crowds, filling the road. The way becoming blocked by numbers,
in their eagerness they begin to climb up by ladders, first
from he Pelasgicum itself, through which the road passes. As
this space became filled, they placed their ladders a little
further from the road, in the Aesculapieum to the right and by
the Areopagus to the left. Still others come, and they must
move still further out to find room, to the grave of Talos
beyond the Aesculapieum and to the Anaceum beyond the
Areopagus. In another passage of Lucian,[121] Hermes declares
that Pan dwells just above the Pelasgicum; so it reached at
least as far as Pan's grotto.
[Footnote 121: _Bis Accus_, 9.]
The fortifications of Mycenæ and Tiryns prove that it was not
uncommon in ancient Greek cities to divide the Acropolis, the
most ancient city, into an upper and a lower citadel.
Finally, that the strip of hillside in question was in fact the
Pelasgicum, we are assured by the existing foundations of the
ancient walls. A Pelasgic wall extends as a boundary-wall below
the Aesculapieum, then onward at about the same level until
interrupted by the Odeum of Herodes Atticus. At this point
there are plain indications that before the construction of
this building, this old wall extended across the space now
occupied by the auditorium. Higher up the hill behind the
Odeum, and both within and without the Beulé gate, we find
traces of still other walls which separated the terraces of the
Pelasgicum and probably contained the nine gates which
characterized it. Here then we have the ancient city of
Cecrops, the city before Theseus, consisting of the Acropolis
and the part close beneath, particularly to the south, the
Pelasgicum. We shall find for other reasons also that there is
no need to stretch the meaning of the words [Greek: up auten
pros noton] to make them cover territory something like half a
mile to the eastward, and to include the later Olympieum within
the limits of our early city.
Wachsmuth has well said,[122] although this is not invariably
true,[123] that [Greek: upo ten acropolin] and [Greek: upo te
Page 60 acropolei] are used with reference to objects lying halfway up
the slope of the Acropolis. On the next page he adds, however,
that Thucydides could not have meant to describe as the ancient
city simply the ground enclosed within the Pelasgic
fortifications, or he would have mentioned these in the [Greek:
tekmeria]. Thucydides, in the passage quoted, wished to show
that the city of Cecrops was very small in comparison with the
later city of Theseus; that the Acropolis was inhabited; and
that the habitations did not extend beyond the narrow limits of
the fortifications. He distinctly says that before the time of
Theseus, the Acropolis was the city. He proceeds to give the
reasons for his view: The presence of the ancient temples on the
Acropolis itself, the fact that the ancient precincts outside
the Acropolis were [Greek: pros touto to meros tes poleôs], and
the neighborhood of the fountain Enneacrounus. We know, that the
Acropolis was still officially called [Greek: polis] in
Thucydides' day; and [Greek: polis] so used would have no
meaning if the Acropolis itself was not the ancient city.
[Greek: Pros touto to meros], in the passage quoted, refers to
the city of Cecrops, the Acropolis and Pelasgicum taken
together; and [Greek: tes poleôs] refers to the entire later
city as it existed in the time of Thucydides. It is, however,
in the four temples outside the Acropolis included under the
[Greek: tekmerion de] that we are particularly interested. The
Pythium of the passage cannot be that Pythium close by the
present Olympieum, which was founded by Pisistratus. Pausanias
(I. 28, 4,) says: "On the descent [from the Acropolis], not in
the lower part of the city but just below the Propylæa, is a
spring of water, and close by a shrine of Apollo in a cave. It
is believed that here Apollo met Creusa." Probably it was
because this cave was the earliest abode of Apollo in Athens
that Euripides placed here the scene of the meeting of Apollo
and Creusa.
[Footnote 122: _Berichte der philol.-histor. Classe der Königl.
Sächs. Gesell. der Wiss._, 1887, p. 383.]
[Footnote 123: _Am. Jour. of Archæology_, III. 38, ff.]
