How to Tell Apart Greek Columns(from about.com)
Here's How:Look at the column(s).
Look at the top of the column - the "capital".
If the capital is highly decorated, with curling, leaflike, ornate carvings, it is Corinthian, the latest of the three styles. The Temple of the Olympian Zeus in Athens shows Corinthian-style columns.
If the capital is plain, it is either Doric or Ionian.
Look at the column shaft. If it appears slender to the eye, it is probably Ionic.
If the shaft seems bulky or thick, it is most likely Doric.
Confirm the column type by looking at the capital again.
Does the capital have two rounded spirals which look like a wrapped scroll viewed from the end? It is probably Ionic. The small Temple to Athena Nike at the Acropolis is Ionic in style.
Most Ionic column capitals are simple in design. If the column capital has the two scroll designs, but is more ornate than usual, yet not as ornate as the florid Corinthian capitals, it is Aeolic, a more complicated design version of the Ionic.
If the capital is very plain and small, almost absent, it is Doric, the earliest style, (though it was sometimes used to lend an air of purity and antiquity to later buildings.) The soaring columns on the Parthenon are Doric, as are the columns of the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina.
Tips:Broken column? Look on the ground - the capital may be set nearby.
Usually, the plainer the column, the earlier the structure. The more ornate in design, the later it is.
Finances influenced styles also - Corinthian capitals took longer to carve and were more expensive. Ancient builders on a budget might choose to "remember the good old days" instead and use a plainer Doric or Ionic column.
