admit into the church the crowds of the periodic jubilee, and at all other times remains shut. No one can look on that entrance without reflecting what a deep and strong tide of feeling has flowed through it. Here we now stand before the Propylæa of the Athenian Acropolis. Through that door in the centre of this building moved the periodic processions of the Panathenaic jubilee. The marks of their chariot wheels are still visible on the stone floor of its entrance. In the narrow space between those two ruts in the pavement, the feet of the noblest Athenians since the age of Pericles have trod. "Here, above all places at Athens, the mind of the traveller enjoys an exquisite pleasure. It seems as if this portal had been spared, in order that our imagination might see through it, as through a triumphal arch, all the glories of Athenian antiquity in visible parade. In our visions of that spectacle we would unroll the long Panathenaic frieze of Phidias, representing that spectacle, from its place in the marble walls of the cella of the Parthenon, in order that, indued with ideal life, it might move through this splendid avenue, as its originals did of old. with their glowing tints of red and blue; let the coffers of its soffits be again spangled with stars, and the marble antæ be fringed over as they once were with their delicate embroidery; let it be in such a lovely day as the present day of Novemberand then let the bronze valves of these five gates of the Propylæa be suddenly flung open, and all the splendours of the interior of the Acropolis burst at once upon the view." & We now propose to follow through the Acropolis a far less imaginative traveller, but one who saw and described Athens in its pristine splendour-the accurate, but often vexatious, Pausanias, adding to his account such comments as the existing remains suggest; and afterwards returning to describe more fully in detail the principal buildings: viz. the Temple of Victory, the Propylaea, the Parthenon, and the Erechtheum. The five gates in the transverse wall of the Propyla formed the only public entrance into the Acropolis (there was, however, as we have seen a postern on the N. side, through the Aglaurium, and perhaps another at the extreme E.). Pausanias was told that the great pedestal on the 1. was built for equestrian statues of Gryllus and Diodorus, sons of Xenophon: the inscription it bears, now partly obliterated, was perhaps afterwards substituted for the original one, so as to attribute these statues to Agrippa and Augustus, a mode of flattery not uncommon in Greece, under the Romans. Cicero, whilst anxious to have a statue erected to his honour at Athens, deprecates this practice: Equidem valde ipsas Athenas amo; volo esse aliquod monumentum; odi falsas inscriptiones statuarum alienarum. (Athens and Attica,' p. 141.) The structure of this pedestal, of the style of masonry called by Vitruvius pseudisodomum "Even national enemies paid homage to the magnificence of the fabric; for when, in the Theban assembly, Epaminondas intended to convey to his audience that they must struggle to transfer the glory of Athens to Thebes, he thus expressed that sentiment by a vivid image: 'Oh, men of Thebes, you must uproot the Propylæa of the Athenian Acropolis, and plant them in front of the Cadmeian citadel.' It was this particular point in the localities of Athens which was most admired by the Athenians themselves: nor is this surprising. Let us conceive such a restitution of this fabric as its surviving fragments will suggest: let us imagine it restored or alternately equal coursed — reto its pristine beauty; let it rise once more in the full dignity of its youthful stature; let all its architectural decorations be fresh and perfect; let their mouldings be again brilliant fers its period to about the beginning of the Christian era. It is evident, from its too great size and want of delicacy in the mouldings, that it did not form part of the original design of the Propylæa. It is, moreover, of follow. They seldom placed the apHymettian grey marble, instead of proaches in the line of the principal Pentelic. It was not long since on axis of the temple. And we should the point of crumbling to pieces, not further notice the absence of parallelbeing solidly built, but was restored; ism observable among the several though perhaps the Acropolis of buildings. Except the Propylæa and Pericles would be more easily realized Parthenon, which have a definite relawere it no longer standing. tion to each other, no two are parallel. This asymmetria not only gives an individuality to each building, but also obviates the uniformity of too many parallel lines, and produces exquisite varieties of light and shade. A happy instance of this latter effect is in the Temple of Victory without Wings. The façade of this temple and the pedestal of Agrippa remain in shade for a considerable time after the front of the Propylæa has been lighted On the rt. hand of the