According to Dr. Dörpfeld it was opposite this Pythium that the
Panathenaic ship came to rest.[124] In _Ion_, 285, Euripides
makes it clear that, from the wall near the Pythium, the
watchers looked toward Harma for that lightning which was the
signal for the sending of the offering to Delphi. This passage
would have no meaning if referred to lightning to be seen by
Page 61 looking toward Harma from any position near the existing
Olympieum; for the rocks referred to by Euripides are to the
northwest, and so could not be visible from the later Pythium.
To be sure, in later times the official title of the Apollo of
the cave seems to have been [Greek: up' acraiô] or [Greek:
en acrais], but this was only after such a distinction became
necessary from the increased number of Apollo precincts in the
city. The inscriptions referring to the cave in this manner are
without exception of Roman date.[125] From Strabo we learn[126]
that the watch looked "toward Harma" from an altar to Zeus
Astrapæus on the wall between the Pythium and the Olympieum.
This wall has always been a source of trouble to those who place
the Pythium in question near the present Olympieum. But this
difficulty vanishes if we accept the authority of Euripides,
for the altar of Zeus Astrapæus becomes located on the
northwest wall of the Acropolis; and from this lofty position
above the Pythium, with an unobstructed view of the whole
northern horizon, it is most natural to expect to see these
flashes from Harma.
[Footnote 124: PHILOSTRAT. _Vit. Sophist._ II p. 236.]
[Footnote 125: HARRISON and Verrall, _Mythology and Monuments_,
p. 541.]
[Footnote 126: STRABO, p. 404.]
The Olympieum mentioned by Strabo and Thucydides cannot
therefore be the famous structure begun by Pisistratus and
dedicated by Hadrian: we must look for another on the northwest
side of the Acropolis. Here, it must be admitted we could wish
for fuller evidence. Pausanias (I. 18. 8) informs us that "they
say Deucalion built the old sanctuary of Zeus Olympius."
Unfortunately he does not say where it was located.
Mr. Penrose in an interesting paper read before the British
School at Athens in the spring of 1891, setting forth the
results of his latest investigations at the Olympieum, said
that in the course of his investigations there appeared
foundations which he could ascribe to no other building than
this most ancient temple. But Dr. Dörpfeld, after a careful
examination of these remains, declares that they could by no
possibility belong to the sanctuary of the legendary
Deucalion.[127]
[Footnote 127: It has been held that Pausanias mentions the
tomb of Deucalion, which was near the existing Olympieum, as a
proof that Deucalion's temple was also here. Pausanias however
merely says in this passage that this tomb was pointed out in
his day only as a proof that Deucalion sojourned at Athens.]
Page 62 The abandonment of work on the great temple of the Olympian
Zeus from the time of the Pisistratids to that of Antiochus
Epiphanes, would have left the Athenians without a temple of
Zeus for 400 years, unless there existed elsewhere a foundation
in his honor. It is on its face improbable that the citizens
would have allowed so long a time to pass unless they already
possessed some shrine to which they attached the worship and
festivals of the chief of the gods.
The spade has taught us that the literary record of old
sanctuaries is far from being complete. The new cutting for the
Piræus railroad has brought to light inscriptions referring to
a hitherto unknown precinct in the Ceramicus.
Mommsen declares[128] that the Olympia were celebrated at the
Olympieum which was begun by Pisistratus; and he adds that the
festival was probably established by him. Of the more ancient
celebration in honor of Zeus, the Diasia, he can only say
surely that it was held outside the city. Certainly we should
expect the older festival to have its seat at the older
sanctuary.
The [Greek: exô tes poleôs], [129] which is Mommsen's authority
in the passage referred to above, has apparently the same
meaning as the [Greek: ta exô (tes poleôs)] already quoted from
Thucydides; _i.e._, outside of the ancient city--the Acropolis
and Pelasgicum. The list of dual sanctuaries, the earlier by the
entrance to the Acropolis, the later to the southeast, is quite
a long one. We find two precincts of Apollo, of Zeus, of Ge,
and, as we shall see later, of Dionysus.
