Temple C atSelinus (Sicily), is aGreek temple ofMagna Graecia in theDoric style. It was one of the most ancient of the temples at Selinus, having probably been built on theacropolis a little after the middle of the sixth century BC,[1] although its dating is controversial.[2] The temple was the object of archaeological research in the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century and later the remains of a long stretch of the northern colonnade receivedanastylosis (reconstruction using the original material) in 1929.[3]After a twelve-year-long restoration, in 2011 the colonnade was freed from scaffolding and made properly visible once more.
Temple C was probably used as an archive (hundreds of seals have been recovered from it) and was dedicated to Apollo, as shown by an inscription,[4] not toHeracles.[5]
Although it showsarchaising aspects, it imitates the models of the Greek mainland (such as theTemple of Apollo atCorinth) in the period in which the canons which would characterise the proportions of the Doric temple were becoming solidified.
British architectsSamuel Angell and William Harris excavated atSelinus in the course of their tour of Sicily, and came upon the sculpturedmetopes from the Archaic temple of "Temple C". Although local Bourbon officials tried to stop them, they continued their work, and attempted to export their finds to England, destined for theBritish Museum. Now in the echos of the activities ofLord Elgin in Athens, Angell and Harris's shipments were diverted to Palermo by force of the Bourbon authorities and are now kept in the Palermo archaeological museum.[6]
The building has aperistyle colonnade around thenaos, with six columns at the front (hexastyle) and seventeen on its long sides,[7] leading to a very elongated floor plan, far from the canonical 1:2 proportion, but paralleled by some other archaic temples, such as theTemple of Hera atOlympia. A flight of eight steps takes up the whole of the front side, with the rest of thecrepidoma has four steps as at the temple in Corinth, following a rule which remains constant in Sicily.[8]
Thepronaos has a two rows of columns, not placed in relation to the proportions of the naos. Theopisthodomos was transformed into an empty space behind the naos (adyton),[7] as is common among the doric temples ofMagna Graecia. The columns were exceptionally slender (8.65 metres high)[9] and theintercolumniation was wide in the facade, but on the sides was contracted to a more sensible dimension. The columns' diameters vary widely, following a flexible pattern with little regard for the rules of the Doric order, which had already become strict in Mainland Greece.[8]
Theentablature was unusually high with acornice made of two rows of stone blocks, surmounted by a gutter (sima) in coloured and decorated terracotta, some traces of which have been found and are now kept in theAntonino Salinas Regional Archeological Museum,[7] along with some notablemetopai of the frieze.
The ten metopai of the facade were sculpted inhigh relief and framed at the top and bottom by blank slabs which made the relief of the sculpture stand out. The metopes were separated bytriglyphs which jut out a long way from the vertical plane of the metopes. Three metopes survive in full: a frontal view of a quadriga being driven vigorously byHelios,Perseus decapitatingMedusa whileAthena looks on,Heracles carrying the capturedCercopes on his shoulders. In the centre of thetympanum there was the mask of aGorgon in terracotta.[8]
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