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to withdraw the attention from the antiquities.

after dinner, sleep at the monastery, where a clean, furnished room is kept for visitors, and ascend to the top of the mountain by sunrise next morning. One may thus be back in Athens by 10 A.M.

2. Drive.-1 mile to Colonos, the low white hill to the N. of Athens, scene of one of the plays of Sophocles; and his birthplace. On an adjoining eminence there is a monument of white marble in memory of the German scholar and antiquary, K. O. Müller, who died of fever in Greece, a victim to his zeal for classical research. There is a good view of Peloponnesus. Athens, with its plain, the Gulf, and and reaches Nauplia in the afterthe mountains, from the "white brow noon, having called at several island of Colonos." Thence drive through ports-Egina, Poros, Hydra, and the neighbouring olive-groves of the Academy, watered by the Kephissus, and so to the Pass of Daphne. Then proceed to the Piræus, and drive round by the tomb of Themistocles, and the harbours of Munychia and Phalerum. From the latter return straight to Athens.

Those who wish to see at a moderate expense of time and money what is best worth seeing, should then, if the dates be suitable, take the steamer, which leaves the Piraeus once a week for Nauplia and the ports of the It starts at 6 A.M.

3. Marathon (20 m.) and back; with a relay of horses, or in a carriage as far as Kephissia, a village at the foot of Pentelicus, and nearly half-way. Go by Vrana and return by the village of Marathon. The best view of the plain is from the hill in descending to Vranà.

4. On this day one may go up either Pentelicus or Hymettus, or drive in a carriage to Megara and back. If you go up Pentelicus, you see the marble quarries, and enjoy a splendid view of Euboea, the Euripus, Marathon, and all Attica. If you go up Hymettus, you have a good view of Athens, and of the three plains of Attica. You can ride all the way up Pentelicus (in 4 hrs. from Athens), and nearly all the way up Hymettus. During the hot months one may with advantage drive out to Pentelicus

Spetzia.

As a steamer sets out on its return to the Piræus early next morning, the traveller, if returning by it, would only have time to see Nauplia and the The day of fortress of Palamedes. departure of the steamer from the Piræus for Nauplia (1871) is Monday and if one have 4 days at one's disposal, this time may be most advantageously spent by going from Nauplia in 2 days to Corinth, stopping over the intervening night at Nemea, and returning on the Thursday from Calamaki to the Piræus.* We can from our own experience most strongly recommend this excursion, which includes a visit to Tiryns, Argos, Larissa, Mykenæ, the temple of Nemea, and an ascent of the Acrocorinthus, as well as two delightful days' sailing. For details see Routes "Corfu to Athens" and "Athens to Nauplia," &c. The 4 days' excursion from Athens, including cost of escort, may be made for about 51. each person for a party of three or four

persons.

*This route may be reversed, the traveller going from the Piraus on Wednesday night or on Sunday morning to Calamaki, and returning by Nauplia, leaving that port on the following Tuesday morning at 2 o'clock.

B.-ANCIENT ATHENS.

I. Situation.—II. History.—III. Divisions, extent, population, &c.—IV. Topography and general Survey of the Acropolis. (1. Temple of Victory-2. The Propylæa-3. The Parthenon-4. The Erechtheum.)-V. Topography of the Asty (aoTv). 1. The Horologium of Andronicus Cyrrhestes, or "Temple of the Winds"-2. Gate of Athena Archegetis-3. Gymnasium of Hadrian4. Gymnasium of Ptolemy-5. The Theseum-6. Hill of the Nymphs-7. The Pnyx-8. The Agora-9. The Museum-10. The Fountain of Callirrhoë11. The Panathenaic Stadium-12. The Olympieum-13. Arch of Hadrian14. The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates-15. The Dionysiac Theatre16. The Odeum of Herodes or Regilla-17. The Areopagus-18. The Keramicus, Academy, &c.-19. Other Monuments, Aqueduct of Hadrian, &c. -VI. Piræus, and the Port Towns (Suburbs).—VII. Environs of Athens.

