ancient Greek architecture Archives - Tales of Times Forgotten

Why Is the Parthenon So Famous?

The most famous building in Greece today is almost certainly the Parthenon, a spectacular temple to the Greek goddess Athena that towers atop the Athenian Akropolis and is almost universally admired for being supposedly the most “perfect” and “timeless” work of ancient Greek architecture. Some people may be surprised to learn, though, that this was not always the case.

The Parthenon did not immediately become the most famous and admired Greek temple as soon as it was built. It was certainly seen as an important temple in antiquity—one especially notable for its size, its prominent location, and its extraordinary chryselephantine cult statue of Athena, crafted by the master sculptor Pheidias. Its present-day status as the most famous of all Greek buildings, though, is the result of the events and ideological movements of the past 2,400 years of history. If post-classical history had gone differently, the Parthenon’s status might have gone to a different temple.

Were the Greeks Really Obsessed with the Golden Ratio?

The so-called “Golden Ratio,” or φ, occurs when the ratio of the greater of two quantities to the lesser of two quantities is equivalent to the ratio of the sum of the two quantities to the greater of the two quantities. Expressed using incomprehensible math symbols, it looks like this:

Many people believe that the “Golden Ratio” is the pinnacle of aesthetic perfection and that, the closer something is to the Golden Ratio, the more beautiful it is automatically. Many people also believe that the ancient Greeks were obsessed with the Golden Ratio and that they incorporated it into all their buildings and works of art. Unfortunately for those who love a good math story, we have no good evidence to support either of these conclusions.

In fact, the Golden Ratio is not even mentioned in any Greek text until as late as the early third century BC. The Greeks were arguably fascinated with the idea of using mathematical proportions in art to a certain extent, but they were by no means obsessed with the Golden Ratio in particular. The story of how we came to believe that the Greeks were obsessed with the Golden Ratio, though, is as fascinating as it is bizarre. It involves a friend of Leonardo da Vinci, an eccentric nineteenth-century German psychologist, and Donald Duck.

Thoughts on the Tragic Burning of the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral

The Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris, France is widely considered one of the greatest examples of medieval Gothic architecture, an international symbol of French culture, and a testament to over seven hundred years of human history. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracts millions of tourists and pilgrims every year. Tragically, however, at around 6:45 p.m. Paris time on 15 April 2019, the historic cathedral was engulfed in flames. The fire blazed for around fourteen hours before it was finally put out completely, completely consuming the cathedral’s iconic spire and most of its roof, as well as wreaking massive damage to other parts of the cathedral as well.

What Did the Ancient Greeks Contribute to Modern Civilization? A Lot, It Turns Out.

Most people are aware that the ancient Greeks made a lot of significant contributions to modern civilization, but not everyone knows exactly what they contributed. I cannot possibly hope to list all of the ancient Greek contributions to civilization here, since I could write a whole book on the subject and still not cover everything. Nonetheless, here are just a few of the ancient Greeks’ most famous—and, indeed, most obvious—contributions. These are numbered in no particular order: