Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-09
Digging Up Old Geece-Coqectons Athens Museums Taken

prises a collection of objects taken from
the ruins of the Parthenon and the build
ings about. Itshas half dozen statues
of women, the faces of which were I'M
doubleday cut from women as models.
There are busts of men made the same
way, so that the museum is really a por-
trait gallery of the heroes of more than
1000 years ago.
One of the most striking statues of
Athens is the marathon runner. who
brought the news of the victory Of
Agamemnon. He ran from the battle of
Marathon to Athens in the space of two
hours, whereas the fastest four-horse
team dragging chariot could not make
the distance in less than four. AS the
story goes. he dropped dead as he de-
livered the news.
The tombs Of old Greece have yielded
many medallions and gems which are por-
traits. and there are masks of gold. into
which have been pressed features so life
like that they seem ready to speak. I
have the photograph OF one representing
the face Of an old man, which would
probably serve as a portrait Of the origi-
nal, except that it has lost the tip Of
it's nose. There are golden cups with
faces upon them and vases OF dull gold
beautifully carved. Some OF these cups
would hold two quarts of wine, and there
are gold masks as large as the tin wash
basin outside the back door of the Ameri-
can farmhouse.
The collections Of jewelry are very re-
ancient cities of Greece and show the
follies and vanities of fashionable life
$500 years ago. I saw the skull Of
woman with gold pin that once bound
her tresses imbedded in it. Time and de-
cay had glued 1t to the vertebrae of her
neck. I saw scores of gold rings for
the fingers. gold anklets and bracelets
and great rings for the biceps. made of
pure gold. Some of these arm rings were
three or four inches wide. They were
of the finest Of gold and they came from
Mycenae.
am surprised at the condition Of the
gold jewelry. The most of it is as bright
as when 1t was made, and great deal
of it is exauisitely carved. Some of the
Patterns are the same as those used to-
day. There are gold bracelets with
snakes heads at the end; there are brace
lets of gold coils, and there are dozens CT
big gold buttons, some of which have
holes through which the thread passed.
l noticed one gold mask with the skull
still sticking to it and a mans shin bone
to which a gold greave was fastened.
There are also many metal hand mirrors
and needles, combs and household uten-
sis.
There is no better place to study old
Greece than right here in Athens. You
imbbc the spirit of the ancients in
tramping over the hills where they lived.
You see their wonderful works in the
museums; you meet with their portraits
in the statues; and among the ruins
which are scattered almost everywhere
you can easily rebuild the famed struc-
lures of the past.
Take the Parthenon. the remains Of
which lie on the Acropolis. on the very
edge of modern Athens. They were built
upon q solid rock of pink marble, which
ended in a plateau of about ten or hfteen
acres. This space is now covered with
ruins, and a large portion of the great
structure still stands. / went over 1t to-
day and made photographs of some of
the columns, discovering queer things
about its construction. One Is that the
building was largely a graft. The col
umns on the outside are Of excellent mar
BILE, and they stand well today. Those
within another part. which could not be
seen, or which probably at first looked
as we'll as those farther out, were backed
with inferior stone, and the marble there
is now rotting away. The stone is chip
ping off and the beauty of the old col
umns Is fast disappearing.
wish could show you the Partherion.