The temple formed the chief structure in a Greek city. It was very simple in outline--merely a rectangular building provided with doors, but without windows. Around it was a single or a double row of columns. Above them rose the architrave, a plain band of massive stones which reached from one column to another. Then came the frieze, adorned with sculptured reliefs, then the horizontal cornice, and at the ends of the building the triangular pediments formed by the sloping roof. The pediments were sometimes decorated with statues. Since the temple was not intended to hold a congregation of worshipers, but only to contain the image of the god, the interior usually had little ornamentation. [Illustration: THE PARTHENON RESTORATION PRESENT CONDITION After serving as a temple for about nine centuries the Parthenon was turned into a Christian church and later into a Mohammedan mosque. In 1687 A.D. the Venetians bombarded Athens and sent a shell into the center of the building which the Turks had used as a powder magazine. The result was an explosion that threw down the side walls and many of the columns.] [Illustration: FIGURES FROM THE PEDIMENT OF THE PARTHENON] [Illustration: FROM THE PARTHENON FRIEZE] [Illustration: CORNER OF THE PARTHENON (RESTORED)] [Illustration: CARYATID PORCH OF THE ERECHTHEUM] UNIQUENESS OF THE GREEK TEMPLE Greek temples were not very large, for hugeness was no object to the builders. They were not even lavishly decorated. Their beauty lies, most of all, in their harmonious proportions and perfect symmetry. In the best examples of the Greek temple there are, for instance, no straight lines. The columns are not set at equal intervals, but closer together near the corners of the building. The shafts of the columns, instead of tapering upward at a uniform rate, swell slightly toward the center. The artistic eyes of the Greeks delighted in such subtle curves. These characteristics make a classical temple unique of its kind. [31] 98. GREEK SCULPTURE THE GREEK GENIUS IN SCULPTURE The greatest achievement of the Greeks in art was their sculpture. Roman artists surpassed them in the creation of massive architectural works; modern artists have surpassed them in painting. In sculpture the Greeks still remain unexcelled. LOSS OF THE MASTERPIECES The existing remains of Greek sculpture are very scanty. The statues of gold and ivory vanished long ago. The bronze statues, formerly numbered by thousands, have nearly all gone into the melting pot. Sculptures in marble were turned into mortar or used as building materials. Those which escaped such a fate were often ruined by wanton mutilation and centuries of neglect. The statues which we still possess are mainly marble copies, made in Roman times from Greek originals. It is as if the paintings by the old masters of Europe, four centuries ago, were now known only in the reproductions by modern artists of inferior powers. MATERIALS