Chersiphron

Model of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Chersiphron (/ˈkɜːrsᵻfrɒn/; Greek: Χερσίφρων; fl. 6th century BC), an architect of Knossos in ancient Crete, was the builder of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, on the Ionian coast. The temple had been begun about 600 BC, and was completed by other architects.

Chersiphron and his son Metagenes were co-authors of its building.

The Artemision was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in each of its three manifestations: it was destroyed in 550 BC, rebuilt, burned by Herostratus in 356 BC and rebuilt again.

The architect's name is recalled in Vitruvius, and in a passage of Pliny as "Ctesiphon", perhaps in confusion with the great Parthian city of the same name on the river Tigris.

External links

• William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870: "Chersiphron"