Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1880-09-02
Ancient Athens.

ancient city and examine tho remainder Of its
| antiquities. Northwest Of the Acropolis Oh .
| point of land jutting out from the Areopsgus.
is the Tbeseum. This is the oldest relic ct
Athcnisn buildings. ard tho most perfect OF ell
! the Greek temples. 1t is an oblong structure,
lO4 feet in length and Is feet in breadth. pure
! ly Doric 10 style, and has six columns on each
/ end and thirteen Oh each side. 1t was erected
| about 47O B. G. to covor the bones of Theseus.
| On its friezo was sculptured the labors of The
| seus, the lsbors OF Hercules. the battle of the
| giants and the goods. and the contests of the
| Centaurs and the Lapithn. Mess of these
decorators have been injured by tho action OF
| the atmosphere, but some parts arc quite dis
| lrct The tepple itself was preserved during
| al! the troublous Middle Ages and Turkish
| wars partly by lis isolated position en- The very
border of the CITY.
South cf the ActoHo!ie, and close nnder its
| ranparts, are the Odcum OF Herodes, a Roman
| theatre of the time of the An,ouines, and the
celebrated DooysEc Theatre, where Were re
resented tho plays Of Acchylus Soptcces, ,Eurl.
pedes aud Aristophanes The former would seat
Elk thousand people, and the latter fully twice.
perhaps t5r,c,. this number. Tho seat
of both Ta5 iu the side Of tue hill, ard parity
hcwr out at tho stld rock. Tie Stage AID
the upper tiers OF seats ot tho Diopysiac :hsa
tro have been recently d!slnterred. ana Macy
'ragueo!s Of d3corao1s have pslu brought 10
light. OF The coloousda which was nui!t 10
conoco. these theatres Gu. l:ttie ramsins. Yet
close uades the wall Of lie AetOpotis are Two
marble coIumrs, which pfobsbIy supported
tripods or other prZis W0n iU The games or lit.
crery contests.
Furthe. cas-, OH broad aruGcisl terraca.
which eXtaBd- ve:y bear ta the baok nf tho
li:sus, VA !;.s IL, ,hjy icmpl, of Jupiter
Olympus Lis ivuaaa,iGns We're laid by PIsi:.
traiu5, but i. ~os completed by Hadrlap, $50
gears is;er. Ot oil tho temples ct the ancent
Greeks and Romans only that of Diana, qt
EpEesHs, eXoecjed ths N s'Z> and stateliDeli.
II wls $50 est loag snl III feet broad. Oae
huBdrsd aad Lwel!y tlur counDs, each nearly
six5y feet il height a:d ever six feet 10 dame
ter, t0rmsu Tic icr;icuS and ucrstyl:s. The
architecture Wb5 C1rDthian and the material OF
the uho'o the nu:cst Peutelic marble. One
cln hardy lnsglao the rtornsss aud beauty OF
the competed a;ruoiuro. Fifteen OF these COL
umDs, spsErsd ty ArohiiraVes OF enormous szs,
arc etil! e:cc! and 0ne lies PROSTATE. For tbs
rest oco Day crQH!ra ooIy when the tUmbJ gva
up their dad. Near This tempt, is the arca Ct
bus !ti4 ioss olf can't w""l compsrcd Witn Others
even of his Roman works.
Acros the II!ssos Is the Paoatheuais Sta.
dunn, where the foot rac*s were held; DOW only
the area for the running. the place of the goal,
aud the bare substruoture for the SEATS are vsi.
BILE, but onoe 1t was covered with the finest
Whlts marble, Returning to the verge OF the
modern city, We fnd, almost underneath the
eastern wall rock Of the Aclopolis. the oele
brated and oft initiated Ohoragio monument of
L7scrates. The first view of it disappoints.
Is is surrounded by houses, and is itself less
imposing than We had Anticipated. But on
farther and closer inspections, il saems more
beautiful, aud was emiuently suitable as
memorial OF victorious chorus. l5 is Inferior,
10 mere siz,, to its bast western copy on Calton
Hill, Edinburgh, but it is Withal much lighter
and more elegant
Almost quarter OF circle hence aud north
of the Aoropolis, is q curious old tower. tho ex
terror OF which served as sno dial, and which
! within was water clock. % the summit was
| Triton who always pointed wlndward, aod 90
each of the ootsgonal faces of The tower was tho
| name of wipd aud figure representing tho
characteristics Of that wind. Not far from this
! spot are columns belonging to s!oa. or
c,onnadc, others forming the front of an
| ancient market, aud 10 modern garden
are still others which might havo been
| the portioo Of a public building or %
| portioo OF q gymnasium. We spent one mo,n.
| ing on the road which leads to Eeuss. Here
| fresh excavations are nov bsing made. Not far
| from tho present CITY. 90 tho west. hsv5 bcsn
fouod the walls Of ancient Athens, covered Is
4 feet deep by The debris of osnturles. The kind
of stouc aud the method of construction em>
ployed show that Athens was one of the oldest
cities of Greece. These stones muss have been
laid in prehistoric days. The walls Of Tiryns
are earlier, but neither Argos nor MycabD Gao
| lay claim to foundations muoa prior to those OF
| the capital OF Attics. .,...,
A little farther out 90 this Sacred Way (oy
! which the people went to tho mysteries Of
| Eteusis) we reach the Ceremious. OF cemetery
of that olden time, much of which has been
| buried from ton to ffLecu feet 10 depth, largely
with the rubbish throwo out from the city
Recent excavations have brought to view may
| Interesting tombs and some 6no memorial stat
/ uary. Oae group was erected to the memory
Of youth who fell 10 tho Pelopo1ncslsn Tsr.
iGeacrally the graves ere marked by round pill.
lars, on which - engraved the pane Of the DO
ceased ard biz family sod his age. Rarely was
4 anything further Inscribed. except ia the case
of thoss who fell 10 cattle, or were eminent 10
public service.
a little beyond, on the woslera eide Of the
city, we're the gro7os ard walks of the Academy.
Here Plato loved to stroll. and here the youth
Of Athens heard from the great bu. modest pupi!
OF Sc crates the wordscf wisdom tina thei, fathers
had vainly tried to queuch with Death. }, !Tha
plsce is still called the Academy, though The
ground, sloping gently down to tue bed Of the
Cephissus, is now covered by orchards Of olive
and fgs and oranges and fruit vineyards. We
Know tho sites of either temples and colounsdes
than thoss We have mentioned, but no traces OF
even the foundations now exist, end We csn only
imagine what Athons WAS in its bass ii a2. Soma
thing more q its relics may been seen II other
! nuseums besides that on the AcroDolis. e
| & Few sculptures Of merit srs temporarily
lodged in the Hhescum Others, together win
ia large number Of vases, utensils, ornaments
and inscriptions, sre found 10 buildins called
the Bsrbakoion. Yet not q few pecfec. statutes,
and q multitude OF as.cophsgi and monuments.
are in the omen sir-rarely sheltered from tha