suicide (in Apollonian Culture): * see Endnote<A>

Both Romans & Greeks had a relaxed attitude towards suicide.  It popular topic in the philosophical schools, they were in two minds though none absolutely condemned suicide.  Plato & Socrates (a suicide himself), believed it was wrong unless God sent a sign.  Aristotle too believed that suicide was agreeable in some circumstances, but not to avoid poverty or pain.  Stoicism reflected the belief of most of Greeks: suicide was wrong except under some circumstances.  Zeno states that if the Gods give the sign suicide was acceptable, but only in those cases.  This belief is based on the idea that when the gods give the sign it is because the work or duty of that person has been achieved.  Many Greeks came to consider suicide heroic.

 

Dionysiac intoxication:

the Dionysian Mysteries, an Apollonian religion, were based on intoxicants & other trance-inducing techniques (frenzied dance & music) to remove inhibitions & social constraints, liberating the individual, returning to a natural state.  These effects were as possession by the god's spirit.  Inclusive & open to all: women, slaves, outlaws & non-citizens.  The original rite of Dionysus is associated with a wine cult concerned with the grapevine's cultivation & an understanding of its life cycle & fermentation of wine from its dismembered body (associated with the god's essence in the underworld).  Wine was also poured on the earth, the growing vine then completed the cycle.

 

burked:

to suppress or get rid of by some indirect manoeuvre.

 

Mexican architecture:* see Endnote <B>

pre-Columbian architecture of the Aztec civilization (late Maya Culture, Civilization stage).  Whole areas of a city were dedicated to religious activities, the structures associated with this are the great pyramids.  These were 4 sided, stable structures able to withstand earthquakes common to the region.  They have survived owing to the strong materials & skill of the builders.  They had stairs up 1 side with a flat top & shrine.  Aztec cities competed to construct the greatest temples in the empire & instead of demolishing old temples & building new, they built over the old structure, some having 4 or 5 layers.  Since the city itself was built on swampy ground, the temples often sank, needed to be repaired & built up over the years.  They were immense & proportioned.   The Hueyi Teocalli (Great Temple) was huge, its base mesasured100 x 80m, biggest building in the Aztec city Tenochtitlan.

 

Corinthian capital: * see Endnote<C>

last developed of the 3 principal classical orders of Greek architecture (first was the Doric order, , followed by the Ionic).  Its earliest use is traced back to Late Classical Period (430–323 BC).  It is the most ornate, characterized by slender fluted columns & elaborate capitals decorated with acanthus leaves & scrolls. It has many variations.  The name is derived from Corinth to which it was connected.  According to Vitruvius, the column was created by the sculptor Callimachus (an Athenian) who drew acanthus leaves growing around a votive basket.

 

Vitruvius:

70-15 BC, Roman author, architect, civil engineer & military engineer known for his multi-volume work De architectura.  His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture & the human body led to the famous Renaissance drawing by Leonardo da Vinci (Vitruvian Man).  He served as a senior officer of artillery in the Roman army.  

 

difficulty… of triglyphs & metopes: * see Endnote<D>

aka the Doric corner conflict; the spacing of the triglyphs at the corner caused problems for Greek architects.  Triglyphs were always centered above every column, with another (sometimes 2) between columns, the corner triglyph forming the corner end of the entablature.  When the building material changed from wood to stone issues regarding the spacing of the corner triglyph emerged.

 

intercolumniations: * see Endnote<E>

the space between the columns in a Greek temple.  Used in solving the Doric corner conflict.

 

Colosseum (3 rings) * see Endnote<F>

aka the Flavian Amphitheatre is an oval amphitheatre, Rome, built of travertine, tuff & brick-faced concrete, largest amphitheatre ever built; begun by Vespasian (72 AD), completed 80 AD. 

 

Didymaeum of Miletus:* see Endnote<G>

Temple of Apollo at Didyma aka Didymaion, 11 miles south of Miletus, Ionia (W coast of Turkey), 4th largest temple in the Greek world, its oracle 2nd only to Delphi, played significant role in the religious & political life of Miletus & the Mediterranean world; many rulers including Alexander the Great & Roman emperor Diocletian (244-313 AD) visited this oracle.  It was the 3rd temple built on the site, replacing a humble structure that itself replaced a much earlier Carian sanctuary.  In the 6th century BC the people of Miletus began constructing the 2nd temple; it reflected the fame & influence of the oracle, was wider than & as long as the Parthenon of Athens,  In 494 BC the Persians sacked Miletus & plundered the temple.  In 331 BC Alexander the Great re-consecrated the site in 331 BC, however his siege left the city heavily damaged & the city faced crippling tariffs.  Around 300 BC the city began to recover & the citizens began building the 3rd temple, the Hellenistic Didymaion.