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I. Situation.-Athens is situated about 5 miles from the sea, in the central plain of Attica, which is bounded on the N.W. by Mt. Parnes, on the N.E. by Pentelicus, on the S.E. by Hymettus, and on the W. by Mt. Ægaleos. On the S. it is open to the Gulf of Salamis. The most prominent eminence in the plain is a conical peak, surmounted by a chapel of St. George, formerly identified with the Anchesmus of Pausanias, but now generally called by its more famous

name, Lycabettus. This hill is to the Grecian capital what Vesuvius is to Naples, or Arthur's Seat to Edinburgh; from its summit Athens and its neighbourhood lie unrolled before the eye as in a map. To the S.W. of Lycabettus are four eminences, all of which were included in ancient Athens. Of these the nearest to Lycabettus is the ACROPOLIS, a rock rising to a height of about 350 feet above the plain, with a flat summit more or less 1000 ft. long from E. to W., by 500 broad from N. to S. Immediately W. by N. of the Acropolis is a lower eminence of irregular form, the AREOPAGUS. The hill to the W. by S. is the PNYX, and to the S.W. is a fourth hill, the MUSEUM. On the S.E. of the city runs the ILISsus, and on the W. the KEPHISUS, rivulets which become nearly dry in summer. They fall into the Saronic Gulf, near the three ancient ports, Piræus, Munychia, and Phalerum, or are swallowed up by marshes.

The Athenian soil and climate exercised a very important influence upon the buildings of the city and on the manners of its inhabitants. Hence we may account for the meanness of their houses, and the defects of their streets and domestic architecture; hence it was that the Athenian people worshipped, legislated, and witnessed dramatic representations, under the open sky. The clearness and brilliant colouring of the atmosphere, the flood of fire with which the marble columns, the

mountains, and the sea are bathed by | Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run an Athenian sunset, the violet hue Along Morea's hills the setting sun; Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright, which Hymettus assumes in the even-But one unclouded blaze of living light! ing sky, in contrast to the glowing O'er the hushed deep the yellow beam he throws rock of Lycabettus and the rosy Pen-Gilds the green wave, that trembles as it glows. On old Egina's rock, and Hydra's isle, telicus, have been felt and admired by The God of Gladness sheds his parting smile; ancient and modern poets. Euripides o'er his own regions lingering, loves to shine, describes his countrymen as lightly tripping through an ether of surprising brightness" (Medea, 825); and Milton thus sums up (Paradise Regained,' lib. iv.) the characteristics of the climate and scenery, as well as many of the immortal associations, of Athens:

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Where on the Egean shore a city stands,
Built nobly, pure the air, and light the soil;
Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts
And eloquence, native to famous wits
Or hospitable, in her sweet recess,
City or suburban, studious walks and shades.
See there the olive grove of Academe,
Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird
Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long;
There flowery hill Hymettus, with the sound
Of bees' industrious murmur, oft invites
To studious musing; there Ilissus rolls
His whispering stream within the walls; there

view

The schools of ancient sages; his, who bred
Great Alexander to subdue the world,
Lyceum there, and painted Stoa next:
There shalt thou hear and learn the secret power
Of harmony, in tones and numbers hit

By voice or hand; and various-measured

verse,

Eolian charms and Dorian lyric odes,
And his who gave them breath, but higher sung.
Blind Melesigenes, thence Homer called,
Whose poem Phoebus challenged for his own:
Thence what the lofty grave tragedians taught

In Chorus or lambic, teachers best
Of moral prudence, with delight received
In brief sententious precepts, while they treat
Of fate, and chance, and change in human life,
High actions and high passions best describing:

Thence to the famous orators repair,
Those ancients, whose resistless eloquence
Wielded at will that fierce democratie,
Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece
To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne:
To sage Philosophy next lend thine ear,
From heaven descended to the low-roofed house

Of Socrates; see there his tenement,
Whom well-inspired the oracle pronounced
Wisest of men; from whose mouth issued forth
Mellifluous streams, that watered all the schools
Of Academies old and new, with those
Surnamed Peripatetics, and the sect
Epicurean, and the Stoic severe.