entrance stands the Temple of Victory without Wings. Thence there is a prospect of the sea; and it is thence that geus is said to have thrown himself down and perished, when he saw the ship which carried his son Theseus returning with black sails, instead of white, which he promised to hoist if he returned safe from Crete, but which he forgot to do in consequence of his amour with Ariadne. It is remark-up, and gradually receive every variety able that neither the pedestal of Agrippa nor the Temple of Agrippa are parallel with the Propylæa. The 1. hand or N. wing of the Propylæa, usually called the Pinacotheca, contained pictures by the celebrated painter Polygnotus, painted, no doubt, on the walls. The subjects were chiefly from the Trojan war. of light until the sun is sufficiently on the decline to shine nearly equally on all the western faces of the group. The inclined plane was continued through the Propyla, and was prolonged beyond it in the direction of the interval between the two temples of Minerva, as far as the highest natural level of the hill. On either side of this main route, the surface of the Acropolis was divided into platforms It appears that the carriage-way was formed of broad slabs of marble which were roughened with cross-communicating with one another by grooves to improve the foot-hold, as the ascent is very steep. The floor of the eastern portico of the Propylæa is raised by five tall steps, 4 ft. 6 in, above that of the western. The carriage-way was carried through the central and principal gateway, and preserved a nearly uniform slope through the building. Considerable portions of it remain, and are marked with the wheel-ruts of ancient traffic. As soon as the colonnade of the Eastern | portico is passed, we are in the Acropolis, with the Parthenon full in view. We should here remark, that although the front of the Propylaea is parallel to that of the Parthenon, the central axis of the former falls so much to the N. of that of the latter, that, on entering, the spectator sees the Parthenon at an angle well selected for picturesque effect. In placing their temples the Greeks teach us a lesson which it would be well oftener to steps. Upon these platforms stood the temples, sanctuaries, or monuments which occupied all the summit. Immediately after passing the Propylæa, Pausanias describes the following objects: a Mercury Propylæus, and the three Graces, by Socrates, son of Sophroniscus ; a brazen lioness, a Venus, a brazen statue of Diitrephes, a Hygieia, daughter of Esculapius, and a Minerva Hygeia. The pedestal of the latter remains in situ, under the S.E. column of the eastern portico of the Propylæa; so that we may assign one of the levelled spaces, a little to the eastward, as the site of the Mercury and Graces just mentioned, by the hand of the great philosopher. Turning due S., there are some steps leading up to a platform on the rock, where probably Pausanias saw the boy in brass by Lycius, son of Myron; Perseus slaying Medusa, by Myron; the Sanctuary of Diana Brauronia, containing a statue by Praxiteles; a of the metopes in a very shattered brazen figure of the Trojan horse; five state. He must avoid a large well portrait statues; Minerva punishing or cistern, which probably received the unlucky, but impudent, Marsyas; the water from the roof of the ParTheseus and the Minotaur; four more thenon. mythological groups, and a temple containing the deity venerated by illustrious men; a statue by Clecetas; and one of which he greatly praises the execution-the Earth, imploring showers from Jupiter. These last were probably immediately to the W. of the Parthenon, where the terraces may be very clearly made out, and where in many places may be seen the grooves and sinkings by which sculptures were fixed. In this part of the Acropolis, M. Pittakys, when Conservator of the Antiquities, built several straight walls, composed of the smaller architectural fragments which have been found on the Acropolis. These, as well as other objects, are effectually preserved from being interfered with, as a soldier has orders to follow each party of visitors in their wanderings on the Acropolis. Pausanias seems to have passed round the north-eastern corner of the Parthenon, and entered by the proper and only entrance to the Naos or inner temple at the E. Having entered, he saw the celebrated statue of Minerva by Phidias, covered with ivory and glittering with gold ornaments, though the latter were then of a less solid character than those appended by Pericles, weighing as much as 11,500l. The statue was 27 cubits, or 40 ft. high, holding a Victory on one hand, and stood on a richly sculptured base, and was protected from injury by a railing of bronze. He saw no other statue within the Naos excepting one of Hadrian, which Athenian gratitude or flattery had placed there. There were, however, painted portraits of Themistocles, and some others. In the Pronaos, we learn from Pliny, the painter Protogenes