Evening star., 1915-11-20
ATTENTION Of WORLD
CENTERED ON ATHENS
Future Course of City Depends on
Diplomatic Struggle Now Co.
ing On There.
Art, Poetry and Philosophy All Owe
Debt Of Gratitude to Greek
Metropolis.

Athens, capital of Greece and the
present capital of strenuous diploma acy,
the uncertainty of whose future course
is now engaging the breathless inter-
est of all belligerent nations, is de-
scribed in the following statement is
sued to the press by the National Geo
graphic Society:
"'Better fifty years of Athens than
a cycle Of Cathay.' one writer phrases
it, and. indeed. in respect to the great
ness Of it's past the capital of the Hell
lenes is queen among all of earth's
cities. In this marvellous city a civili-
zation was born and made perfect and
complete in the course of few gem
erations. II is the foundation upon
which rests the modern culture of the
west; for classic Athens is still the
teacher of the world and the final ar
bitter in things of taste
~ out out Of Plato says Emerson. come
all things that are still written anu
debated among men OF thought 1t Ia.
at least, certain that all of the germs
OF philosophic thought are to be found
IN the teachings of the Greek philoso-
piers who sought their followinRs in
Athens, down to the time of Aristotle.
Led in Art and Literature.
I'm poetry Creek genius created tn.
forms and left models for all ages. Tn
sculpture and in architecture Grecian
achievements still stand unsurpasse
and the ruins upon the Acropolfs sup-
gest structural beauties never since at
tained. while innumerable sculnturad
masterpieces of the Greeks fill alcoyea
IN all the more important museums in
.he world such was the wealth of
scuiptured treasures in classic Athens
that one ancient wag declared that il
was easier to find a god in the city of
Pallas than man.
TO Athenian Socrates, rather than
10 10 any other savant before or after
into being that inductive, optimistic
science which today forms the warn Of
our civilization. With the homely.
keen-witted and argumentatiye Athen.
ian began that habit of thought which
to all things in the things themselves.
So, too, the dramas of the Greeks are
still the models of taste after more
than twenty-three centuries, and
yet to be outdone. 4sschylus, Euripides
and Aristophanes, all part Of the genius
OF Athens, contributed to that limited
inheritance which is common to all the
overshadows the French and Italian
renaissance, the era Of Elizabeth and
the golden age of the Moors in Spain.
Worlds Debt to Ancient Greeks.
Athens today is a shrine for the
preservation Of the memories of the
debt which the modern world owes to
the ancient Greeks. Most Of the treas
ures of the ancient city have been
looted and destroyed by strangers, but
enough Is left to aid the visitor in
crystallizing a picture Of the city over
whose destinies the goddess of wisdom
and artifce presided. Persian, Spartan,
Macedonian, Roman, Venetian and Turk
nave piundered and ravaged here.
Priceless art works and costly marbles
have been carried away to beautIfy
other countries or have been wantonIy
destroyed. yet so rich was the classic
commonwealth that the remains of its
embellishments still thickIy strew the
whole plateau of the Acropolis and
much of the area upon Its sides and
base.
New Athens has grown up around
the end of the Greek war for inde-
pendence 1t was little more than q
decayed Turkish village. q few crooked
byways and poorly built houses. It is
out streets. Of graceful boulevarda, airy
squares. with many splendid private
and public buildings. The museums
of Athens are Of first Importance to
students Of classic art. anu Athens. be-
fore the war, was fast becoming again
an international seat OF learning. It
has developed a certain trade impor-
tance in recent years. A great part Of
the Balkan import passes through Ath.
ems. and in Piraeus. its port. are sit
uated a number of large mills and fac.
tories. The population Of modern Ath.
ems is about 10000"