Glossary
For explanation of words marked A refer to the architectural diagrams on page 107.
Acroterion, A.
Ægis, a breastplate adorned with the head of a Gorgon and a fringe of serpents, an attribute of Zeus and Athena.
Agora, market-place.
Amphictyony, neighbouring states grouped in a religious union.
Amphiprostyle, a building with columned porch at both ends.
Aniconic, without images, an early stage of religion.
Anthropomorphism, the religious habit of representing gods as men.
Architrave, A.
Archon, a ruler or magistrate; a board of nine at Athens.
Aretē, virtue; strictly, the quality of a man.
Aulētris, female player on the clarinets.
Βασιλεἴς, kings or chiefs.
Caduceus, the snake-wreathed wand carried by Hermes.
Caryatid, a column carved to represent a maiden.
Cella, the nave or main chamber of a temple.
Chiton, a tunic fastened on the left shoulder.
Chlamys, a short mantle worn by Spartans and soldiers.
Chthonic animism, worship of subterranean spirits, generally including cult of the dead and of the reproductive powers of Nature.
Choregus, the man who equipped a chorus for a stage play; generally a man of wealth on whom this duty was laid as a sort of tax.
Chryselephantine, made of gold and ivory.
Decadrachm, a coin of ten drachms (francs).
Deme, a parish.
Dōma, house-place, resembling the medieval hall.
Ecclesia, the Athenian assembly.
Echinus, A.
Entablature, that part of a classical building which rests upon the columns and supports the roof; it includes architrave and frieze.
Entasis, a system of optical correction employed in Greek architecture (see page 161).
Ephebus, a youth of about eighteen.
Ephorate, the board of “overseers” at Sparta.
ἦθος, character, spiritual quality.
Gerousia, Senate and senators of Sparta.
Gerontes, Senate and senators of Sparta.
Guttæ, A.
Harmosts, Spartan governors of conquered cities.
Hegemony, leadership, undefined suzerainty.
Hexastyle, with six columns.
Hierophant, a priest of the mysteries.
Hoplites, heavy armed infantry.
In antis, columns at the end of a building, between the ends of the side walls produced, are said to be in antis.
Iconic, with images, a stage of religious worship.
Kuanos, a blue transparent paste, resembling glass.
Kylix, a goblet.
Lecythus, oil-jar, a certain shape of Greek pottery.
Liturgy, a public duty imposed as a tax upon the rich.
Megaron, hall.
Metopes, A.
Palæstra, wrestling-ground.
Parabasis, an ode sung by the chorus in Greek drama at their entrance on the stage.
Peplos, a long female robe or mantle.
Perioikoi, neighbours, the second class in the Spartan caste system.
Peripteral, surrounded with colonnades.
Peristyle, the colonnades surrounding a building.
Pictographic script, a form of writing in which the symbols are rudimentary pictures.
Pnyx, a hill at Athens, where the Assembly met.
Prodomos, fore-court.
Satrap, a Persian viceroy.
Skolion, a drinking-song in which the guests took part in turns.
Stasis, civil strife, party-feeling, treason.
Stēlē, a monument in the form of an erect slab, a gravestone.
Strategoi, generals, an Athenian magistracy.
Strigil, an instrument used by athletes for scraping off the oil and sand of the palæstra.
Stylobate, the floor from which the columns rise (A).
Telos, goal or end in view.
Thalamos, inner chamber, bed-chamber of the master of the house.
Thalassocracy, maritime supremacy.
Tholos, a vault or dome, any round building.
Triglyphs, A.
Xoanon, an image mainly in the form of a tree-trunk.