OTHER GREEK TEMPLES. This beautiful temple is now partly ruined. Ruins
of other temples are on the Acropolis, and one better preserved,
called the Theseum, stands on a lower hill. There are also similar
ruins in many places along the shores of the Mediterranean. The most
interesting are at Paestum in Italy, and at Girgenti in Sicily. Long
before these temples were ruined they had taught the Romans how to
construct one of the most beautiful kinds of buildings, and this the
Romans later taught the peoples of western Europe.

GREEK METHODS OF BUILDING STILL USED. If we look at our large
buildings, we shall see much to remind us of the Greek buildings.
Sometimes the exact form of the Greek building is imitated; sometimes
this form is changed as the Romans changed it, or as it was changed by
builders who lived after the time of the Romans. If the model of the
whole building is not used, there are similar pillars, or gables, or
the sculpture in the pediment and the frieze is imitated. The Greeks
had three kinds of pillars, named Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The
Doric is simple and solid, the Ionic shows in its capital, or top,
delicate and beautiful curves, while the Corinthian is adorned with
leaves springing gracefully from the top of the pillar.

[Illustration: Doric Ionic Corinthian GREEK ORDERS OF
ARCHITECTURE]

[Illustration: RUINS OF THE GREEK THEATER AT EPIDAURUS]

THEATERS. The first Greek theater was only a smooth open space near a
hillside, with a tent, called a _skene_, or scene, in which the
actors dressed. Later an amphitheater of stone seats was constructed
on the hillside, and across the open end was placed the _scene_,