Of Ge Olympia we learn[130] that she had a precinct within the
enclosure of the later Olympieum. Pausanias by his mention of
the cleft in the earth through which the waters of the flood
disappeared and of the yearly offerings of the honey-cake in
connection with this, shows the high antiquity of certain rites
here celebrated. It is indeed most probable that these
ceremonies formed a part of the Chytri; for what seems the more
ancient portion of this festival pertains also to the worship
of those who perished in Deucalion's flood. The worship of Ge
_Kourotrophos_ goes back to times immemorial. Pausanias
Page 63 mentions[131] as the last shrines which he sees before entering
the upper city, those of Ge _Kourotrophos_ and Demeter Chloe,
which must therefore have been situated on the southwest slope
of the Acropolis. Here again near the entrance to the Pelasgic
fortification, is where we should expect _a priori_ to find the
oldest religious foundations "outside the Polis."
[Footnote 128: Heortologie, p. 413.]
[Footnote 129: THUCYDIDES 126.]
[Footnote 130: PAUS. I. 18. 7.]
[Footnote 131: PAUS. I. 22. 33. SUIDAS, [Greek: courotrophos].]
The location of the fourth _hieron_ of Thucydides can best be
determined by means of the festivals, more particularly the
dramatic festivals of Dionysus. That the dramatic
representations at the Greater Dionysia, the more splendid of
the festivals, were held on the site of the existing theatre of
Dionysus, perhaps from the beginning, at least from a very
early period, all are agreed. Here was the precinct containing
two temples of Dionysus, in the older of which was the
xoanon[132] brought from Eleutherae by Pegasus. That in early
times, at least, all dramatic contests were not held here we
have strong assurance. Pausanias[133] the lexicographer,
mentions the wooden seats in the agora from which the people
viewed the dramatic contests before the theatre [Greek: en
Dionysou] was constructed--plainly the existing theatre.
Hesychius confirms this testimony.[134]
[Footnote 132: PAUS I. 2, 5 and I. 20, 3.]
[Footnote 133: PAUS., _Lexikoq._ [Greek: ikria ta, te agora,
aph' ôn etheônto tous Dionysiakous agyna prin e cataskeuasthenai
to en Dionysou Theatron.] Cf. EUSTATH. _Comment. Hom._ 1472.]
[Footnote 134: HESYCH, [Greek: ap' aigeirôn].]
Bekker's _Anecdota_ include mention, also,[135] of the wooden
seats of this temporary theatre. Pollux adds[136] his testimony
that the wooden seats were in the agora. Photius gives the
further important information that the orchestra first received
its name in the agora.[137] There can be no doubt that in very
early times, there were dramatic representations in the agora
in honor of Dionysus; and there must therefore have been a
shrine or a precinct of the god in or close to the agora. The
possibility of presentation of dramas at Athens, especially in
these early times, unconnected with the worship of Dionysus and
with some shrine sacred to him, cannot be entertained for a
Page 64 moment. It is commonly accepted that dramas were represented
during two festivals in Athens,--at the contest at the Lenaeum
and at the City Dionysia. The plays of the latter festival were
undoubtedly given in the extant theatre; but of the former
contest we have an entirely different record. Harpocration
say[138] merely that the Limnae were a locality in Athens where
Dionysus was honored. A reference in Bekker's _Anecdota_
is[139] more explicit. Here the Lenaeum is described as a place
sacred to [Greek: (ieron)] Dionysus where the contests were
established before the building of the theatre. In the
Etymologicum Magnum[140] the Lenaeum is said to be an enclosure
[Greek: (periaulos)] in which is a sanctuary of Dionysus Lenaeus.
