This was a maritime city of Asia Minor, founded by the Dorians, and much
known on account of a victory, which Conon gained over the
Lacedemonians. Conon was an Athenian, having the command of the Persian
fleet; Pisander, brother-in-law of Agesilaus, of the Lacedemonian.
Conon's fleet consisted of ninety galleys; that of Pisander something
less. They came in view of each other near Gnidos. Conon took fifty of
the enemy's ships. The allies of the Spartans fled, and their chief
admiral died fighting to the last, sword in hand.
Gnidos was famed for having produced the most renowned sculptors and
architects of Greece; amongst whom were Sostratus and Sesostris, who
built the celebrated light-tower on the isle of Pharos, considered one
of the seven wonders of the world, and whence all similar edifices were
afterwards denominated.
Venus, surnamed the Gnidian, was the chief deity of this place, where
she had a temple, greatly celebrated for a marble statue of the goddess.
This beautiful image was the masterpiece of Praxiteles, who had infused
into it all the soft graces and attractions of his favourite Phryne; and
it became so celebrated, that travellers visited the spot with great
eagerness. It represented the goddess in her naked graces, erect in
posture, and with her right hand covering her waist; but every feature
and every part was so naturally expressed, that the whole seemed to be
animated[255].
"We were shown, as we passed by," says Anacharsis, "the house in which
Eudoxus, the astronomer, made his observations; and soon after found
ourselves in the presence of the celebrated Venus of Praxiteles. This
statue had just been placed in the middle of a small temple, which
received light by two opposite doors, in order that a gentle light might
fall on it on every side. But how may it be possible to describe the
surprise we felt at the first view, and the illusions, which quickly
followed! We lent our feelings to the marble, and seemed to hear it
sigh. Two pupils of Praxiteles, who had lately arrived from Athens to
study this masterpiece, pointed out to us the beauties, of which we felt
the effect without penetrating the cause. Among the by-standers, one
said,--'Venus has forsaken Olympus, and come down to dwell among us.'
Another said,--'If Juno and Minerva should now behold her, they would no
more complain of the judgment of Paris:' and a third exclaimed,--'The
goddess formerly deigned to exhibit her charms without a veil to Paris,
Anchises, and Adonis. Has she been seen by Praxiteles?'"
Mounting the rocks extending along the sea-shore, Mr. Morritt came in
view of the broken cliffs of the Acropolis, and its ruined walls. The
foundation and lower courses of the city walls are still visible; these
extend from those of the Acropolis to the sea, and have been
strengthened by towers, now also in ruins. He found also a building, the
use of which he could not understand. It was a plain wall of brown
stone, with a semicircle in the centre, and a terrace in front,
supported by a breast-work of masonry, facing the sea. The walls were
about ten or twelve feet in height, solidly built of hewn stone, but
without ornament. There was anciently a theatre; the marble seats of
which still remain, although mixed with bushes and overturned. The
arches and walls of the proscenium are now a heap of ruins on the
ground.
A large torso of a female figure with drapery, of white marble, lies in
the orchestra. It appears to have been, originally, of good work; but is
so mutilated and corroded by the air, as now to be of little or no
consequence. Near this are foundations and ruins of a magnificent
Corinthian temple, also of white marble; and several beautiful fragments
of the frieze, cornice, and capitals, lie scattered about; the few bases
of the peristyle remaining in their original situation, so ruined, that
it appears impossible to ascertain the original form and proportion of
the building. In another part is seen a large temple, also in ruins, and
still more overgrown with bushes. The frieze and cornice of this temple,
which lie amongst the rubbish, are of the highest and most beautiful
workmanship. A little to the north of this stood a smaller temple, of
grey veined marble, whereof almost every vestige is obliterated.
Several arches of rough masonry, and a breast-work, support a large
square area, in which are the remains of a long colonnade, of white
marble, and of the Doric order, the ruins of an ancient stoa. Of the
Acropolis nothing is left but a few walls of strong brown stone[256].
Besides these there are the remains of two aqueducts; undistinguishable
pieces of wall, some three, some five, eight, ten feet from the ground;
columns plain, and fluted; a few small octagon altars, and heaps of
stones. Along the sea-shore lie pieces of black marble[257].
Whenever the ground is clear[258], it is ploughed by the peasantry
around, who frequently stop here for days together, in chambers of the
ruins and caves of the rocks. The Turks and Greeks have long resorted
thither, as to a quarry, for the building materials afforded by the
remains.
The British consul at Rhodes states, that a fine colossal statue of
marble is still standing in the centre of the orchestra belonging to the
theatre, the head of which the Turks have broken off; but he remembers
it when in a perfect state. Mr. Walpole brought away the _torso_ of a
male statue, and which has since been added to the collection of Greek
marbles at Cambridge[259].