Amaphora
An ancient Greek jar for storing oil or whine, with an egg-shaped body and two curved handles
facade
The face or front wall of a building
dressed stone
Highly finished, precisely cut blocks of stone laid in even courses, creating a uniform face with fine joints. Often used as a facing on the visible exterior of a building, especially as a veneer for the facade, Also called ashlar.
relieving arch
An arch built into a heavy wall just above t post and lintel structure to help support the wall above, relieving some of the weight on the lintel by transferring the load to the walls.
orders
A system of proportions in classical architecture developed by ancient Greeks taht includes every aspect of the building's plan, elevation and decorative system.
cella/naos
The principal interior room in a Greek or Roman temple within which the cult statue was usuall housed. Also called the naos.
pronaos
The enclosed vestibule of a Greek or Roman temple, found in front of the Cella and marked by a row of columns at the at the entrance.
peristyle
A surrounding colonnade in Greek architecture. A peristyle building is surrounded on the exterior by a colonnade. Also: a peristyle court is an open colonnaded courtyard often having a pool and garden
stylobate
The stone platform on which a temple stands
sterobate
The series of steep stps that form a platform for Greek temples
Doric
The column shaft of the Doric can be fluted or smooth-surfaced and has no base. The Doric capital consists of an undecorated echinus and abacus. The Doric entablature has a plain architrave, a frieze with metopes and triglyphs and a simple cornice
Ionic
The column of the Iconic order has a base, a fluted shaft, and a capital decorated with volutes. The iconic entablature consists of an architrave of three panels and moldings, a frieze usually containing sculpted relief ornament and a cornice with dentils
Corinthian
The most ornate of the orders, the Corinthian includes a base, a fluted column shaft with a capital elaborately decorated with acanthus-leaf carvings Its entablature consists of an architrave decorated with moldings, a frieze often containing sculpture re
column
An architectural element used for support and or decoration.
entablature
In the Classical orders, the horizontal elements above the columns and capitals. From top to bottom, it includes a cornice, frieze, and architrave.
capital
The sculpted block that tops a column.
frieze
The middle element of an entablature, between the architrave and the cornice.
cornice
The uppermost section of a Classical entablature. A horizontally projecting element found at the top of a building wall or pedestal
fluted
Shallow concave grooves running vertically on the shaft o a column, pilaster, or other surface.
Echinus
A cushion-like circular element found below the abacsr of a Doric capital.
abacus
The flat slab at the top of a capital, directly under the entrablature.
triglyphs
Rectangular blocks between the metopes of a Doric frieze. Identified by the three carved vertical grooves, which approximate the appearance of the ends of wooden beams.
metopes
The carved, painted or plain rectangular spaces between the triglyphs of a Doric frieze
fillets
The flat ridges seperating the carved-out flutes of a shaft of a column
volutes
A spiral scroll
acanthus
A leafy Mediterranean plant whose leaves are reproduced in Classical architectural ornamentation.
entasis
A slight swelling of the shaft of a greek column that gives the building a sense of of energy and upward lift.
pediments
A triangular gable found over major architectural elements such as Classical Greek porticoes, windows or doors.
kore
An archaic Greek statue of a young woman or girl.
kouros
An archaic Greek statue of a of a young man or boy.
black-figure
A technique of ancient Greek pottery in which black figures are painted on a red clay ground.
red-figure
A technique of ancient Greek ceramic painting in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. Characterized by red clay-colored figures reserved on a black background
palmettes
A fan shaped petal design used as decorative on Classical Greek vases.
contrapposto
The Classical convention or representng standing human figures with opposing alternations of tension and relaxation on each side of a central axis
caryatids
A sculpture of a draped female figure acting as a column supporting a entablature
foreshortening
The illusion create on a flat surface in which figures and objects appear to recede or project sharply into space.
orchestra
Stage of Ancient greek theatre.
skene
skene was the background building to which the platform stage was connected, in which costumes were stored and to which the periaktoi (painted panels serving as the background) were connected.
proskenion
n a Hellenistic theatre, the proskenion is a raised platform in front of the sk�n�, on which the actors perform.