The ancient Greeks not only gave us many elements used in architecture, but they also contributed heavily to modern aesthetics, or a sense of good taste. As discussed in chapter 9, the Greeks developed three orders or styles of public building: the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, each of which featured distinctive styles of columns and decoration. The most famous example of Doric architecture is the Parthenon in Athens, a temple dedicated to Athena, the patron goddess of the city. A near replica of this Parthenon can be found in the city of Philadelphia, where the architect William Strickland (1788-1854) designed the Second National Bank in the form of the Greek temple. But elements of Greek architecture are often present even when the building being designed is not intended as a replica. Marble columns with Doric or Ionic volute capitals (curled "caps" on top of the columns) are a common motif in many public buildings, from the United States Capitol Building to the Louvre.
The ancient Greeks, especially during and after the fifth century, achieved a breathtaking skill in the rendering of the human form, most notably in sculpture. Their style of idealized realism contributed to the modern Western taste for realism in art—for having the created object look as much as possible like the item being copied. Such perfection of form influenced the Renaissance artists, inspiring such works as Michelangelo's David.
Of course, one might see a certain downside to this desire for realism and perfection in the difficulty that the early Impressionists had in having their less-than-realistic creations accepted as art, much less as good art. This preference for the realistic, especially for an idealized realism (portraying subjects realistically, but with none of the wrinkles, sags, etc., found in real life), has also contributed to a certain snobbery against the so-called Primitive art discovered throughout the past few centuries in regions such as Africa and Polynesia (poly = many and nesos = island, thus, the land of many islands). Only by considering alternate aesthetics those of the ancient Greeks were modern audiences able to appreciate the meaning, symbolic content, and beauty of nonClassically oriented, non-photo-realistic artistic creations.
World History