had represented the celebrated triremes Paralus and Hammonias, together with several other vessels on a smaller scale. Between the Parthenon and Erechtheum we may look for the sites of the statues of Timotheus, son of Conon, and of Conon himself; Procne Eastwards of the Parthenon, he saw and Itys; the contest of Athênê and a brazen statue of Apollo Parnopius Poseidon, the former with the olive, (chaser of locusts); a statue of Xanthe latter raising the waves. The last- thippus, placed there doubtless by the mentioned group was perhaps placed filial piety of Pericles, in front of his on a smoothly-levelled area, which is renowned Parthenon; one of the poet to be seen in front of the S. or Cary- Anacreon, and some other statues. atid portion of the Erechtheum. Also Some remains, with an inscription, a Jupiter, by Leochares, and another show that there was a small circular Jupiter, surnamed Polieus. It is re- temple dedicated to Augustus and markable that the boundaries of these Rome, occupying the extremity, perterraces for the most part point_to-haps, of the eastern platform in front wards the great statue of Minerva Promachus, of which the base has been discovered northwards of the road leading upwards from the Propylæa. The traveller will find but little between the Parthenon and Erechtheum; the ground near the former temple is encumbered with its massive ruins produced by the devastating explosion of 1687. He will have here the best opportunity of studying the exquisite finish of the capitals and other decorative portions, and he may find a few of the Parthenon, and, it is supposed, about 90 ft. distant from it. A very interesting excavation has been made near this point. In it are to be seen a number of drums of columns; some much shattered, others apparently rough from the quarry; others partly worked, and discarded in consequence of some defect in the material. The ground about them, when first discovered, was strewed with marble chips, and some sculptors' tools and jais containing red colour were found with them. It seems to have been one of the places where the workmen who were employed in building the Parthenon hewed out the columns; and as it was below the level of the finished terrace, these remains, after the completion of the Parthenon, were covered with made ground.* The layers of this made ground are very evident close to the Parthenon on the S. side. They are composed of chips of stone, the lowest being of the red marble of the rock of the Acropolis; the second the white marble of Pen-those who officiated in the mysteries telicus, and the upper layer of the magnesian limestone of the hills near the Piræus. the whole surface is encumbered with a confused mass of ruins; or in the extreme E., where a low-walled building is being erected for the purpose of containing the various fragments of sculpture now dispersed in different parts of the Acropolis. In that quarter little has been done in the way of excavation, and only a few limestone walls have been discovered. Pausanias does not lead us to expect any thing important there. It was perhaps occupied by the dwellings of The S. wall of the Acropolis, called the Cimonium, formed of squared blocks of Piraïc stone, upwards of 60 ft. in height in some places, was adorned with sculptures, extending, as we may fairly presume, from the summit over against the W. end of the Parthenon to above the Dionysiac Theatre. Near the latter point there is a portion of a marble foundation which probably belonged to some of these sculptures; they represented the Gigantomachia, or War of the Giants, the wars between the Athenians and the Amazons, the battle of Marathon, and the destruction of the Gauls by Attalus, King of Pergamus, by whom these groups were dedicated. It is recorded that, in the year of the battle of Actium, a violent wind (an element of which the energy was witnessed on the 26th of October, 1852, in the injury done to the Erechtheum, and the loss of one of the columns of the Temple of Jupiter Olympius) threw down several statues at Athens, and precipitated one of the group of the Gigantomachia into the Dionysiac Theatre; thus determining the position of that group. These sculptures doubtless played their part in the view of the S. side of the Acropolis, the magnificent effect of which is mentioned by several writers. There is little to engage attention on the S. side of the Parthenon, where *Vide the letter from Mr. Bracebridge, printed in the Appendix to Wordsworth's Athens and Attica." or guarded the sanctuaries of the Acropolis. One should, however, go there for the view of Hymettus and the Temple of Jupiter Olympius; and on returning towards the Parthenon will be rewarded by an enchanting view of that temple. Although the western front retains its pediment, and is, generally speaking, more perfect than the eastern, the columns were so shattered in the last war, that they give no idea whatever of the beauty of this exquisite feature