Full text: Vitruvius: The civil architecture of Vitruvius

this latter poem, although meither the word itself, nor the 
thing signiffed, is to be found in the pages of the Iliad. It 
may be requisite here to pay some attention to the columns 
in the palace of Ulysses ; more especially as from a bare 
allusion to the fact of their existence, it might be thought 
unjustifable to exclude them from the appellation of 
architectural ornament. It is first to be observed, that 
these columns form no part of the exterior building; their 
use is not only confined to the interior, but for any thing 
that appears to the contrary, exclusively to the great hall of 
the palace. Their employment in that situation was obviously 
dictated by necessity. From the ample space of the apartment, 
some support, in addition to the lateral walls, was required 
to give security to the beams which composed the roof; this 
security, we may conclude, was obtained by the insertion of 
a row of columns passing longitudinally through the centre 
of the chamber'. Such was the cause and mode of their 
introduction. According to the general opinion, the material 
of which they were formed was wood : and the accuracy of 
this opinion is confirmed by the nature of their origin and 
use, as well as by a combination of circumstances which 
unite for this purpose. Throughout the Odyssey the 
mention of columns is purely incidental : they are never 
described in detail, nor do they make part of any description 
1 It is remarkable that, in the Odyssey, frequent mention is made of the “ lofty 
column,' or the * great column,' as a single object: indeed if it were not for the 
passage (xix. 36.) in which the columns are distinctly referred to in the plural 
number, we might almost be tempted to imagine that Homer intended to describe 
an apartment in which the beams of the roof were supported by a single column.
	        
Waiting...

Note to user

Dear user,

In response to current developments in the web technology used by the Goobi viewer, the software no longer supports your browser.

Please use one of the following browsers to display this page correctly.

Thank you.

powered by Goobi viewer