The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03


 ly advanced and the arms hanging in rigity to the sides, as prescribed by the canon of art. The change was not the product of the artists eoneeit, but originated from the necessity of the occasion. The man was carrying a calf upon his shoulders, for Mosco- phorus means calf bearer, and as the sculptor saw that the animal could not remain so poised without the mans assistance, the arms had to go np. The necessity gave birth to a new idea, the canon was altered and forever after wards. the arms of statutes were free from awkwardness and at the dispo- sition of the artists fancy.
 1 could almost sense the presence of St. Paul as I stood upon the apex or the Areopagus and ascended the stone steps that led up from the valley of the Agora and upon the breath of the winds that waited past me were those words, God dwelleth not in temples made with hands," This was the bench of the Athenian supreme court, a court room whose only covering was the canopy of heaven.
 Close to me was the PnyX, where once stood Myron's sculptured COW, exc cuted in such close imitation of nature that it's own kind were deceived and
 
 a little further on was the prison of Socrates, and where he drank the fatal hemlock.
 I was greatly pleased with the The scum. which was built 800 years before Christ. The truth is that the Parthenon has so monopolized the attention of the students of art anent Athenian ruins that one overlooks the Theseum, which is rival of the temple at Paestum. and is the best preserved monument of Greeian antiquity extant.
 One of the most interesting spots In the city is the old cemetery, which par tially Hanks the ancient sacred way to Eleusis3 The excavated tombs, many of which are still in situ, display many charming groups of funeral sculpture and dignity and nobility of the Greek s idea of death. Many of the ehiseled slabs portray the deceased seated and calmly taking farewell of loving and sorrowing ones; others touchingly de- pict solitary figure in corner with helmet removed and shield cast to the ground, while a single line indicates the boundary of the invisible world upun which the gaze of the departed was | fixed in sad contemplation and still others represent a pensive figure wrap | ping his drapery about him as though | preparing for a long Journey and step | ping alonee out into the silent land of
 the unknown. In all art l know of
 nothing so touching as these pathetic
 adieux enacted in marble and almost
 as eternal as death itself.
 It has been said that the new city | Is like bright jewel which ancient
 Athens wears upon her withered breast
 and in truth there is much in the mod
 ern capital to admire and interest.
 The home of the late Dr. Schllemann
 the explorer of the plain of Troy is a | palace in itself, constructed of pure Pentelic marble; the Academy of Sci
 ence Is magnificent edifice, built from
 the same quarres, and the parliament house is handsome structure. I was | fortunate enough to be able to attend
 a session of the Greek parliament Ad-
 mission is obtained by permit only, but
 the hour of my visit was almost toe | late for the display of much red tape
 and my tropical helmet was my pass
 port. It proclaimed me stranger, a
 traveller, and possibly an Englishman
 and on the strength Of that helmet the
 guards not only permitted me to pass | but escorted me to the visitors gal | lery. The proceedings were all in mod ern Greek, and nnintelligible to me- but I was pleased at my success. as it constituted an addition to the long roll of foreign legislative bodies that 1 have seen in session
 The jewel of modern Athens, however, is it's new stadium, which can accommo- date 60,000 spectators and was built through the generous contributions Of wealthy Creeks in Athens, Alexandria, Smyrna, London and Marseilles. The Olympian games were inaugurated eight centuries before the birth of Christus and the last one was celebrated 1500 years ago, but in 1896 they were re- Vived and have been held every four years since.
 It was deserted when I visited if. but was thrilled as l passed through it's long avenues and by its endless tiers of marble seats. It was most scrup- ulously clean, immediately white and in it's oblong shape and overpowering immensity suggested a huge bath tub for the gods
 Though then tenantless, my gina
 ton peopled it with frenzied throng and caused it's marbl> galleries to vi- brate and tremble at the plaudits of a delirious populace. l saw the moving figures of the foot racers and the nying forms of maddened steeds and Whirling chariot wheel; l witnessed the struggle of tensioned, tortuous and interlaced arm and leg, the rigid muscle hurling
 the powerful discus and the smile of triumph that greeted the crown of wild olive which graced the victor's brow. All this l saw across a space of 20O0 years. Thus can telepathy surpass the Marconi wireless.
 Upon quitting Athens l spent but a few hours at Corinth, for malaria and earthquakes have not been lenient with this relic of Roman vengeance, and pushed on to Olympia. Here I spent a day wandering among the celebrated ruins and meandering along the banks of the classic Alpheus, which spends part of it's course underground and which was once god, who so relent- lessly pursued tEe fleeing Arethusa that to escape him she transformed herself into a well. I had gone 10 Olympia for the sole purpose of seeing the famed Hermes of ITaxltiles, but though I am unable to explain why, l was most bit- terly disappointed in this renowned work of art.
 Patras I found to be quite a pleas ing city of 10000 people, with modern shops and long projecting pier that