A quotation from one English poet suggests others, and the following lines will be read with interest at Athens, as conveying an accurate picture of a sunset there:

Though there his altars are no more divine.

Descending fast the mountain shadows kiss
Thy glorious gulf, unconquered Salamis !
Their azure arches through the long expanse
More deeply purpled meet his mellowing glance;
And tenderest tints, along their summits driven,
Mark his gay course, and own the hues of heaven;
Till deeply shaded from the land and deep,
Behind his Delphian cliff he sinks to sleep.

Sir Henry Holland thus describes
Athens of the year 1819:-

"Those who expect to see in Athens only the more splendid and obvious testimonies of its former state, will be agreeably disappointed. The Parthenon, the Temple of Theseus, the Propylæa, are individually the most striking objects; yet it may perhaps be added that they have been less interesting singly than in their combined relation to that wonderful grouping of nature and art which gives its peculiarity to Athens, and renders the scenery of this spot something which is ever unique to the eye and recollection. Here, if anywhere, there is a certain genius of the place, which unites and gives a character and colouring to the whole; and it is further worthy of remark, that this genius loci is one which strikingly connects the modern Athens with the city of former days. Every part of the surrounding landscape may be recognised as harmonious and beautiful in itself, and at the same time as furnishing those features which are consecrated by ancient description, by the history of heroic actions, and still more as the scene of those celebrated schools of philosophy which have transmitted their influence to every succeeding age. The stranger who is unable to appreciate the architectural beauties of the temples of Athens, yet can admire the splendid assemblage they form in their position, outline, and colouring, can trace out the pictures of the poets in the vale of Cephissus, the hill of Colonos, and the ridge of Hymettus,

can look on one side on the sea of Salamis, on the other on the heights of Phyla. Nowhere is antiquity so well substantiated as at Athens, or its outline more completely filled up to the eye and to the imagination."

In Athenian landscape simplicity of outline and colouring combines with magnificence of form and extent. It cannot be called rich scenery, for, with the exception of the olivegrove of the plain, the landscape is devoid of wood. An air of repose is one of its chief characteristics; the form of the hills, and the plain terminating in the Bay of Salamis, contribute to produce this effect, which is, however, to be ascribed more particularly to the eye always finding a resting-place on the Acropolis, and the ruins covering its summit.

II. History. The political history of Athens forms the most prominent feature in the history of Greece, but is beyond the scope of the present work. All that can be here attempted is a sketch of the fortunes of the City.

The most ancient part of Athens, the Acropolis, is said to have been built by the mythical Cecrops, but the city is supposed to have owed its origin to Theseus, who united the independent tribes of Attica into one state, and made Athens the capital. In historical times, the first attempt to embellish the city was made by Pisistratus and his sons (B.c. 560-514), who, like many despots, erected temples and other public buildings. A new era begins with the Persian war. Athens was reduced to ashes by Xerxes, but was soon rebuilt and fortified under the administration of Themistocles, and was adorned with public buildings by Cimon, and especially by PERICLES, in whose time (B.c. 460-429) it reached its greatest splendour. By the proceeds of the spoils acquired in the Persian war; by the contributions of the subject states; and by the still more important assistance of Phidias, and a group of the greatest sculptors and architects whom the world has known, Pericles was enabled to carry his noble

designs into execution, and to bequeath to his country monuments which have been the admiration of succeeding ages. These have suffered cruelly from earthquakes and war, and from centuries of injury and spoliation, but they still continue the grandest, the most interesting, and some of them the most perfect, relics of antiquity that exist, and bear testimony to the superiority of the Athennians in taste and genius over every other people.

