Antae

ANTAE (a Lat. plural word, possibly from anU, before), an architectural term given to slightly projecting pilaster strips which terminate the winged walls of the naos of a Greek temple. They owe their origin to the vertical posts of timber employed in the primitive palaces or temples of Greece, as at Tiryns and in the Heraeum at Olympia, to carry the roof timbers, as no reliance could be placed on the walls built with unburnt brick or in rubble masonry with clay mortar. When between these winged walls there are columns to carry the architrave, so as to form a porch, the latter is said to be in-antis. (See TEMPLE.)