Meanwhile, the columns themselves are not straight along their vertical axes, but swell in their middles. This phenomenon, called “entasis,” intended to counteract another optical effect in which columns with straight sides appear to the eye to be slenderer in their middles and to have a waist. Furthermore, the whole superstructure of the outer facades of the temple, above the level of the columns (the “entablature”), also curves downward at the corners, to mirror the stylobate and carry upward the temple’s overall domed curvature.
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The Optical Illusions That Make the Parthenon Perfect - Greece Is
There is more to the Parthenon than meets the eye, as archaeologists have long known. Now we hold up our own magnifying glass to the temple’s secrets.
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