God’s House: Classical and Middle Ages Architecture
Western Governors University

God’s House: Classical and Middle Ages Architecture

In this paper we will compare and contrast the temple/cathedral architecture from classic and Middle Ages art periods. The Classical art period covered a time frame of approximately 480 BC to 300 AD. We will focus on Greek Architecture during the Golden Era of Athens 460-429 BC (Sakoulas, n.d.). The Middle Ages began after the fall of the Roman Empire around 310 AD and lasted approximately 1000 years; therefore we shall concentrate on the architecture of the 10th and 11th centuries. In order to conduct period architecture comparisons we will select the elegant Parthenon to represent the Classical era and the Notre Dame Cathedral Paris to represent the Middle Ages.
Let us examine what was going in Athens, Greece during the Golden Era. The Greek people of this period were cultured, religious, thinkers, and industrious in their expression. The democratic citizenry of Athens, in particular, were fond of literature, philosophy, theater, arts and above all their gods. Athens was a democracy lead by a senior politician named Pericles, workers were mostly freeman, slaves were few, craftsmen and wealth abounded (Durant, 1939, p. 110). The people of Athens worshiped all of the gods of Olympus, but none more than Athena the Goddess of Wisdom. Athena was the patron goddess and defender of Athens. Worship and prayers for protection were a strong part of the culture as the populace was in constant peril from wars within Greece and without. Wars with city states, such as Sparta, and from the Persians made the philosophic Athenians very religious. The Athenians believed the gods would live in houses built by men if the house were grand enough to catch the eye of the gods. Such was the goal of building the temple of Athena on