The Peloponnesian War put a stop to the embellishment of Athens. On the capture of the city in B.C. 404, the fortifications and Long Walls were destroyed by the Lacedæmonians; but they were restored by Conon in B.C. 393, after his great victory off Cnidus. The public buildings were repaired and beautified after this period; and though its suburbs were ravaged in B.c. 200 by the last Philip of Macedon, Athens continued under the Macedonians and under the Romans to be a great and flourishing city Having espoused the cause of Mithridates, it was captured by Sulla B.C. 86, when its fortifications were levelled with the ground, and its privileges greatly curtailed. At that period, however, and during the early centuries of the Christian era, it continued to be the chief seat of learning in the ancient world, and the Romans were accustomed to send their sons thither, as to an University. Hadrian frequently resided in the city, and adorned it with many new buildings (A D. 120-128); and his example was followed by Herodes Atticus, a wealthy citizen, who lived in the reigns of Antoninus and of Marcus Aurelius. Athens was never more splendid than in the time of the Antonines, when it was visited by Pausanias. The great works of the age of Pericles were then still in freshness and perfection; nor do they appear to have suffered materially until the incursions of the Goths under Alaric in A.D. 396. The pagan religion and the schools of philosophy continued to flourish at Athens until the time of Justinian in the sixth century, when

they were finally abolished. At that period many of the temples were converted into churches. The temple of the Virgin-Goddess became a church consecrated to the VirginMother; whilst the temple of the pagan warrior Theseus was dedicated to the Christian warrior St. George.

A compendium of the history of the city will be found in Leake's Introduction to his Topography of Athens,' the following extracts from which will be read with especial interest:

46

we may suppose that the advance of art caused the altars of the several deities, whose worship had been established, to be converted into temples, or their temples to be renewed upon a larger and more elegant plan. A body of the Pelasgic nation, distinguished as Pelasgi, Tyrrheni, or Tyrseni, sought refuge in Attica from their enemies, and were employed by the Athenians to fortify the Cecropian hill. . . .

"By establishing a public library, and by editing the works of Homer, Pisistratus and his sons fixed the Muses at Athens; while by raising

Hitherto, however, the progress of the useful and ornamental arts had scarcely been so great at Athens as in some other parts of Greece, as at Sicyon, Corinth, Egina, Argos, Thebes, and Sparta. Still less was she able to bestow that encouragement upon the arts which they received in the opulent republics of Asia; for, although her territory was more extensive, and her resources already greater than those of any of the states of Greece Proper, except Sparta, they were still insufficient to bestow adequate ornament upon a city which was already the most populous in Greece. It was to an event the most unlikely to produce such a result, that Athens was

Homer, the earliest of Greek his-the quadrennial revolution of the torians, has left us a strong confirma- Panathenaic festival to a footing of tion of the reality of those facts, which equality with the other similar assemare not obviously fabulous, in the his- blies, and by upholding it during their tory of the two great heroes of ancient united reigns of about 30 years, they Attic story, Erechtheus and Theseus. greatly advanced the dignity of the He notices the temple of Erechtheus, republic among the states of Greece. and those periodical sacrifices of an ox and a sheep (Il., ii. 546), which we know to have been performed to a very late period of Athenian superstition; and, in confirmation of the political reforms of Theseus, instead of naming all the cities of Attica, as he has done in the other provinces of Greece, he speaks of Athens alone, and of the people of Erechtheus, that terrible Anuos, whose first specimen of tyranny and ingratitude was the banishment of their great benefactor himself, whom they left to die in exile in the island of Scyrus. .. During the six or seven centuries which elapsed between the Trojan war and the reign of Pisistratus, the Athenians seem to have been not more engaged in foreign wars or in-indebted for a degree of internal beauty ternal commotions than was sufficient to maintain their martial spirit and free government, both of which were essential to the progress made by them in civilization, commerce, and a successful cultivation of the arts. The change of chief magistrate from king to archon for life, then to decennial and to annual archon, indicates that gradual increase first of aristocratical, and then of popular authority, which ended in a purely democratical government. During the ages which elapsed between the reigns of Theseus and Pisistratus,

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and splendour, which no other Grecian city ever attained. The King of Persia, in directing against Greece an expedition of a magnitude unparalleled in the operations of one nation against another, made the capture of Athens his principal object. His success was most fortunate for the Athenians; for by forcing them to concentrate all their exertions in their fleet, in which they were as superior in numbers to any of the other states of Greece as they were in skill to the Persians, it led to their acquisition of the chief

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