In

Promachus, or tutelary goddess, of the city. Awe-inspiring must have been the effect upon a stranger impressed with due reverence for the Gods, an idea given in one of the stanzas, in which the author of 'Childe Harold' alludes to the spoliation of the Acropolis by Lord Elgin :

:

"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,
Nor now preserv'd the walls he loved to
shield before."

temple. Everything here gave evi- | an excavation which shows that it dence of the contest of Athénê 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 statue of the goddess, of olive wood, to which the new Peplus was carried every fifth year of the celebration of the Panathenaic festival; a golden lamp always burning, with a brazen palm-tree above it, to convey the smoke to the roof: and various ancient relics and spoils of the Medes, taken at Marathon and Salamis. 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, and of Erechtheus, the protogé of Athênê, and several other mythological personages, the mortal champions of that combat between the two races to which we have alluded, whilst their common worship in this temple pointed out their ultimate reconciliation. About 150 ft. from the W. of the Erechtheum, on the very edge of the rock, is the staircase, partly built and partly cut out of the rock, which led downwards to the Grotto of Agraulos, already described. It was possible in 1845, by climbing up the rocks as far as to the grotto, to ascend and descend by this passage and stair. It has since been closed below, but is accessible from above. Very near this point, southwards, stood the colossal statue of Minerva Promachus in 1. Temple of Nikê 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 Nikê 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 wo tion of the base has been laid open by of Pericles, and has been suppos

But all were not alike impressed with this feeling; Aristophanes did not scruple to joke about the great size of the ivory finger of the Minerva, or to observe how fine a soup-tureen might be made of the shield. Such, however, are not the feelings of our guide Pausanias, who will describe the brazen quadriga, made of spoils won from the Boeotians and men of Chalkis (in the battle mentioned by Herod., v., 79); a smaller statue of Minerva in bronze, by Phidias, the Minerva Lemnia,-accounted the finest of all the works of that master; and a statue of Pericles, the son of Xanthippus, on the 1. hand of the entrance to the Acropolis, which he had done so much to adorn.

have been built by Cimon, and to be coeval with the completion of the Cimonium. The sculptures, judging from the costume and arms, appear to represent the victories gained by the Athenians over the Persians, in which Cimon and his father Miltiades bore so great a share. We have already called attention to the absence of parallelism between this temple and the Propylæa-a fact which favours the supposition of its entire independence of that structure.

This temple is of the class called Amphiprostyle Tetrastyle, consisting of a cella with four fluted Ionic columns at either front, but with none on the sides. It is raised upon a stylobate of 3 steps, and is 27 ft. in length from E. to W., and 18 in breadth. The columns, including the base and the capital, are 134 ft. high, and the total height of the temple to the apex of the pediment, including the stylobate, is 23 ft. The frieze, which runs round the whole exterior of the building, is 1 ft. 6 in. high, and is adorned with sculptures in high relief. It originally consisted of 14 pieces of stone, of which 12, or the fragments of 12, now remain. Several of these are so mutilated, that it is difficult to make out the subject, but some of them evidently represent a battle between Greeks and Persians, or other barbarians. It is supposed that the two long sides were occupied with combats of horsemen, and that the western end represented a battle of foot soldiers.

The recent history of this temple is curious it was mentioned by Pausanias, and seen by Wheler and Spon, as late as 1681, since which period no traveller had been able to discover a trace of it. At length, in 1835, some works were undertaken by the Greek Government for the purpose of clearing the approaches of the Propylæa to their proper level, by which the traces of the great flight of steps were brought to light, and the columns disengaged from the incumbrance of the medieval and Turkish fortifications which had been built up between them. In these operations a Turkish battery, which

