Style, Function, and Design Influence in Early Classical Western Greece

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of monumental temple building in Sicily and Magna Graecia in the early Classical Period in terms of style and design in relation to cult and political structures. It is demonstrated that there was a coherent style that defined a moment of rapid construction in Western Greece in 480 B.C., and that the noteworthy building in Sicily eventually influenced mainland Greek architecture. This moment of intense construction is one result of the victory over the Carthaginians in the Battle at Himera, which ushered in an exuberant political environment driven by ambitious tyrants that revised the urban built environment and cult distribution in Sicily.