Part 53 (2/2)

The traveler who pa.s.sed through these suburbs came at length to the great wall, nearly five miles in circ.u.mference, raised by Themistocles to surround the settlement at the foot of the Acropolis. [45] The area included within this wall made up Old Athens. About six centuries after Themistocles the Roman emperor Hadrian, by building additional fortifications on the east, brought an extensive quarter, called New Athens, inside the city limits.

HILLS OF ATHENS

The region within the walls was broken up by a number of rocky eminences which have a prominent place in the topography of Athens. Near the center the Acropolis rises more than two hundred feet above the plain, its summit crowned with monuments of the Periclean Age. Not far away is the hill called the Areopagus. Here the Council of the Areopagus, a court of justice in trials for murder, held its deliberations in the open air.

Beyond this height is the hill of the Pnyx. This was the meeting place of the Athenian a.s.sembly until the fourth century B.C., when the sessions were transferred to the theater of Dionysus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, ATHENS]

THE AGORA

The business and social center of an ancient city was the agora or market place. The Athenian Agora lay in the hollow north of the Areopagus and Acropolis. The square was shaded by rows of plane trees and lined with covered colonnades. In the great days of the city, when the Agora was filled with countless altars and shrines, it presented a most varied and attractive scene.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

Not all the splendid structures in Athens were confined to the Agora and the Acropolis. On a slight eminence not far from the Agora, rose the so- called ”Theseum,” [46] a marble temple in the Doric order. Another famous temple, the colossal edifice known as the Olympieum, lay at some distance from the Acropolis on the southeast. Fifteen of the lofty columns with their Corinthian capitals are still standing. The theater of Dionysus [47]

is in a fair state of preservation. Beyond this are the remains of the Odeum, or ”Hall of Song,” used for musical contests and declamations. The original building was raised by Pericles, in imitation, it is said, of the tent of Xerxes. The present ruins are those of the structure erected in the second century A.D. by a public-spirited benefactor of Athens.

THE ACROPOLIS

The adornment of the Acropolis formed perhaps the most memorable achievement of Pericles. [48] This rocky mount was approached on the western side by a flight of sixty marble steps. To the right of the stairway rose a small but very beautiful Ionic temple dedicated to Athena.

Having mounted the steps, the visitor pa.s.sed through the superb entrance gate, or Propylaea, which was constructed to resemble the front of a temple with columns and pediment. Just beyond the Propylaea stood a great bronze statue of the Guardian Athena, a masterpiece of the sculptor Phidias.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS (RESTORATION)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS FROM THE SOUTHWEST]

THE ERECHTHEUM

The Erechtheum, a temple which occupies part of the Acropolis, is in the Ionic style. It may be regarded as the best existing example of this light and graceful order. Perhaps the most interesting feature is the porch of the Caryatides, with a marble roof supported by six pillars carved in the semblance of maidens. [49] This curious but striking device has been often copied by modern architects.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE PARTHENON

The other temple on the Acropolis is the world-famed edifice known as the Parthenon, the shrine of the Virgin of the Athena. [50] The Parthenon ill.u.s.trates the extreme simplicity of a Greek temple. It had no great size or height and included only two chambers. The rear room stored sacred vessels and furniture used in wors.h.i.+p, state treasure, and the more valuable offerings intrusted to the G.o.ddess for safekeeping. The second and larger room contained a colossal gold and ivory statue of Athena, the work of Phidias. It faced the eastern entrance so that it might be bathed in the rays of the rising sun. Apart from the large doors a certain amount of light reached the interior through the semi-transparent marble tiles of the roof. The Doric columns surrounding the building are marvels of fine workmans.h.i.+p. The Parthenon, because of its perfection of construction and admirable proportions, is justly regarded as a masterpiece of architecture.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN OF THE PARTHENON The larger room (cella) measured exactly one hundred feet in length.]

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

The Parthenon was also remarkable for its sculptures [51] executed under the superintendence of Phidias. The subjects of the pediment sculptures are taken from the mythic history of Athena. The frieze of the Parthenon consists of a series of sculptured slabs, over five hundred feet in length. The subject was the procession of the Great Panathenaea, [52] the princ.i.p.al festival in honor of Athena. At this time the sacred robe of the G.o.ddess, woven anew for each occasion, was brought to adorn her statue.

The procession is thought of as starting from the western front, where Athenian youths dash forward on their spirited steeds. Then comes a brilliant array of maidens, matrons, soldiers, and luteplayers. Near the center of the eastern front they meet a group of divinities, who are represented as spectators of the imposing scene. This part of the frieze is still in excellent condition.

THE GLORY OF ATHENS

It was, indeed, a splendid group of buildings that rose on the Acropolis height. If to-day they have lost much of their glory, we can still understand how they were the precious possession of the Athenians and the wonder of all the ancient world. ”O s.h.i.+ning, violet-crowned city of song, great Athens, bulwark of h.e.l.las, walls divine!” The words are those of an old Greek poet, [53] but they are reechoed by all who have come under the magic spell of the literature and art of the Athenian city.

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