Best Answers: Quiz 1
Number of Students Taking Quiz: 22
Median Grade on Quiz: B
1. QUESTION: Class #4, no.2 [Architecture of Temple of Zeus at Olympia]
6 responses. Best response (A) follows:
Many of the features of Temple of Zues at Olympia are features typical to most Doric temples dating to just before the middle of the 5th century B.C. The front of the temple is facing east, towards the rising sun. The temple is peripteral, meaning that the columns run around the entire building. Like most Greek temples, the Temple of Zues has 3 stairs and the Doric columns are resting on the top step. The Doric order is know for its more squat, thick columns that have no base. The shaft of the columns are fluted, and they are topped by an entablature consisting of an architrave, a frieze and a cornice. The frieze consists of two vertical elements, metopes and triglyphs. The entablature is topped by a gabled roof which creates two triangular pediments over the short end of the temple. All these standard features of the Doric order are found at the Temple of Zues at Olympia.
Not as common to all Doric temples but still pretty typical was the use of angle contraction at the Temple of Zues. While the intercolumniation around most of the temple was equal, the architect manipulated the space between the corner columns and those right next to them. The space was made smaller so an entire triglyph could be placed in the frieze at the corner of the building. Typically the triglyph was centered above the column, but in this case if that were so the column would be sticking out beyond the entablature. That is why the distance between the corner columns and those closest to them is smaller; the column was squeezed back under the entablature for aesthetic purposes. This solution was only one way to solve the problem of the corner column, but it was found in many Doric temples.
The plan of the Temple of Zues consisted of a cela, the room that housed the cult statue, and both a front and back porch. In terms of plan there was no standard in the Doric order, but this layout was nothing unusual.
The most obvious way in which the Temple of Zues distinguishes itself from the typical Doric order of its day is in its size and exquisite sculptural decoration. This temple was the biggest in Greece at the time, which spoke of the importance of its location at Olympia and its dedication to Zues, the most important god in the Greek pantheon. Since Olympia was the site of the most important athletic competition, and one of the 4 most important Panhellenic sanctuaries in Greece, the temple was extremely lavish. Marble sculpture decorated both the east and west pediments and the 12 metopes in the frieze above both porches. The themes of the program of sculpture relate to its location in Olympia. Both pediments have stories related to weddings, and it was thought that Olympia was a place for young unmarried Greeks to pick up a good mate. Also, the 12 labors of Herakles depict the eventual triumph of Zues's son and it was Zeus's temple. It is important to note that the 12 labours depicted in the metopes at Olympia became THE 12 labours that we know today. The Temple of Zeus thus really stood apart as a building that set artistic precedents.
Olympia was a marshy place and the sanctuary was between two rivers. Therefore when building the foundation the architect had to manipulate how it was built. Instead of a typical foundation it was built only underneath the walls and filler was added between to close up the space. Shelly limestone was used to build the temple because it was a local and cheap stone. Unlike building with other stone, with shelley limestone dowels weren't needed because of the friction that existed between the two blocks of stone. Another way the Tmple of Zeus was unique was in the reflective pool that was filled with olive oil and located in front of the unusually large cult statue. Therefore while the Temple of Zeus was typical in many ways, it has many unique features to distnguish from being just another Doric temple.
2. QUESTION: Class #8, no.2 [How to Date Inscriptions]
3 responses. Best response (B+/A-) follows:
One of the easiest ways to date an inscription is if it contains the name of the archon for that year. Many of the inscriptions are highly formulaic and start off saying who was archon. We have a list of the archons and their corresponding years of office. Dating can also be done if another person is mentioned but this method is less accurate. If for example an inscription makes reference to Perikles, as one of the serving 10 generals the date is confined to the period that Perikles served. This is not as accurate as the archon because unlike the archonship which lasted 1 year, Perikles was repeatedly reelected as general.
Events may be refered to in an inscription and this sets a date which the inscription must be after. On the twisted serpent tripod, for example, is an inscription naming the city states that defeated the Persains. This inscription must have been made after the Persians were defeated in 479 B.C. An inscription announcing the victory of a war on a monument is likely to have been written shortly after the said event occured. If we know from historical evidence the date we can figure out the date of the inscription.
Dating can be done by looking at the context the inscription is in. Sometimes there is a relief above an inscription which can be dated stylistically. Other times, the inscription is on a building and we know that the any writing was put there after the building was built. There are a number of ways to date the building even if we do not have an exact date in historical evidence. Another way we can find the date of writing is if it is on an object that was destroyed. If for example it was on a statue broken by the Persians and then buried we know the writing predates the Persian invasion of 480 B.C.
Sometimes we can roughly estimate the age of the inscription by looking at its form. Public inscriptions are often highly formulaic, but these formulas occasionally changed. It is possible to therefore estimate approximately when the writing occured by any variations present. The final way to date writing is to look at the letters themselves. These letters varied regionally, but within any one area they also varied over time both in there style and use. By looking at inscriptions and comparing them to writing of known dates it is possible to get an idea of the timelines. This method is not very accurate as changes occured over long periods of time and it is not unheard of for some to use a much older form of the alphabet.
