The Parthenon Vocabulary:

• Parthenon: a temple which was built on the Acropolis as a thanks offering to the goddess Athena who was thought to have helped the Athenians win a battle with the Persians. The temple was built to house a statue of Athena
• Acropolis: means 'high city' at athens it is the flat toped rock which was formerly a fortress.
• Acroteria: decorative ornaments placed above the three angles of the pediment (center, left and right)
  
• stylobate: the top step of the temple, the platform that columns rest on.
  
• column: vertical structural member which supports the beams(architrave) and roof. The column has a base, shaft and capitol.
  
• architrave: the beam that is supported by columns
• colonnade: row of columns
• peristyle: (peri-around, stylos-column) columns around an entire space. The columns around the Parthenon are called a peristyle.
• post & lintel: the Parthenon is built from post and lintel construction method. The columns being the posts and the lintel being the beam laying on the columns.
• frieze: On the Parthenon the beam is decorated with applied sculptured which is called the frieze.
  
• pediment: is the triangular form created by the sloped roof and the beam. The pediment is decorated with applied sculpture which told a story.
  

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