stood in front of the Propylæa, was
removed, and in doing so, fragments
of columns of a sculptured frieze,
exactly answering to four pieces in
the British Museum brought over by
Lord Elgin, and other ornamental
architecture, were discovered in great
quantity, and by and by the floor of
an ancient temple, which, of course,
was immediately recognised as that
mentioned by Pausanias. The Go-
vernment had the good taste to cause
the fragments to be collected and re-
erected, without deviation from the
original foundations, under the super-
intendence of Ross and Schaubert. The
work was finished with the help of
funds subscribed in England in aid of
the Archæological Society of Athens.
This restoration has been a most suc-
cessful one. It does not produce, as
in the case of the partial restitution of
some of the columns of the Parthenon,
a patchy effect. Here the whole is of
a piece, and at a distance looks much
like a new building, with its white
marble columns and walls glittering
in the sun. In addition to the several
sculptured fragments of the frieze,
several slabs were found 3 ft. 4 in.
high, sculptured on one side in reliefs
of surpassing beauty, representing
winged Victories in various attitudes.
They formed a continuous parapet
between the temple and the great
flight of steps. There seems to have
been a railing of metal above them,
and probably also a railing along the
edge of the western wall. A careful
description of this temple is given by
Hansen, Schaubert, and Ross (‘Acro-
polis von Athen.' Fol. Berlin, 1839).

The Pedestal of Agrippa, over against the temple of Nike Apteros, has been already described.

sq.), that the whole of the ornamental the position of the third is visible. It works of Pericles, viz., the Odeum, the seems to have been simply a porch or Parthenon, the Mystic Temple of guard-chamber 27 ft. by 16, and not Eleusis, and the Propylæa, were built to have communicated with anything for the sum of 2950 talents, of which he assigns 1000 talents to the cost of the Parthenon. Perhaps, then, we shall not be far wrong in assuming that the Propylæa with its approaches cost 700 talents, which would represent in weight 161,000l., and in value about 480,000l. of our money of the present day.

The building, constructed of Pentelic marble, covered the whole of the western end of the Acropolis, which is there 170 ft. across, or rather was designed to have covered this space; for it seems that the extremity of the S. wing was left incomplete. The plan of the Propylæa may be thus described:-A flight of about sixty steps, 71 ft. in width, led up to a portico 69 ft. broad, having 6 fluted Doric columns, 5 ft. in diameter and 29 ft. high. Two wings on the N. and S. projected 24 ft. in front of the portico, and flanked the upper part of the staircase. The wings are 78 ft. apart, measured from the opposite columns. The fronts of these wings faced one another, and consisted each of a stoa or porch of 3 Doric columns in antis, that is, with columns ranged between the square pilasters, called antæ. The northern wing remains in a very perfect state. A porch, facing the S., 13 ft. deep, led to a hall 35 ft. by 30, usually called the Pinacotheca. The paintings with which the walls were once adorned have been described. In this hall an interesting collection of architectural fragments and inscriptions has been placed. The southern wing is in a ruinous state, and is almost concealed by the lofty medieval tower which forms so conspicuous an object in all views of the Acropolis.* Two of the columns are imbedded in its walls; the trace of

Many persons will be glad to learn that there is a prospect of the building, generally known as "the Venetian tower," being ere long removed. 250l. are needed for this purpose, and subscriptions may be paid to the credit of the Acropolis Restoration Fund," Ionian Bank, Athens.

beyond, although we must suppose that some additional chamber was intended in the design of Mnesicles to occupy the vacant space between the wing, as found at present, and the Cimonium. Indeed, just sufficient room is left there to have completed this. wing symmetrically with the northern; so that, although it is almost certain that the wing was carried no farther than we find it at present, we may feel sure that the anomaly was foreign to the original design of the Propylaa. The wings had not pediments, as some have supposed, but were covered with "hip" roofs, i. e., roofs sloping down to the eaves on three sides. They were backed to the E. by a high wall. The outside walls were solid, as befitted a citadel, and were not pierced with any openings. All the expression was reserved for the main portico and the two stoæ, which flanked the great staircase. The height of the columns of the store of the wings is about twothirds that of those of the main building; and the other proportions, with some exceptions, have nearly the same ratio. This subordination has an excellent effect in enhancing the dignity of the principal portico.

