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Introduction...

When we think of ancient Greek architecture, what we tend to imagine are stately fluted columns flanking immense buildings. The columns, in fact, are the key indications of what organizational style is being used in the architecture, particularly, among their temples and sanctuaries. Here, we contrast two major orders in stone: those of Doric and Ionic. Where were these styles adapted?   

The distinctions between "Doric" and "Ionic" began to emerge at 7th-century BC Thermon and Samos. They become increasingly divergent during the Archaic period (c. 600-480 BC).                

The Doric Order...

The Doric order was the first to appear, prized among Western and mainland Greeks for its austere and simplistic look and inspired by Egyptian and Mycenaean styles. There are no elaborations. The columns stand directly on the stylobate, without any base. The shafts are thicker than those of the Ionic, though wider at the bottom; they are often built in the manner of entasis, which is an optical effect of curving the columns to make them appear more substantial. The capitals of its columns are in two parts: the abacus, which is a flat slab, and the echinus, which is a type of molding. Above its capital are the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice. Upon its friezes, we see that the exteriors of Doric order-temples bear alternating triglyphs and metopes. Doric temples are characterized by the presence of the opisthedomos, a "back porch," as seen below.
 


The Parthenon in Athens, Greece, is certainly the most well-known of temples. It is a classical Doric temple.


The Ionic Order...

The Ionic order became popularized at around 500 BC. It is relatively fancier than its Doric counterpart, but not to the extent of the Corinthian order. There are slightly more vertical flutes in Ionic columns than in Doric ones, and they are marked by bases which separate the shafts from the stylobate, as well as typical double colonnades. The Ionic order is easily recognizable by its signature ram-horn capitals. The style is well-liked among Greeks in the East, i.e., Asia Minor, and in the islands. A closely related style, the Aeolic, has capitals which are also found mostly in Asia Minor, in the coastal area north of Smyrna. It is distinguished by volutes springing upward and outward from separate stems, with a palmette and collars of leaves below. All the decorative elements are drawn from Eastern vocabulary; in the Near East, motifs had appeared at a small scale in wood and bronze.

The Temple of Athena Nike was the first Ionic temple to be built on the Athenian Acropolis.

Mixed Orders...
 
The Doric and Ionic styles have not always been strictly interpreted as an East/West contrast. The dwellers of Magna Graecia-- "Greater Greece," referring to post-colonization societies in the coastal areas of Southern Italty-- often mixed and matched aspects of both the Doric and Ionic orders into more regional styles.

For example, Temple C on the Acropolis at Selinus displayed both a Doric exterior and a plan similar to the Ionic Temple of Apollo at Syracuse.