Amazonomachy
In Greek mythology, the legendary battle between the Greeks and the Amazons
Corinthian Capital
A more ornate form than the Doric or Ionic; consists of a double row of acanthus leaves, wrapped around a bellshaped echinus
Doric
One of the two systems (or orders) evolved for articulating the three units of elevation of an ancient Greek temple
Hellenes
The name the ancient Greeks called themselves as the people of Hellas, to distinguish themselves from the people who did not speak Greek.
Hellenistic
The term given to the culture that developed after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E. and lasted almost three centuries, until the Roman conquest of Egypt in 31 B.C.E.
Ionic
One of the two systems (or orders) evolved for articulating three units of the elevation of a Greek temple, the platform, the colonnade, and the superstructure (entablature) The Ionic order is characterized by, e.g., volutes, capitals, columns with bases,
Orientalizing
The early phase of the Archaic Greek art, so named because of the adoption of forms and motifs from the ancient Near East and Egypt.
Severe Style
The earliest phase of Classical Greek sculpture.
Abacus
The uppermost portion of the capital of a column, usually a thin slab.
Acropolis
Literally, the "high city." In Greek architecture, usually the site of the city's most important temple(s).
Agora
An open square or space used for public meetings or business in ancient Greek cities
Amphora
A two handled jar used for general storage purposes (to hold wine or oil).
Architrave
The lintel or lowest division of the entablature
Base
In ancient Greek architecture, the lowest part of Ionic and Corinthian columns
Black-figure
the silhouetting of dark figures against a light background
Capital
The uppermost member of a column
Caryatid
A female figure that functions as a supporting column.
Cella
The chamber (Greek naos) at he center of an ancient temple
Centaur
In ancient Greek mythology, a fantastical creature, with the front or top half of a human and the back or bottom half of a horse
Centauromachy
The battle between the Greeks and the Centaurs
Chiton
A Greek tunic
Column
A vertical, weight carrying architectural member, consisting of a base (sometimes), shaft, and capital
Contrapposto
The disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part (usually legs or hips one way, shoulders and chest another)
Cornice
The projecting, crowning member of the entablature framing the pediment
Cunei
In ancient Greek theaters, wedge-shaped sections of stone benches separated by stairs.
Dipteral
double colonnades around Greek temples
Drum
The circular wall that supports a dome, also one of the cylindrical stones of which a non-monolithic column is made.
Echinus
The architectural convex element of a capital directly below the abacus.
Elevation
In drawing and architecture, a geometric projection of a building on a plane perpendicular to the horizon (vertical).
Encaustic
A painting technique in which pigment is mixed with wax and applied to the surface while hot.
Entablature
The part of a building above the columns and below the roof.
Entasis
A convex tapering in the shaft of a column
Fillets
The flat ridges of Ionic fluting.
Flute
Vertical channeling, roughly semicircular in cross-section and used principally on columns and pilasters.
Foreshortening
The use of perspective to represent in art, the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight.
Meander
An ornament consisting of interlocking geometric motifs.
Gigantomachy
The battle between gods and giants.
Glaze
A coating applied to pottery to seal and decorate the surface
Gorgon
A hideous female demon with snake hair. Medusa, the most famous gorgon, was capable of turning anyone who gazed at her into stone.
In situ
In place, in the original position.
Kore
Greek for "young woman
Kouros
Greek for "young man
Krater
An ancient Greek wide-mouthed bowl for mixing wine and water.
Kylix
An ancient Greek shallow drinking cup with two handles and a stem.
Lost-Wax Process
A bronze casting method in which a figure is modeled in wax and covered in clay; the whole is fired, melting away the wax and hardening the clay, which then becomes the mold for a molten metal.
Mausoleum
A central-plan, domed structure, built as a memorial.
Metope
The panel between triglyphs in a Doric frieze. Often in relief.
Monolith
A column that is all one piece (no drums), a large, single block or piece of stone is used in megalithic structures.
Naos
Same as Cella
Necking
A groove at the bottom of the ancient Greek Doric capital between the echinus and the flutes that masks the junction of the capital and shaft.
Order
A style represented by a characteristic design of the columns and entablature.
Palmette
A conventional, decorative ornament of ancient origin composed of radiating petals springing from a cuplike base.
Pebble Mosaics
Mosaics made of irregularly shaped stones, found near the river or ocean, of various colors.
Pediment
The triangular space at the end of a building, formed by the ends of the sloping roof above the colonnade.
Peplos
A simple long woolen belted garment worn by ancient Greek women that gives the female figure a columnar appearance.
Peripteral
Single row of columns surrounding a temple
Peristyle
colonnade all around the cella and it's porch(es).
Pinakotheke
Greek word for "picture gallery.
Plan
The horizontal arrangement of the parts of a building.
Portico
A porch with a roof supported by columns (entrance porch)
Pronaos
The space, or porch, in front of the cella of an ancient Greek temple.
Propylaea
A gateway building leading to an open court preceding and ancient Greek or Roman temple.
Red-figure
The silhouetting of red figures against a black background
Rhyton
An ancient ceremonial drinking vessel, sometimes in the form of the head of an animal, a person, or a mythological creature
Satyr
male follower of Dionysus, represented as part human, part goat.
Slip
A mixture of fine clay and water used in ceramic decoration
Stylobate
The uppermost course of the platform of a classical temple, which supports the columns