Greek architecture is one of the staple forms of architecture—arguably the most used style in history. The earliest Greek temples themselves were made of wood or brick, and then eventually builders turned to limestone and marble. The architecture was designed to be aesthetically perfect. The temples were considered to be dwelling places for gods, as Ancient Greek culture centered itself around gods. They built temples as houses for their many gods (who often looked and acted like humans). They prayed at these temples and brought offerings for the different gods. (The Greeks had a lot of gods—remember the "Temple to an Unknown God" in Acts 17?)
There are three Greek orders for temple columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
Doric was popular during the 7th century B.C. and featured a plain, simple, basic capital with no base. Ionic came in the following century and introduced a base. Its capital was designed as either a folded scroll or curled ram horns. In the 4th century B.C. came the Corinthian order, which featured an elaborate capital designed as Acanthus leaves.
Construction of the Parthenon began in 447B.C., and it uses Doric columns.
The Romans went on to copy much of Greek architecture, along with several other cultures to come. Early American architecture, like the White House, was heavily influenced by Ancient Greek architecture.
Funny how things get more ornate over time, till they finally go find their way back to basic. I wish I could say that my room was demonstrating this, from here it looks more like a case for the second law of thermodynamics than the progression of human creativity. %^)
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