The Acropolis, or rocky mountain on which the celebrated group of
buildings is found, was fortified more than a thousand years before
Christ. It is the central spot of all that is greatest in art,
letters, history, statecraft and philosophy since time began. This has
been the undisputed opinion of critics and historians for about three
thousand years and stands uncontradicted to-day as it did in the very
beginning of things learned and artistic.
[Illustration: MEHEMET V., THE NEW SULTAN, AFTER THE INVESTITURE,
LEAVING THE MOSQUE]
You are met toward the top of the ascent by the Propylaea that
"brilliant jewel set on the rocky coronet of the Acropolis" as a kind
of introductory vestibule to further greatness. It is the most
important secular work in Athens, consisting of a central gateway and
two wings. It was begun in 439 B.C. It contains a wealth of Doric
marble columns, beautiful, carved friezes and metopes, with five
gateways spanned by great marble beams twenty feet long. All these
wonders compel the stranger to stand spellbound at the magnificence of
their combined effect.
Near by stands the Temple of Athena Nike, and close at hand is the site
of Phidias' colossal statue of Athena Promachos, the "fighter of the
van," made of the spoils taken from the Persians at the battle of
Marathon; sixty-six feet high, in full armor, her poised lance was
always a landmark for those approaching Athens.
We now reach the temple, attached to which is the Portico of the
Maidens, the Caryatides, and containing the shrine of Athena Polias.
Next comes the great Parthenon, "the most impressive monument of
ancient art," built by Pericles in 438 B.C. It was adorned by statues
and monuments by Praxiteles, Phidias and Myron. It had fifty statues,
one hundred Doric columns, ninety-two metopes, and five hundred and
twenty-four feet of bas-relief frieze, thus realizing the highest dream
of plastic art and the immortality of constructive genius. Within the
inner sanctuary Phidias placed his chryselephantine figure of Athena
Parthenos, the virgin, thirty-nine feet high, the flesh parts being in
ivory and the garments of fine gold. It is estimated that this gold
was worth almost 200,000 pounds. For more than six centuries the
virgin goddess received here the worship of her devoted votaries. In
the fifth century the Parthenon became a Christian church; when the
Turks came they made it a mosque. The edifice remained in good
preservation till the seventeenth century. In 1687 the Venetian,
Morosini, besieged Athens and a shell from one of his guns ignited the
powder which the Turks had stored in the Parthenon. A destructive
explosion followed and thus the most magnificent structure of the ages,
which twenty-one centuries had spared, was reduced to ruins. What
remains of it is still most majestic and when seen by moonlight
inspires the greatest reverence. There is no speculative guess-work in
these statements, for in 1674 Jacques Carrey made a series of one
hundred careful drawings of the Parthenon, which were confirmed by two
English travellers, Messrs. Spon and Wheler, in 1675. These were the
last visitors who saw it before its destruction.
The Acropolis Museum is also built on the hill. It contains many
interesting things that could not be allowed to remain exposed to the
weather.
The vast Theatre of Dionysius, which held 30,000 people, is also here.
There are many other fine buildings, statues and temples on the
Acropolis, but space will not permit of their description.
We descend to a lower plateau and there find the remains of the vast
Temple of Zeus Olympus, called by Aristotle, "a work of despotic
grandeur," "in accordance," as Livy adds, "with the greatness of the
god." It contained an immense statue of Zeus. Originally it had more
than one hundred imposing marble Corinthian columns, arranged in double
rows of twenty each on the north and south sides, and triple rows of
eight each at the ends. Its size was three hundred and fifty-three by
one hundred and thirty-four feet, which was exceeded only by the Temple
of Diana. To its left is the Arch of Hadrian. Looking east is seen
the Stadium or racecourse. Here the Pan-Athenian games were held in
olden times. It was laid out in 330 B.C., and has been restored in
solid white marble by a rich Greek. It cost a large sum of money and
will accommodate a multitude of spectators. The first year in which
the revival of the games took place the Greek youths won twelve out of
twenty-seven prizes, the others going to various nationalities.
[Illustration: HANGING THREE LEADERS OF THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE ON THE
GALATA BRIDGE, CONSTANTINOPLE, MAY 3, 1909]
Beyond in the suburbs lies the public park owned by Academus in the
fifth century before Christ. Plato and many other philosophers taught
their pupils here, and from the name of the owner is derived the word
academy.
These are but a few of the commanding sights of Athens. No attempt
will be made to speak of the men and the wars that made her the _multum
in parvo_ of human history. The modern Greeks are a serious and decent
people; they seem to be impressed with the fact that their ancestors
were the salt of the earth, and at least try to be worthy of them.
There is no begging in the streets (the Greeks being too proud to beg),
and the people are quite respectable for their opportunities. Their
city is well laid out and built in modern style; it is prospering,
having had only 45,000 inhabitants in 1870, while the population is now
150,000. One cannot afford to treat either the Greeks or Athens
flippantly; they are worthy of the highest praise and respect.