Emblēma: Stone Repair as Ornament in Greek Architecture

Ancient Greek temples show extensive signs of stone-mending during construction, in the form of clamps and patches. This article identifies on an Ionic column capital from the temple of Zeus at Istros (Histria), a settlement on the Black Sea coast of modern-day Romania, an architectural mend in the shape of a dolphin. This figural mend blurs two distinct meanings of the Greek word emblēma (a repair patch or a decorative inlay) and reveals how stone mends visually expressed the values and beliefs of the people that made them, linking labor, fortune, and healing at the ancient worksite.