Photius declares[141] that the Lenaeum is a large peribolus in
which were held the so-called contests at the Lenaeum before the
theatre was built, and that in this peribolus there was the
sanctuary of Dionysus Lenaeus. The scholiast to Aristophanes'
_Frogs_ says[142] that the Limnae were a locality sacred to
Dionysus, and that a temple and another building [Greek: (oikos)]
of the god stood therein. Hesychius mentions[143] the Limnae as
a locality where the Lenaea were held, and says that the Lenaeum
was a large peribolus within the city, in which was the
sanctuary of Dionysus Lenaeus, and that the Athenians held
contests in this peribolos before they built the theatre.
Pollux speaks[144] of the two theatres, [Greek: kai Dionysiakon
theatron kai lenaicon]. Stephanus of Byzantium quotes[145] from
Apollodorus that the "Lenaion Agon" is a contest in the fields
by the wine-press. Plato implies[146] the existence of a second
theatre by stating that Pherecrates exhibited dramas at the
Lenaeum. If the Lenaea and the City Dionysia were held in the
same locality, it is peculiar that in all the passages
concerning the Lenaeum and the Limnae we find no mention of the
Greater Dionysia. But our list of authorities goes still
Page 65 further. Aristophanes speaks[147] of the contest [Greek: kat
agrous]. The scholiast declares that he refers to the Lenaea,
that the Lenaeum was a place sacred [Greek (ieron)] to Dionysus,
[Greek: en agrous] and that the word [Greek: Lenaion] came from
the fact that here first stood the [Greek: lenos] or wine-press.
He adds[148] that the contests in honor of Dionysus took place
twice in the year, first in the city in the spring, and the
second time [Greek: en agrois] at the Lenaeum in the winter. The
precinct by the present theatre, as we know, was sacred to
Dionysus Eleuthereus. In this temenus no mention has been found
of Dionysus [Greek: Limnaios] or [Greek: Lenaios].
[Footnote 135: BEKKER, _Anecdota_ p. 354; _ibid._, p. 419.]
[Footnote 136: POLLUX, VII. 125.]
[Footnote 137: PHOTIUS, p. 106; _Ibid._, p. 351.]
[Footnote 138: HARP. ed. Dind. p. 114. 1. 14.]
[Footnote 139: BEKKER, Anecdota, p. 278, 1. 8.]
[Footnote 140: Et. Mag. [Greek: Ep Lilenaiô].]
[Footnote 141: PHOTIUS, p. 101.]
[Footnote 142: Schol. _Frogs_, 216.]
[Footnote 143: HESYCH., [Greek: Limnai] Ibid, [Greek: epi
Lenaiou agôn].]
[Footnote 144: POLLUX, iv. 121.]
[Footnote 145: STEPH. BYZ., [Greek: Lenaios].]
[Footnote 146: PLATO, _Protag._, 327 w.]
[Footnote 147: _Achar._, 202, and schol.]
[Footnote 148: _Schol. Aristoph. Achar._, 504.]
Demosthenes tells us[149] that the Athenians, having inscribed
a certain law (concerning the festivals of Dionysus) on a stone
stele, set this up in the sanctuary of Dionysus [Greek: en
Limnais], beside the altar. "This stele was set up," he
continues, in the most ancient and most sacred precinct[150] of
Dionysus, so that but few should see what had been written; for
the precinct is opened only once every year, on the 12th of the
month Anthesterio.
[Footnote 149: _Near._ 76.]
[Footnote 150: I have translated [Greek: ierô] by precinct. This
is liable to the objection that [Greek: ieron] may also mean
temple; and [Greek: anoigetai] "is opened" of the passage may
naturally be applied to the opening of a temple. But "hieron"
often refers to a sacred precinct, and there is nothing to
prevent the verb in question from being used of a "hieron" in
this sense. If we consult the passages in which this particular
precinct is mentioned we find, in those quoted from Photius and
the _Etymologicum Magnum_, that the Lenaeum contains a hieron of
the Lenaean Dionysus. This might be either temple or precinct.
