Greek Temples - Residences for the Ancient Greek Gods

Greek temples are the Western ideal of sacred architecture: a pale, soaring but simple structure standing on the hill in isolation, with a peaked tile roof and tall fluted columns. But Greek temples weren't the first or only religious buildings in the panoply of Greek architecture: and our ideal of splendid isolation is based on today's reality, rather than the Greek model.

Greek religion focused on three activities: prayer, sacrifice, and offering, and all of those were practiced in sanctuaries, a complex of structures often marked with a boundary wall (tememos). Sanctuaries were the main focus of religious practice, and they included open-air altars where burnt animal sacrifices took place; and (optionally) temples where the dedicatory god or goddess resided.

Sanctuaries

In the 7th century BC, classical Greek society had shifted governmental structure from an individual all-powerful ruler to, well, not democracy of course, but community decisions were made by groups of wealthy men. Sanctuaries were a reflection of that change, sacred spaces that were explicitly created and administered for the community by groups of wealthy men, and tied socially and politically to the city-state ("polis").

Sanctuaries came in many different shapes and sizes and locations. There were urban sanctuaries which served population centers and were situated near the market place (agora) or the citadel stronghold (or acropolis) of cities. Rural sanctuaries were set out in the country and shared by several different cities; extra-urban sanctuaries were tied to a single polis but were located out in the country to enable larger gatherings.

The location of the sanctuary was almost always an old one: they were constructed near an ancient hallowed natural feature such as a cave, spring, or grove of trees.

Altars

Greek religion required the burnt sacrifice of animals. Large numbers of people would meet for ceremonies that often began at daybreak and included chanting and music all day. The animal would be led to slaughter, then butchered and consumed at a banquet by the attendants, although of course some would be burnt on the altar for the god's consumption.

Early altars were simply partly worked outcrops of rocks or rings of stone. Later, Greek open-air altars were built as tables as long as 30 meters (100 feet): the largest known was the altar at Syracuse. a whopping 600 m (2,000 ft) long, to enable the sacrifice of 100 bulls at a single event. Not all offerings were animal sacrifices: coins, clothing, armor, furniture, jewelry, paintings, statues, and weapons were among the things brought to the sanctuary complex as votive offerings to the gods.

Temples

Greek temples (naos in Greek) are the quintessential Greek sacred structure, but that is a function of preservation, rather than the Greek reality. Greek communities always had a sanctuary and altar, the temple was an optional (and often later) add-on. The temple was the residence of the dedicatory deity: it was expected that the god or goddess would come down from Mount Olympus to visit from time to time.

Temples were a shelter for cult images of the deity, and at the back of some temples a large statue of the god stood or sat on a throne facing out to the people. Early statues were small and wooden; later forms grew larger, some made of hammered bronze and chryselephantine (a combination of gold and ivory on an inner structure of wood or stone). Truly colossal ones were made in the 5th century; one of Zeus sitting on a throne was at least 10 m (30 ft) tall.

In some places, like on Crete, temples were the location of ritual feasting, but that was a rare practice. Temples often had an internal altar, a hearth/table on which animal sacrifices could be burnt and offerings placed. In many temples, there was a separate room to store the most expensive offerings, necessitating a night watchman. Some temples actually became treasuries, and some treasuries were built to look like temples.

Greek Temple Architecture

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Greek Architecture - Buildings in the Classical Greek City

By K. Kris Hirst

Greek temples were extra structures in sacred complexes: all of the functions that they included could be afforded by the sanctuary and altar on their own. They were also specific dedications to the god, financed partly by the wealthy men and partly by military successes; and, as such, they were the focus of great community pride. Perhaps that's why their architecture was so sumptuous, an investment in raw materials, statuary, and architectural planning.

The famous architecture of Greek temples is typically categorized in three genera: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Three minor orders (Tuscan, Aeolic, and Combinatory) have been identified by architectural historians but are not detailed here. These styles were identified by the Roman writer Vitruvius, based on his knowledge of architecture and history, and existing examples at the time.

One thing is for sure: Greek temple architecture had antecedents beginning in the 11th century BC, such as the temple at Tiryns, and architectural forerunners (plans, tiled roofs, columns, and capitals) are found in Minoan, Mycenaean, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian structures earlier than and contemporaneous to classical Greece.