

Ancient Athens - City

Layout

Science & Math Because people in ancient Greece had only very clumsy ways of writing down numbers, they didn't like algebra. They found it very hard to write down equations or number problems. Instead, Greek mathematicians were more focused on geometry, and used geometric methods to solve problems that you might use algebra for. Greek mathematicians were also very interested in proving that certain mathematical ideas were true. So they spent a lot of time using geometry to prove that things were always true, even though people like the Egyptians and Babylonians already knew that they were true most of the time anyway.

Science and Math Greek people in general were very interested in rationality, in things making sense and hanging together. They wanted to tie up the loose ends. They liked music, because music followed strict rules to produce beauty. So did architecture, and so did mathematics.

Music played a key role in the transition of whole numbers to rational ones. Pythagoras while trying to de-stress with a little music figured out the musical notes were organized in specific numerical increments.

Science & Math Euclid: Living in about 300 BC, Euclid wrote a book that is still used as the basis for

the study of plane geometry. This is a type of geometry where math is used to study

shapes. The basis of Euclid’s geometry was to prove one thing, and then base the rest

of the study of shapes off of the basic proof. He used proofs to prove his ideas about

geometry, all based off of the proof that the shortest distance between two points is a

straight line. Euclid is still the most widely read Greek author.

Euclidean Geometry

Science & Math Archimedes: One of the greatest mathematicians of all time was Archimedes. He

calculated the value of pi, which was a geometrical calculation that helped determine

the width, or circumference, of a circle. He also developed a system for writing down

very large numbers and discovered ratios of volumes of spheres and cylinders.

Archimedes also studies physics, which is a science about energy and the way things

move. He discovered new physics laws about the way things sink in water, lever

systems, and water screws. In 212 BC, while his city was being attacked by the Romans,

he invented engines to help fight them off. He was killed in the same battle when a

Roman soldier murdered him as he was drawing a mathematical figure in the sand.

Inventions

Science & Math Aristarchus: Both a mathematician and an astronomer, Aristarchus discovered new

theories about the way the planets move in their orbits. Aristarchus thought that even

though the earth revolved around the sun, it also spun on its own axis, or spin-point, as

it followed its orbit around the sun. His theories were not proven right until almost

two thousand years later!

Aristarchus

Science & Math Hipparchus and Erastothenes: Two of the major thinkers in the measurement of time

and distance were Hipparchus and Erastothenes. The length of the month that

Hipparchus discovered is only one second off from the length that we use today.

Erastothenes determined that the circumference of (the distance around) the earth

was 28,000 miles, which is only three thousand miles more than what we know today.

Hipparchus and Erastothenes

The Parthenon and the Golden Ratio

It was not until about 300 BC that the Greek’s knowledge of the Golden Ratio was first

documented in the written historical record by Euclid in “Elements.” You start with

the main rectangle, which is drawn to a ratio of 1:1.618. If you draw a line inside the

rectangle to form a perfect square, the remaining rectangle will have the same ratio as

the main rectangle. You can keep doing this over and over forever.

The Parthenon, Phi, and the Golden Ratio

● The Parthenon was constructed using few straight or parallel lines to make it

appear more visually pleasing, a brilliant feat of engineering.

● It is now in ruins, making its original features and height dimension subject to

some conjecture.

● Even if the Golden Ratio wasn’t used intentionally in its design, Golden Ratio

proportions may still be present as the appearance of the Golden Ratio in nature

and the human body influences what humans perceive as aesthetically pleasing.

● Photos of the Parthenon used for the analysis often introduce an element of

distortion due to the angle from which they are taken or the optics of the camera

used.

Parthenon

In Nature - PhiMany things in nature

have this ratio.

Angelfish cells.

A spiraling hurricane.

In Famous Art In some famous we see the

Golden Ratio. Leonardo

DaVinci was probably the

most famous artist to use the

Golden Ratio in his

paintings. Georges Seurat

also used it. Check out the

Mona Lisa, Bathers at

Asnieres, and the Last

Supper.

Video

Science & MathGreek people were very interested in science and math as a way of organizing the world and making order out

of chaos, and having power over some very powerful things like oceans and weather. From about 600 BC, a lot

of rich, educated Greek men spent time observing the planets and the sun and trying to figure out how

astronomy worked. They got their first lessons from the Babylonians, who were very good at astronomy and

also very interested in it.

By the 400s BC, Pythagoras was interested in finding the patterns and rules in mathematics and music, and

invented the idea of a mathematical proof. Although Greek women usually were not allowed to study science,

Pythagoras did have some women among his students.

Beginning around 450 BC, about the same time as Pythagoras, Hippocrates and other Greek doctors wrote

medical texts. Greek doctors tried to figure out a scientific theory that explained diseases. They thought if you

were sick you had too much or too little of four basic substances: blood, black bile, yellow bile, or phlegm

(boogers). That wasn't right, but it sounded scientific. Doctors in India and China had similar ideas, but maybe a

little later.

Sources http://www.goldennumber.net/parthenon-phi-golden-ratio/

http://craftwhack.com/golden-ratio-for-kids/

http://quatr.us/greeks/science/math/

http://www.historyforkids.net/ancient-greek-science.html

And more.