Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Atlas / Telamon
Plural: Atlantes (at
LAN tees)
Also called a telamon
A figure of a man used in place of a column to support an entablature
In Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan who was forced by Zeus to bear the sky on his shoulders.
In Greek mythology, Telamon accompanied Jason as one of his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. In the Iliad
he was the father of Greek heroes Ajax the Great and Teucer the Archer by different mothers. Took part in some of Heracles's adventures.
Examples:
- Illustration above: Catherine Palace, Pushkin, Russia
- Warsaw, Poland
- Hermitage Theatre of Classical Russian Ballet, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Forum Thermal Baths - Pompeii, Italy
- Drawing, A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, by Sir Banister-Fletcher, New York, 1950 - Temple of Poseidon, Paestum, Greece
