The doric column: a representation of the norm of virtue

Abstract

The generic element of the Doric column in temple construction can be related to the intellectual clarity of Greek architecture, but one may argue that it caused an aggravating inflexibility in using its formal systems in complex compositions (Howe 1985: 105-6). This may lead to a reassessment of the Doric column as limited by inflexibility, since inflexibility eliminates strife. However, counterpointed by the Erechtheion (421-05 BC), an lonic temple on the Acropolis, the female forms of caryatids attached to it is juxtaposed with the male order of the Parthenon.