Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-18
BY WILL DURANT, Phi. d.,
Author of
THE Story of Philosophy"

it's surroundings, as are so many ca
thedrals of the Gothic age; it does
not lie buried in a chaos Of dwellings,
workshops and stores, invisible ex-
Cept in details; it stands on the city s
peak {Acropolis), with nothing be-
tween it and the sun, its golden
pillars visible even from the Aegean
You mount the broken stepa tor
"stereobate") to where the columns
rise from the topmOst step Tor "stylo-
bate'). Note the curvature Of this
stylobate-see how it slopes slightly
downward at either end. 1t is but
one instance Of Ictinus antipathy to
straight lines; everywhere in the
Parthenon, as in the space of Elm.
STEMS physics straight lines are
curved. All horizontal lines are per
oeptibly convex. all vertical lines in
line a title towards the center. all
corner lines toward the diagonal.
these architects knew life and love.
nd mans instructive preference for
urved lines; by avoiding mechanical
1onOtony they gave vitality and free
lom to dead stone, and mitigated the
usterity without losing the sublimity
Of the Doric style. For this style,
rs it's name reveals. had come from
sparta. as cold and hard as marble
but it needed touch of gentleness
to give it beauty.
* x X
Observe that the columns, in this
Doric style, have no base; they rise
Immediately from the plinth tor sup
porting stone). in graceful "futed"
,shafts--nOt smoothly round, but in
dented with graceful grooves. They
narrow slightly in gradual ''entasis
TOR inward learning) at the top-not
merely because this is more pleasing
to the eye. nor only because column
broader at its base than at its sum-
NIT gives a comforting impression OF
stability. but because. presumably.
the first temples were of wood and
the first columns were tapering trees.
Each is crowned at the top with a
curved "neCking,' a round "echinus
and a square 'abaCuS," all three unit
ing to form the capital" Across the
capitals runs the "arChitrave," or main
beam, indicating again the timber orr
gin of the DOric style. Over the archi-
trave is the outer "frieze" F'r. frise. a
ruff alternately of "triglyphs" three
carved vertical lines). where were
originally the ends of beams. and
! "metopes (ope, hollow, and meta, be-
(
| liefs. These metOpes, numbering 80,
ran entirely around the Parthenon and
! told the barbaric tale of how the La.
piths Waged their legendary war
against the centaurs-a strange blend
/ of animals and men.
Above the frieze is the slim tri.
angle formed by the western end OF
! the roof, constituting one of those two
! 'pediments" which are the supreme
glory of the ParthenOn. They have
/ been cruelty mutilated by time and
war and thievery. AL the heads save
/ one are gone. and yet the sculptor Ca
nova said of the surviving torsos: "Al1
other statues are of stone; these are
| of flesh and blood"
X * X K
In the corners. fitted into the mar
| rowing space, are the heads of horses
representing sun and moon, nostrils
snOrting and eyes flashing in action
! liVelier than life. Toward the center
rise the ma jestic bodies of decapitated
gods. The nude figures are magnifi
cent, with all the power and none OF
/ the cOntOrtiOns of interchangeable
giants, and the clothed figures are as
perfect in drapery as the drawings OF
Leonardo. Nothing in sculpture sur,
! Continued on Thirteenth Page)