of the Greek Doric. In the eastern portico the columns exhibit their full perfection, and the imperceptibly curved lines of the shadows of their flutes sweep uninterruptedly from the ground. Attention should be directed to the second column from the S. in this front. It is not too much to affirm that the skill both of the architect and the workman, as exhibited in the subtle proportions and accurate execution of these columns has never been rivalled. From the Cimonium, Pausanias proceeds to the Erechtheum. In front, towards the E., was an altar of Jupiter Hypatus; one to Neptune near the entrance; others to Butes and Vulcan. The walls of the porticoes were covered with pictures. In the interior he saw a well of salt water, and a figure of Poseidon's trident on the rock (on the supposed traces of which we shall speak hereafter), and the aboriginal olive-tree, miraculously saved when the temple was burnt by the Persians, which occupied the centre, or according to some, the Caryatid por tico on the S. side of this twofold "Where was thine Ægis, Pallas! that appall'd Stern Alaric and Havoc on their way? Where Peleus' son? whom Hell in vain enthrall'd, His shade from Hades upon that dread day Bursting to light in terrible array! What! could not Pluto spare the chief once more, To scare a second robber from his prey? Idly he wander'd on the Stygian shore, temple. Everything here gave evi- an excavation which shows that it dence of the contest of Athênê and fronted the main central entrance of Poseidon for the soil of Attica. Here the Propylæa, and appeared as the also were the most ancient and sacred Promachus, or tutelary goddess, of the statue of the goddess, of olive wood, city. Awe-inspiring must have been to which the new Peplus was carried the effect upon a stranger impressed every fifth year of the celebration of with due reverence for the Gods, an the Panathenaic festival; a golden idea given in one of the stanzas, in lamp always burning, with a brazen which the author of 'Childe Harold' palm-tree above it, to convey the alludes to the spoliation of the Acrosmoke to the roof: and various an- polis by Lord Elgin :cient relics and spoils of the Medes, taken at Marathon and Salamis. In the precinct, or Teμévos, to the W., of which the boundary-wall running E. and W., composed of rough blocks of limestone, is preserved, Pausanias saw the dwelling and playground used by the two young girls who were trained for the annual celebration of the mystery of Erichthonius. In this precinct were also colossal statues of the Thracian Eumolpus, son of Poseidôn, But all were not alike impressed with and of Erechtheus, the protogé of this feeling; Aristophanes did not Athênê, and several other mytho- scruple to joke about the great size of logical personages, the mortal cham- the ivory finger of the Minerva, or to pions of that combat between the two observe how fine a soup-tureen might races to which we have alluded, whilst be made of the shield. Such, howtheir common worship in this temple ever, are not the feelings of our guide pointed out their ultimate reconcilia- Pausanias, who will describe the tion. About 150 ft. from the W. of brazen quadriga, made of spoils won the Erechtheum, on the very edge of from the Boeotians and men of Chalkis the rock, is the staircase, partly built (in the battle mentioned by Herod., v., and partly cut out of the rock, which 79); a smaller statue of Minerva in led downwards to the Grotto of Ag-bronze, by Phidias, the Minerva Lemraulos, already described. It was nia,-accounted the finest of all the possible in 1845, by climbing up the works of that master; and a statue of rocks as far as to the grotto, to ascend Pericles, the son of Xanthippus, on and descend by this passage and stair. the 1. hand of the entrance to the It has since been closed below, but is Acropolis, which he had done so much accessible from above. Very near this to adorn. point, southwards, stood the colossal statue of Minerva Promachus in 1. Temple of Nike Apteros, or Vicbronze, made by Phidias of the spoils tory without Wings.-After the general of Marathon. Its height was such survey of the Acropolis, we return to that the glittering crest of the helmet examine more in detail the principal and the point of the spear might be remains. The first of these is the seen at sea as ships approached Athens Temple of Nike Apteros, or Wingless after coming round Cape Sunium. The Victory (a goddess sometimes identistatue must have appeared to the 1. fied with Athênê, and called Athênê hand of the Parthenon, and was pro- Nikê), and thus represented in the earbably as high as the summit of that liest times, although in the time of temple; we cannot allow less than Pericles she was figured as a young 50 ft. for the height of the statue, and female with golden wings. This tem20 for that of the pedestal. The posi-ple is not mentioned among the works tion of the base has been laid open by of Pericles, and has been supposed to |