The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-06-16
Athens and the AcropolIs.

with Atheniaps In addition there are
now, at various points in the kingdom
where research is going on, smaller
museums devoted to the preservation
of the treasures of the locality.
Growing the city of Athens stands
the sheer and mighty rock of the
Acropolis, dominated by the Parthe-
non, matchless even in it's ruins, which
projects the changeless purity of its
lines against the background OF the
changing centuries, which have made
Of it in turn the shrine of the vestal,
the church of the Christian, the
mosque Of the Moslem, and now and
ever the ideal of all lovers OF the
beautiful
Near at hand cluster the chief rem
nants of the glory that was Greece;
on the one side the tiny gem of the
Temple of the Wingless Victory, so
chaste and delicate in its proportions
and outline, and on the other the
Erechtheum, with its unique porch OF
the Caryatides
Hard by the stairs Of the imposing
Propylaea rises the sturdy rock of
the Hill of Mars, whence st. Paul
declared the unknown God and Incl
dentally took the Athenian measure
for all intervening time. At little
distance stands the rough-hewn Bema,
where DemOsthenes and Ctesiphon
strOve in matchless phrase, while just
below rise the ivory-tinted columns of
the Temple Of Theseus, best preserved
| of all the classic remains.
Against such a background 1t is
easy to project the ties of sentiment
which bind the life of the Greek Of
| today TO that of the classic worthless
| from whom he claims direct descent.
With only a slight shock one will
learn that the man who gives him
his morning coffee bears the tremen-
dous name of Themistocles. And yet
1t is difficult to visualize the modern
Athenian with those who once walked
his streets.
1t is only In the islands or deep In
the country, where the Albanian flood
which swept across the Attic plain
has never reached, that one finds the
facial lineaments and the bodily grace
which the ancient sculptor has taught
the modern world as being common
to all Greeks Of classic time.
Its Agriculture Backward.
Greece is essentially land OF agri-
culture, pre-eminently intended to be
such; but, owing to the tremendous
drain by emigration from the rural
districts, the progress of agriculture
has been painfully deficient. In many
| places the land is titled only by wom-
en- and girls. Many of the men have
gone off to America.
Many find the Athenian climate
agreeable. Cold winds there are, to
be sure, In winter, blowing down from
the snow-capped hills above the town
or blowing up from the sea at Phal-
eron; but there are no frosts; the
roses bloom during every month Of
the year; oranges ripen in the open
air, one may pick his breakfast fruit
from the trees outside his window.
The summer heat is easily endurable,
the absence of rain removing the hui
nudity which makes American mid
summer so intolerable. One cannot
truthfully say that midsummer nights
In Athens are really cool, but there
is sensible difference from the heat
of the day and freshness which al
ways makes sleep possible.
At the beginning of the hot season.
there is usually an exodus OF the
court, the diplomats and the wealthy
from Athens. To take their places
there flock to Athens and to the sea-
side hotels at Phaleron and to villas
and resorts at Kephisia-i n-the-hills
numbers of rich Greeks from Asia
Minor and from Egypt; and the whole
city reverses the order OF its winter
life, turning night into day and spend
ing most of the hours between sunset
and sunrise out of doors. Everywhere
about the town, on the roofs of clubs
or hotels, In the gardens or on the
terraces of restaurants beneath the
pepper trees of the parks, and even
in the streets. tables are spread, and
| probably as many as 100000 people
dine In the open air each night of an
Athenlan summer.
Throughout Greece-and indeed
throughout the entire Balkan region
English Is much heard, because Of the
great numbers of Greeks who have
returned home from America and
few travellers in the Peloponnesus will
fail to recall at almost every railroad
station the eager face thrust In at
the carriage window and quiverirg
with the demand. you fellers from
! American