Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-02-24

- III a. Va Low - AASSAS '~JH
off from this pile of ruins Is the Arch
of Hadrian, which is fairly we'll pre-
served. From near this Arch a long
narrow road lined with Expresses
leads to the cemetery. Along this,
funerals pass, with the corpse dis
played fully dressed upon an open
bier and covered with flowers. Grue-
some sight!
Nearly all Of the Athenian ruins
are centrally located. At the foot of
the Acropolis is the interesting old
theater of Herodus Atticus, of Ro-
man structure. 1t was built by Hero
dus in the End century Of our era in
memory of his wife. Near by is the
theater of Dionysos, which was COM
menced 500 B. G. in the early days of
Greek art. 1t was capable Of seating
30, 600 spectators. The works OF
Eschylus, Sophocles and E%uripides
were enacted here.
or course the center of attraction
in Athens is the Acropolis. We went
there three different times, morning,
sunset and night. A tourist usually
considers himself very fortunate IL he
happens tt be in Athens during the
moonlight season. On the night OF
the full moon we secured special per-
mission necessary to see the sights
on the wonderful old hill. The two
Athenian young men with whom we
had become acquainted on the Allan
tic steamer went with US, or rather
we with them. We went early in
the evening, about 8, and stayed I'M
til nearly IL. A number Of other peo-
pie were there, also. The time to
really appreciate the sights on the
Acropolis is at night in the full moon
light, not because of the sentiment,
but because of the subtle light on the
ruins. During the day time there is
such a glare that it Is terrible on
ones eyes, so most people do their
sightseeing in the early morning or
evening.
The three great buildings on the
Acropolis are the Propylaea, the
Parthenon and The E~rechtheum. We
entered the Acropolis proper, through
the Propyhlaea, after having CHM bed
a long hill and about a Thousand"
steps. This building was sort of a
tower built of Pentelic marble after
the Doric order. The northern wing
was originally used as a great picture
gallery; but where the southern wing
should have stood there was the pre-
cinct of the temple of Nike. This
temple was originally built to com
memorate three of the most celebrat-
ed Athenian victories-Marathon,
Plataea and Salamio.
Between the Propylaea and Parthe-
non once stood the great statue Of
Athena, 60 feet high, but it was
subsequently carried off to Constan-
tinople where it was eventually de-
stroyed In a riot.
The Parthenon is the most maj
estic ruin in the world. Even in It's
present condition it is the most Ell
quisitely beautiful and harmonious
creation of architecture in existence.
I never felt so insignificant in my
life as when | surveyed the wonder
full pillars, noting the beauty Of the
delicate curves, and the perfect SYM
metry of all parts of the building. 1t
was hard to comprehend the Parthe-
non as a handiwork of man. 1 think
everyone on the Acropolis that night
felt a something he had never be-
fore known. AS we walked between
or stood looking at each building as a
whole, or all the buildings together,
we we're filled with a peculiar kind of
awe. There was reverence for anti
guilty and gratitude for the genius of
the olden days, Notwithstanding our
realization of the great progress OF
human events since the Golden Age
of Pericles. AS we walked around the
edge of the Acropois, the lighted city,
far below US, was a beautiful sight.
For quite a while / sat on a broken
column examining ome beautiful
sculpture. The Growing charm of
the Parhhenon was the sculpture
which completed and decorated it.
"All this" thought /, ''shows what
man can do. He can build and he can
destroy, and he can build again,
marvellous creations, gold, silver and
MARBLE" but, as / looked out into the
wonderful night / also said to myself,
"Man cannot create q blue sky. a
moon partially covered with clouds,
marching stars and mountains Of
lights and shadows"
The Erechtheum was built on the
site Of a former temple dedicated to
Erechtheus. It was partly destroyed
by the Persians In $50 B. c., but was
rebuilt shortly after the completion
of the P%arthenon. This building con-
tanned the ancient shrineS.
l could write q great deal more
about the Acropolis, but this letter
Is growing SO that I am afraid l shall
not be able to enclose 1t in an envel-
ope. l should like TO quote Byron's