DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0054
34
PRINCIPLES OP GREEK ART
CHAP.
and little plains. The works of man occupy but a small space
in any Greek landscape. And the Greek himself, with won-
derfully keen senses and profound appreciation of his sur-
roundings, would be instinctively, if not consciously, averse
from introducing into the landscape what would be out of
harmony with its lines. Among Swiss mountains to-day one
may notice the same clear adaptation of building to surround-
ings ; the chalet almost seems a natural feature of the view.
Any one who has visited a partially preserved Greek temple
amid its natural surroundings, the temple at Phigaleia, those
of Paestum, that of Segesta, will realize how fatal it would be
to remove these buildings into a landscape of a different kind.
To local influences are largely due the smallness of most temples,
the rigid lines of their construction, their close dependence
upon stone and marble as materials.
Even more clearly stamped upon all Greek buildings than
the influence of place is the influence of the character, of the
Greek race. M. Boutmy has emphasized with great force the
fact that the Greek temple could only have arisen among a
race in which the senses were extremely acute and active, and
the mind of a very clear and logical order. It is a triumph of
the senses and the intellect, in every part inviting close examina-
tion, and in every part showing definite purpose and design.
When we examine its parts in detail, we find the principles of
reason dominating them all. Herein again we may contrast it
with the religious buildings of the Tigris and the Nile, where
so much is vague and suggestive, so much traditional and in-
stinctive. The Greek was ever predominantly a rationalist
and an observer.
But though religion in Greece did not take the same domi-
nant and overpowering position which it took in the great em-
pires of the East, yet the Greek of early times was in his way
thoroughly religious. But in place of a vague awe in the
presence of the unseen, he introduced the tendency to vividly
PRINCIPLES OP GREEK ART
CHAP.
and little plains. The works of man occupy but a small space
in any Greek landscape. And the Greek himself, with won-
derfully keen senses and profound appreciation of his sur-
roundings, would be instinctively, if not consciously, averse
from introducing into the landscape what would be out of
harmony with its lines. Among Swiss mountains to-day one
may notice the same clear adaptation of building to surround-
ings ; the chalet almost seems a natural feature of the view.
Any one who has visited a partially preserved Greek temple
amid its natural surroundings, the temple at Phigaleia, those
of Paestum, that of Segesta, will realize how fatal it would be
to remove these buildings into a landscape of a different kind.
To local influences are largely due the smallness of most temples,
the rigid lines of their construction, their close dependence
upon stone and marble as materials.
Even more clearly stamped upon all Greek buildings than
the influence of place is the influence of the character, of the
Greek race. M. Boutmy has emphasized with great force the
fact that the Greek temple could only have arisen among a
race in which the senses were extremely acute and active, and
the mind of a very clear and logical order. It is a triumph of
the senses and the intellect, in every part inviting close examina-
tion, and in every part showing definite purpose and design.
When we examine its parts in detail, we find the principles of
reason dominating them all. Herein again we may contrast it
with the religious buildings of the Tigris and the Nile, where
so much is vague and suggestive, so much traditional and in-
stinctive. The Greek was ever predominantly a rationalist
and an observer.
But though religion in Greece did not take the same domi-
nant and overpowering position which it took in the great em-
pires of the East, yet the Greek of early times was in his way
thoroughly religious. But in place of a vague awe in the
presence of the unseen, he introduced the tendency to vividly