3. QUESTION: Class #6, no.2 [Meaning of ETHOS and PATHOS and How These Were Communicated in Early Classical Painting and Sculpture]
4 responses. Best response (A-/A) follows:
According to Pollitt, ethos is the character of an individual formed by inheritance, experience, and will. Pathos is the spontaneous reaction of an individual to experiences. Several artists working in different media attempted to portray ethos and pathos, primarily through the use of pose and expression. Polygnotos, a painter who painted on wooden panels, was famous for his depictions of ethos and pathos. A prime example of Polygnotos' work (none of which survives due to the perishability of wooden) is his painting of the fall of Troy, as described by Pausanias. In this painting, Polygnotos depicts the day after the fall of Troy and conveys a sense of the ethos of certain figures by portraying figures with contemplative expressions and downcast heads as they regard their fallen comrades. In the same painting, Polygnotos portrays the pathos of hysterical figures with flailing limbs and expressions of panic. His illustrations of ethos and pathos were complemented by identifying inscriptions, which would have helped a viewer who was familiar with the Iliad identify the specific reaction of a character and the reason for that reaction. Polygnotos' techniques are thought to be reflected in the vase painting of the Niobid Painter, as evidenced by the Niobid krater. On this krater, the painter contrasts a depiction of famous heroes (Heracles & companions) in contemplative repose, revealing the ethos of each character, with a depiction on the opoosite side of the krater of Apollo & Artemis slaying Niobe's children, revealing the pathos of the flailing, terrified children as they being slain.
Sculptors in the Early Classical period also depicted ethos and pathos. The sculpture on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia reflects a concern with ethos and pathos. On the metopes depicting the twelve labors of Heracles, Heracles is depicted at various stages of his life (in his youth at labor #1, and as an aged man towards the last of his labors) with varying expressions of anger, pain, and sorrow indicating pathos during his labors. However, his ethos is also revealed in his interaction with his divine helper Athena (as they gaze at each other in moments of repose).
4. QUESTION: Class #3, no.2 [How the Athenians Rebuilt their City between 479 and 450 B.C.]
9 responses. Best response (A-) follows:
The sack and burning of Athens by the Persians (480/479 B.C.) presented the Athenian people with an enormous task: the complete rebuilding of their astu. The majority of their architecture, both public and private, both religiouos and secular was in ruins. Logically, it was their temples (mostly on the Acropolis) over whose destruction the Athenians were most outraged. Despite Greece's endemic tradition of inter-polis conflict, sacred architecture was almost never harmed by an enemy. After all, all Greeks worshipped the same gods. The Medes, however, were a barbarian race who knew nothing of the Olympians. They threw down temples and destroyed cult images as if they meant nothing, and the Athenian pride suffered greatly as a result.
It is notable, therefore, that the rebuilding of religious architecture was delayed in Athens by some decades. In fact, the first major reconstruction project, undertaken by Themistokles, was of a wall around the entire astu. Of course, this was not impractical. Defense, after so violent a raid, was first in the minds of the Athenian politician. He ordered the immediate assistance of all Athenians for this new wall, and it was rapidly constructed - even against the will of a major Athenian ally, Sparta.
Even after this wall was erected, however, Athens did not yet turn back to its temples. The successor of Themistokles, Kimon, saw fit to concentrate on political architecture. It was, in fact, still an era of much political transition in the Athenian polis. Under Kimon the agora saw the addition of the Stoa Poikile, a highly decorative building used largely to display public notices, and the Stoa Basileus, the main office building of the Archon Basileos. In addition, Kimon rebuilt the acropolis wall, but no major religious project was undertaken.
Only after the defensive and political architecture of the revamped polis was underway did the leaders of Athens turn once again to their gods. This phenomenon is especially significant when one considers the alleged Oath of Plataea. In this oath the Athenians swore never to rebuild the temples on the Acropolis which the Medes so savagely desecrated. In fact, Kimon's acropolis wall was a sort of war memorial in that it visibly contained ruins from the Archaic Acropolis. In the mid-5th century, however, Perikles finally decided that new sacred building projects were due (whether this actually constituted a breaking of the Oath is debatable, as the old temples were not actually rebuilt). At this time the most famous of all Acropolis temples, the Parthenon, was initiated as well as numerous smaller shrines.Every genre of Athenian reconstruction was at least initiated.
Thus the reconstruction of Athens demonstrated a roundabout way of getting at what mattered most to the people. Sacred rebuilding was most prominent, but defensive and political architecture were first required. The periods of control of Themistokles, Kimon, and Perikles coincide with these three phases.
Copyright 1998, Trustees of Dartmouth College
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~grs22/forum/quiz1/best.html
Last updated 18 Dec 1998