In the citation from Bekker's _Anecdota_ the Lenaeum is the
hieron at which were held the theatrical contests. This implies
that the hieron was a precinct of some size. The Scholiast to
_Achar._ 202 makes the Lenaeum the hieron of the Lenaean
Dionysus. Here "hieron" is certainly a precinct. Hesych. [Greek:
epi Lenaiô agôn] renders this still more distinct by saying that
the Lenaeum contained the hieron of the Lenaean Dionysus, in
which the theatrical contests were held. But Demosthenes in the
_Neaera_ declares that the decree was engraved on a stone
stele. It was the custom to set up such inscriptions in the
open air. This stele was also beside the altar. There were
indeed often altars in the Greek temple, but the chief altar
(bômos of the passage) was in the open air. Furthermore, if the
decree had been placed in the small temple, the designation
"alongside the altar" would have been superfluous. But in the
larger precinct such a particular location was necessary. Nor
can it be urged, in view of the secret rites in connection with
the marriage of the King Archon's wife to Dionysus on the 12th
of Anthesterio, that hieron must mean temple; since the new
Aristotle manuscript tells us that this ceremony took place in
the Bucoleum.]
The stele being then visible to the public on but one day of
the year it follows that the entire precinct of Dionysus [Greek:
Page 66 en Limnais] must have been closed during the remainder of the
year. This could not be unless we grant that, in the time of
Demosthenes at least, the Lenaea and the Megala Dionysia were
held in different precincts, and that the Lenaea and
Anthesteria were one and the same festival.
Pausanias tells us[151] that the xoanon brought from Eleutherae
was in one of the two temples in the theatre-precinct, while
the other contained the chryselephantine statue of Alcamenes.
We know, both from the method of construction and from literary
notices, that these two temples were in existence in the time
of Demosthenes. Pausanias says[152] that on fixed days every
year, the statue of the god was borne to a little temple of
Dionysus near the Academy. Pausanias' use of the plural in
[Greek: tetagmenais emerais] is excellent authority that the
temple of the xoanon was opened at least on more than one day of
every year.
From all these considerations it seems to be impossible that
the precinct of the older temple by the extant theatre and the
sanctuary [Greek: en Limnais] could be the same. The suggestion
that the gold and ivory statue of Alcamenes could have been the
one borne in procession at the time of the Greater Dionysia is,
of course, untenable from the delicate construction of such
figures. The massive base on which it stood shows, too, that
its size was considerable. The image borne in procession was
clearly the xoanon which was brought by Pegasus from
Eleutherae.
Wilamowitz calls attention[153] to another fact. In classic
times the contests of the Lenaea are [Greek: Dionysia ta epi
Lenaiô], and the victories are [Greek: vikai Levaikai]; the
Megala Dionysia are always [Greek: ta te estei], and the
victories here [Greek: nikai astikai]. These words certainly
imply a distinction of place. How early these expressions may
have been used, we learn from the account of Thespis.
Suidas[154] is authority that Thespis first exhibited a play in
536 B.C.; and the Parian Marble records[155] that he was the
first to exhibit a drama and to receive the tragic prize [Greek:
en astei].
[Footnote 151: I. 20. 3.]
[Footnote 152: I. 29. 2.]
[Footnote 153: _Die Bühne des Aeschylos_.]
[Footnote 154: _v. Thespis_.]
[Footnote 155: _C.I.G._, II. 2374.]
