492 ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF ATHENS. 



Stuart) " the labours of Hercules should make so considerable a part 

 of the ornaments of this temple will appear the less extraordinary, 

 when we recollect the respect and gratitude which Theseus professed 

 towards that hero, who was his kinsman ; had delivered him from a 

 tedious captivity, and had restored him to his counti'y ; on liis return 

 to which, he consecrated to Hercules all the places that the gratitude 

 of his citizens had formerly dedicated to himself, four only excepted; 

 and changed their names from Thesea to Heraclea. V. Plut. in vit. 

 Thes. Nor could it be esteemed a slight compliment to Theseus, 

 when on building this temple to his honour, their labours were thus 

 placed together." * 



We are now led back by Pausanias to the foot of the Acropolis, 

 where he places the Anaceum or ancient temple of the f Dioscuri ; 

 and just above this temple he places the second enclosure, Tfjttsfof, of 

 Aglaurus. Here it appears from what he says, that the rock was very 

 precipitous, ev&<x w f/.xXtg-a. ccTTOTOftov, although it was here that the 

 Persians had scaled the Acropolis. The passage of Herodotus which 

 relates to this exploit, speaks not of a Te^wavof, but of a temple, /='po\, of 

 Agraulus, leaving us in doubt, however, whether it was above or below 

 the declivity, or whether it was within or without the Acropolis ; and 

 although it was evidently the intention of that writer to point out 

 with some degree of precision the situation of this temple, and the 

 spot where the Persians ascended, yet thei'e is an ambiguity in the 

 expression which has given rise to two very opposite and contradictory 

 explanations, the words oTria-Bev Ss tuv xuXiuv, xxl -ttq dvoh^ being 

 supposed by Chandler, Larcher, Barthelemy, and others, who are 

 supported by the authority of Ulpian, to refer to the vicinity of the 

 entrance ; while a more recent critic, Mr. Wilkins, is of opinion, that 

 they apply to the other end of the Acropolis. 



* Meursius seems to be of opinion that there were several temples dedicated to Theseus, 

 but all the passages which he quotes evidently refer to one and the same temple. 



f Lucian alludes in Timone to the destruction of this temple by lightning: — 'O 11 



XEgauvOs £t; to avaxsiov Tragaa-xrjvJ/af, exeivo T£ Kaxi'^Xf^e. 



