Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/318

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300 ATHENAE. 22 feet before the gate of the inclosure, which was 376 feet long, and 252 broad; round the inside of it, at a distance of 23 feet from the wall, are vestiges of a colonnade. In the northern wall, which still exists, are the remains of one large quadrangular recess or apartment in the centre 34 feet in length, and of two semicircular recesses nearly equal to it in diameter. The church of Megáli Panaghía, which stands towards the eastern side of the inclosure, is formed of the remains of an ancient building, consisting on one side of a ruined arch, and on the other of an architrave supported by a pilaster, and three columns of the Doric order, 1 foot 9 inches in diameter, and of a somewhat declining period of art. . . . . The general plan was evidently that of a quadrangle surrounded with porticoes, having one or more buildings in the centre: thus agreeing perfectly with that work of Hadrian which contained stoae, a colonnade of Phrygian marble, and a library. . . . . The building near the centre of the quadrangle, which was converted into a church of the Panaghía, may have been the Pantheon. . . . Possibly also the temple of Hera and of Zeus Panhellenius stood in the centre of the inclosure." (Leake, p. 258, seq.)

E. Fourth Part of the Route of Pausanias.—From the Prytaneium to the Stadium. (Paus. i. 18. § 4–19.)

Pausanias went straight from the Prytaneium to the Olympieium, between which buildings he notices these objects, the Temple of Sarapis, the place of meeting of Theseus and Peirithous, and the Temple of Eileithyia, After describing the Olympieium, Pausanias mentions the temples of Apollo Pythius, and of Apollo Delphinius. The Pythium (n^Bioy) was one of the most ancient sanctuaries in Athens. We know from Thucydides (ii. 15) that it was in the same quarter as the Olympieium, and from Strabo (ix. p. 404), that the sacred inclosures of the two temples were only separated by a wall, upon which was the altar of Zeus Astrapaeus. The Delphinium (AcA^j^ioy) was apparently near the Pythium. It was also a temple of great antiquity, being said to have been founds by Aegeus. In its neighbourhood sat one of the courts for the trial of cases of homicide, called rh M AtK^ul^. (Plut. Thes, 12, 18; Pollux, viii. 119; Paus. i. 28. § 10.)

Pausanias next proceeds to The Gardens (ol ic^iroi), which must have been situated east of the above-mentioned temples, along the right bank of the Ilissus. In this locality was a temple of Aphrodite: the statue of this goddess, called "Aphrodite in the Gardens," by Alcamenes, was one of the most celebrated pieces of statuary in all Athens. (Plin. xxxvi. 5. s.4; Lucian, Imag. 4, 6.) Pliny (l. c.), misled by the name "Gardens," places this statue outside the walls; but we have the express testimony of Pausanias in another passage (i. 27. § 3) that it was in the city.

Pausanias then visits the Cynosarges and Lyceium, both of which were situated outside the walls, and are described below in the account of the suburbs of the city. From the Lyceium he returns to the city, and mentions the Altar of Boreas, who carried off Oreithyia from the banks of the Ilissus, and the Altar of the Ilissian Muses, both altars being upon the banks of the Ilissus. (Comp. Plat. Phaedr. c. 6; Herod, vii. 189.) The altar of Boreas is described by Plato (l. c.) as opposite the temple of Artemis Agrotera, which probably stands ATHENAE. upon the site of the church of Stavroménos Petros. To the east of the altar of Boreas stood the altar of the Ilissian Muses. In 1676 Spon and Wheler observed, about fifty yards above the bridge of the Stadium, the foundations of a circular temple, which had, however, disappeared in the time of Stuart. This was probably the Temple of the Ilissian Moses, for though Pausanias only mentions an altar of these goddesses, there may have been also a temple.

On the other side of the Ilissus Pausanias altered the district Agrae or Agra, in which was the Temple of Artemis Agrotera, spoken of above. A part of this district was sacred to Demeter, since we know that the lesser Eleusinian mysteries were celebrated in Agrae, and were hence called rd iv "Aypotf . (Steph. B. s. v. "Kypa; Plut. Demetr. 26.) Stephanus (l. c.) says that Agra was a spot before the city Xirph r^s rdXc«»s), but this appears to be only a conclusion drawn from the name, which would seem to indicate that it was in the country, and may be classed together with the above-mentioned error of Pliny about the gardens. The Panathenaic Stadium was also in Agrae, after describing which [see p. 292], Pausanias retraces his steps to the Prytaneium. He has omitted to mention the hill Ardettus ('Ap9irrr^s), situated above the Stadium, where the Dicasts were sworn. (Harpocrat., Hesych., Suid. s. v.; Pollux, viii. 122.) The high ground of Agrae appears to have been called Helicon in ancient times. (Cleidemus, ap. Bekker, Anecd. Graec. i. p. 326.)

F. Fifth Part of the Route of Pausanias.—From the Prytaneium to the Propylaea of the Acropolis. (Paus. i. 20–22. § 3.)

In this part of his route Pausanias went round the eastern and southern sides of the Acropolis. Starting again from the Prytaneium, he went down the Street of the Tripods, which led to the Lenaeum or sacred enclosure of Dionysus. The position of this street is marked by the existing Choragic Monument of Lysicrates [see p. 291], and by a number of small churches, which probably occupy the place of the tripod temples. The Lenaeum, which contained two temples of Dionysus, and which was close to the theatre, was situated in the district called Limnae. It was here that the Dionysiac festival, called Lenaea, was celebrated. (Thuc. ii. 15; Dict, of Ant. p. 411, b. 2nd ed.) The Lenaeum must be placed immediately below the theatre to the south. Immediately to the east of the theatre, and consequently at the north-eastern angle of the Acropolis, was the Odeium of Pericles. Its site is accurately determined by Vltruvius, who says (v. 9), that it lay on the left hand to persons coming out of the theatre. This Odeium, which must be distinguished from the earlier building with this name near the Ilissus, was built by Pericles, and its roof is said to have been an imitation of the tent of Xerxes. (Plut. Per. 13.) It was burnt during the siege of Athens by Sulla, B.C. 85, but was rebuilt by Ariobarzanes II., king of Cappadocia, who succeeded to the throne about B.C. 63. (Appian, B. Mithr. 38; Vitruv. l. c.; Böckh, No. 357; Dict. of Ant. pp. 822, 823, 2nd ed.) All traces of this building have disappeared.

On the western side of the theatre are some remains of a succession of arches, which Leake conjectures may have belonged to a portico, built by Herodes Atticus, for the purpose of a covered com-