Page 67 But it has also been contended that Limnae and Lemaeum do not
refer to the same locality. It is clear from what has been
said, however, that the Lenaea and the Greater Dionysia must
have been held in different localities. So if Limnae and the
Lenaeum do not refer at least to the same region, there must
have been three separate sanctuaries of Dionysus; for no one
will claim that the Greater Dionysia can have been held in the
Limnae if the Lenaea were not celebrated there. But as we have
seen, Hesychius ([Greek: en Limnai]) declares that the Lenaea
were held [Greek: en Limanis]. The scholiast to Aristophanes
says[156] that the Chytri were a festival of Dionysus Lenaeus;
so the Chytri as well as the Lenaea must have been celebrated in
the Lenaeum. Athenæus in the story of Orestes and Pandion
speaks[157] of the temenus [Greek: en Limnais] in connection
with the Choes. In Suidas ([Greek: choes]), however, we learn
that either Limnaeus or Lenaeus could be used in referring to
the same Dionysus. Such positive testimony for the identity of
the Lenaeum and the sanctuary in the Limnae, cannot be rejected.
[Footnote 156: _Acharnians_ 960.]
[Footnote 157: X, 437 d.]
We have still more convincing testimony that in the great
period of the drama the two annual contests at which dramas
were brought out were held in different places, in the record
of the time when the wooden theatre [Greek: en Limnais] was
finally given up, and [Greek: o epi Lemnaiô] became a thing of
the past. The change comes exactly when we should look for it,
when the existing theatre had been splendidly rebuilt by
Lycurgus. The passage is in Plutarch, where he says[158] that
this orator also introduced a law that the contest of the
comedians at the Chytri should take place in the theatre, and
that the victor should be reckoned [Greek: es astin], as had not
been done before. He further implies that the contest at the
Chytri had fallen into disuse, for he adds that Lycurgus thus
restored an agon that had been omitted. This last authority,
however, concerns a contest at the Chytri, the Anthesteria, and
is only one of many passages which tend to show that [Greek: o
epi Lemnaiô] was held at this festival. The most weighty
testimony for making the Lenaea an independent festival, even in
Page 68 historic times, is given by Proclus in a scholium to
Hesiod.[159] He quotes from Plutarch the statement that there
was no month Lenaeo among the Boeotians. He adds that this month
was the Attic Gamelio in which the Lenaea were held. Hesychius
makes the same citation from Plutarch[160] as to a non-existence
of a Boeotian month Lenaeo, and continues: "But some say that
this month is the (Boeotian) Hermaio, and this is true, for the
Athenians [held] in this month ([Greek: en auto]) the festival
of the Lenaea." The great similarity of the two passages renders
it very probable that both were drawn from the same sources. The
omission of Gamelio by Hesychius, by referring the [en autô]
back to Lenaeo, makes him authority that the Lenaea were held
in that month. This, in turn implies that Proclus may have
inserted Gamelio in order to bring the statement into relation
with the Attic months of his own day. In the authorities
referring to this month is a suggestion of several facts and a
curious struggle to account for them. Proclus cites Plutarch to
the effect that there was no month Lenaeo among the Boeotians,
but, being probably misled by the very passage in Hesiod for
which he has quoted Plutarch, he adds[161] that they had such a
month. He goes on to state that the month is so called from the
Lenaea, or from the Ambrosia. Moschopulus,[162] Tzetzes,[163]
and the Etymologicum Magnum[164] repeat this last statement. An
inscription[165] referring to a crowning of Bacchus on the 18th
of Gamelio may refer to the same festival. Tzetzes alone is
responsible for the statement that the _Pithoigia_ came in this
month. Through Proclus and Hesychius we are assured of the
belief that there was once an Attic month Lenaeo. Proclus,
Hesychius and Moschopulus tell us that the Lenaea were at some
period held in this month; while Proclus, Moschopulus, Tzetzes,
and the inscription assure us that there was another festival
of Dionysus in this month; and the first three of these
authorities name this festival Ambrosia. A tradition running
Page 69 with such persistency through so many authors affords a strong
presumption that there once existed an Attic month Lenaeo, and
that the Lenaea were celebrated in that month.
[Footnote 158: [Plut.] _Vit._ 10 _Or._: LYCURG. _Orat._ VII. 1.
10 p. 841. 1549: _Ptoclus_ to Hesiod, Op. 504.]