ATHLET2E ATHWART-HAWSK. 



321 



large bend of the Hockhocking, which meanders 

 about the town. The situation is pleasant and 

 healthy, and commands an extensive prospect. An 

 institution is established here, styled the Ohio uni- 

 versity, which is endowed with 4(5,000 acres of land, 

 yielding about 2300 dollars annually. A college edi- 

 fice of brick, large and elegant, was erected in 1817. 

 ATHLETE ; combatants who took part in the public 

 games of.Greece ; also, young men who went througli 

 the gymnastic exercises to harden themselves, and 

 to become fit to bear anus. In a narrower sense, 

 the athletae were those who made the athletic or gym- 

 nastic exercises their principal business, particularly 

 wrestlers and boxers. The two following cuts re- 

 present these in the act of conflict. The figures are 

 taken from ancient sculptures. 



The business of Athletfe was to contend at the 

 public festivals ; and they regulated their habits 

 of life with reference to this purpose. They were 

 well fed, and were obliged to abstain from inter- 

 course with the other sex. Before they were per- 

 mitted to exhibit themselves at the public games, 

 inquiries were made respecting J,he birth, rank, and 

 conduct of each A herald called out the name of 

 the athlete, and demanded of all whether they had 

 any objection against him. After tin's examination, 

 and after the athlete had taken an oath that he had 

 complied with ail the conditions required, and that 

 he would strictly obey the laws of the contest, per- 

 mission was given him to contend. The antagonists 

 were designated by lot. Not only the applause of 

 the people, but also crowns ar-'l statues, were con- 

 t. 



ferred upon the victor. He was led in triumph ; 

 his name was written in the public records ; an Olym- 

 piad was named after him, and poets sang his praise. 

 He also received peculiar privileges, had a yearly 

 pension, and the foremost seat at the sacred games. 

 Particular honours were conferred on him by his na- 

 tive city, for all his fellow citizens partook of his 

 glory. See Gymnastics. 



ATHOL, or ATHOLE ; a mountainous and romantic 

 district, situated in the north of Perthshire, Scotland. 

 It is 45 miles in length, and 30 in breadth, and com- 

 prehends a great portion of the ancient Caledonian 

 forest. In the eighth century it constituted with Stor- 

 moiiL the possessions of a Pictish prince. It contains 

 several lakes and richly cultivated valleys, and in the 

 extensive forest of Athol game of various kinds are 

 abundant. There are no towns, but many villages lie 

 interspersed throughout the country. Athol gives the 

 title of duke to the ancient house of Murray. His 

 grace possesses the greater part of the district, and 

 occasionally resides at Athol house, a castle seated on 

 an eminence, at the foot of whicli runs the turbulent 

 stream Garry. It is of great antiquity, and was for- 

 merly an important fortress, noted for having caused 

 the battle of Killicrankie in 1089, and standing se- 

 veral weeks' siege against the partisans of the Pre- 

 tender in 1746, prior to the battle of Culloden. 

 Athole signifies pleasant land, and Blair of Athole, 

 which is the name of its principal valley, signifies the 

 field or vale of Athole. Athole Brose is the name of 

 a beverage used by the people of this country, com- 

 pounded of honey and whiskey amalgamated into a 

 syrup. In addition to its other recommendations, this 

 popular compound is considered to be very efiective 

 in overcoming colds, especially when taken over-night. 



ATHOS, now Agion Oros, or Monte Santo ; a high 

 mountain or the extremity of a long chain of moun- 

 tains in the province of Salonica, in European Tur- 

 key, which runs through a peninsula seven miles 

 long, and three miles broad into the. Archipelago. 

 Xerxes caused a canal, half a league wide, to be dug 

 through the neck of land which connects the penin- 

 sula with the continent, for the purpose of conducting 

 his fleet to Thessaly. The mountain is about 5900 

 feet above the level of the sea, and is inhabited by 

 Greeks. On the sides are about twenty monasteries, 

 and a multitude of hermitages, which contain more 

 than 6000 monks, mostly Russian, of the order of St 

 Basil. These live here in a perfect separation from 

 the world, and unde^ such strict regulations, that 

 they do not tolerate any female being, not even of 

 the class of domestic animals, among them. They 

 are also extremely industrious : they carve statues of 

 the saints, Agni Dei and Paternosters, which they 

 send to the market-town of Kareis, on the mountain, 

 where weekly markets are, held, and to the rest ol 

 Europe, especially to Russia. They also collect alms, 

 to pay their heavy taxes to the pacha and the Porte. 

 They have many schools. The holy mountain is 

 considered one of the most important seminaries for 

 instruction among the Greeks, and the libraries of the 

 monasteries are rich in literary treasures, particularly 

 in manuscripts, partly procured from Constantinople, 

 before its conquest by the Turks, partly presented to 

 them from the same place, and partly written by the 

 laborious monks. Many books have been brought 

 thence to the great collections at Paris, Vienna, &c. 

 Their monasteries and churches are the only ones in 

 the Ottoman empire which have bells. 



ATHWART (par le trovers, Fr. from a and twert, 

 Dnn., transverse), when used in navigation, implies 

 across the line of the course. 



ATHWART- HAWSE ; the situation of a ship when she 

 is driven by the wind, tide, or other accident, across 

 the forepart of another. This phrase is equally ap- 

 2 s T 



