Even more popular is the emphasis on specific types of monuments. Temples received priority from the start of investigations and continue to hold a certain status because of their communal effort and relatively high expenditure. Thus, they form the subject of numerous articles and are frequently represented in volumes arising from the investigation of a site or the work of an archaeological school, as demonstrated bythe publications already cited. An individual temple may also be the focus of a book published independently of a site-specific series.
This is the case, for example, with recent studies of the archaic Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, the Temple of Athena at Makistos (Greece),the Olympieion in Athens, and Temple M at Selinous. The goal of such works is to elucidate various aspects of a temple’s architecture and its artistic and/or cultural context. That context may include the traditions of the cities in which religious buildings were constructed. Barello’s book on Caulonia discusses remains of architecture and its decoration at the site from the Archaic to Hellenistic periods, with particular emphasis on the 5th-century Doric temple. Marconi places the archaic metopes from Selinous within early architectural traditions not only at their own site but also elsewhere.
By arguing for a greater overall unity of buildings and their decoration and by linking the iconography of the metopes to local and inherited cults, he proposes a strong cultic expression in Selinuntine temples. Scholars have also examined the functional relationship of temples to adjacent structures. Thus, Mark’s study of the development and chronology of the Sanctuary of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis includes not only the temple but also its altar and cult statue base. While the papers from a 1995 symposium on the Athenian Acropolis focus on temples, their contents, and their decoration, they examine other religious structures as well. Rhodes’ book on the Acropolis unites the main buildings within shared themes of victory and procession.
By taking a group of cult buildings as his subject, Rhodes is able to explore relationships and their meaning. Given the emphasis on temples, one might expect considerable interest in altars. Indeed, various studies have appeared in the form of articles, but books are relatively rare. One important example is the recent volume of the Ephesos series, which describes and reconstructs the Altar of Artemis at Ephesos.
A short volume has recently appeared on the unusual altars (or supports) from Gela. Ohnesorg’s book looks more broadly at altars, specifically those from Ionic territory, and offers detailed descriptions and reconstructions. An important contribution is also made by the proceedings of a conference on sacrificial space. This conference assembled a number of prominent figures to discuss altars over a wide geographic area—extending beyond the borders of ancient Greece—as well as such issues as vocabulary and typology. Some papers rely on representations of altars in other media, an approach followed by Aktseli in her recent book.
Yet much work still needs to be done to clarify the various types of altars, the development and geographic distribution of each type, and changing preferences over time. Treasury buildings have likewise received few booklength studies and, as with articles, these tend to focus on specific examples or locations. Thus, one book examines the two treasuries, as well as the tholos, in the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia at Delphi. Another also discusses Delphic treasuries but includes those of both the Athena and Apollo sanctuaries.
A dissertation presents a more general study of this type of building, although it remains unpublished. Another religious structure, the theater, has attracted more attention. A monograph devoted to a single theater is unusual, but several have appeared of late. Two focus on the Theater of Dionysos in Athens: one by Polacco offering an overview and another by Gogos considering its architectural development and function. The form of this theater is also considered by Pöhlmann and others on the basis of archaeological evidence and the staging of ancient plays.
We have already mentioned Gogos’ publication of the theater at Aigeira, and he has produced still another on that of Oiniadai. The theater on Delos has been documented in its various phases in the most recent volume of the Délos series. 242 A book by Wiegand examines that at Soluntum and demonstrates its affinities with Hellenistic (theatral) architecture in Sicily. Another Sicilian theater, at Syracuse, has been the subject of publications by Polacco, including one that provides support for the important observations of Anti. Other books take a more regional approach. One elucidates characteristics of the western Greek theater in both Sicily and South Italy from the mid fourth to mid first centuries B.
C. E. Theaters in Attica and the Peloponnesos during the Greek and Roman periods form the subject of two books. That by Bressan offers, in two volumes, a detailed catalogue of examples along with a morphological and cultural analysis. Burmeister’s book, which appeared earlier, is more succinct and was followed by another that examined the Greek and Roman theater without geographic limits. 247 Two additional publications consider the theater as a whole, exploring its physical, performative, and social aspects.
Although a related structure, the odeion, is less well known from the Greek period, a recent book by Gogos examines its representatives, both Greek and Roman, in Athens. Some Greek building forms could have either a religious or civic function, depending on their location. It is thus difficult to make generalizations about them beyond their architectural similarities, which may explain their relative neglect in the literature. A case in point is the tholos.