The central hall, or vestibule, behind the hexastyle portico, was 60 ft. broad, 44 in depth, and 39 high. It was covered with a panelled ceiling of marble, richly painted and gilt. The panels were supported on marble beams of great size, which especially attracted the notice of Pausanias; much more may their fallen remains surprise the modern traveller, little accustomed to constructions of such solidity. These beams, more than 20 ft. in length, were supported by two rows of three Ionic columns each, ranging with the two central Doric columns of the external portico. The intercolumniation between these latter was made wider than ordinary by an additional mete and triglyph, in order to give su width to the carriage-way, described, which passed betwe

Virgin (Anya Пáр@evos), also called the Hecatompedon, from the use of 100 ft. in one of its leading dimensions, probably the breadth.

It should be borne in mind that the Pronaos, B, is to the E., and the Posticum, C, is at the W., so that on entering the Acropolis, the traveller first sees the Posticum.

former, however, seems to have held the chief position, and wrote a book descriptive of it. The general superintendence was intrusted to Phidias. It was finished B.C. 438. The exact date of its commencement is not known, but as the Propylæa, we know, took five years, we must allow a somewhat longer period to the Parthenon. The cost of the building is supposed by

The Parthenon is, as the Bishop of Lincoln well calls it, "the finest edi-Leake to have been 1000 talents, about fice on the finest site in the world, hallowed by the noblest recollections that can stimulate the human heart." In this temple an architecture which had gone on through centuries of refinement, until it culminated there, was combined with the work of the greatest sculptor the world ever produced; and unless we take into consideration this perfect unison of these two arts, we cannot do justice to the Parthenon. Painting also was there, and although we cannot thoroughly realize the part it played in the magnificent diapason of the 3 sister arts, we dare not question its propriety. Our present object, however, is chiefly with the architecture; for the remains of the painting are almost evanescent, and the sculpture, although some mention of it must be made, is no longer there, with the exception at least of a very small portion. But may we not hope that so much of it as, by its removal to England, was saved from the fire of the Turkish and Greek cannon in the War of Independence may be yet restored to its proper shrine? This," to quote Sir Charles Trevelyan, “would be an act worthy of England, and the sculptures would exercise a greater influence, even upon the taste of the English people, in their glorious original position, than they do now in a dark room in the British Museum. There is less justification for the retention of the treasure than there was for its original abstraction, for we are now no longer able to plead the importance of protecting it from untrustworthy guardians."

The Parthenon was built under the administration of Pericles. Ictinus and Callicrates were the architects. The

equal in value to 700,000l. at the present day. It was built entirely of Pentelic marble, except the tiles of the roof, which were Parian. The eastern end of the temple occupies nearly the highest point of the Acropolis. At the N.E. angle of the temple, the steps which form the proper basis or stylobate (i. e. the platform on which the σTúλo or columns stand) rise immediately from a levelled bed cut on the rock. The stylobate consists of three solid steps of Pentelic marble, about 1 ft. 9 in. high, set upon a sort of plinth, a foot high, of the same material. On the N. and W. sides, below the plinth, is a foundation wall of Piräic limestone, and on the S. side a sub-basement of the same material, supporting a terrace about 5 ft. wide. On the N. and W. the foundadation wall was concealed by a pavement, probably of marble, immediately under the plinth of which we have spoken; but which pavement has now disappeared. On the S. side, the limestone sub-basement was exposed. There is little doubt that this, as well as the greater part of the foundation wall on the W., formed the finished substructure to the older temple of Minerva on the same site. The stones are rectangular, and are carefully worked in rusticated courses, and their junction with the newer foundations required by the enlarged Parthenon is visible on the W. end, under the column next to the N.W. angle column, and on the S. side under the S.E. angle column itself.

The Doric order of architecture, used in the temple, preserves in the forms of many of its features, not an imitation, but the tradition of the original wooden buildings of the infancy of