ATHENS. 



43 



Athens, who bestowed Athens and Thebes on Otho de la 



- y ~~-' Roche, one of his followers. This prince reigned 

 with the title of Duke of Athens, which remain- 

 ed for a considerable time ; hence Chaucer and 

 Shakespeare, confounding dates, talk of Theseus, 

 Duke of Athens. After several successions, it came 

 by marriage to Walter of Brienne. Considerable op- 

 position, however, seems to have been made to him 

 among his vassals ; and these being reinforced by the 

 Catalans, who then extended devastation and con- 

 quest over these regions, the new duke was expelled, 

 and forced to return to France, where he fell in the 

 battle of Poictiers. About twenty years after, his 

 son made a fruitless attempt to recover it. Mean- 

 while the Catalans, having been compelled to acknow- 

 ledge the supremacy of the house of Arragon, the 

 government of Athens remained for some time at the 

 disposal of that house. It was then seized by the 

 powerful Florentine family of the Acciaioli. One 

 of them ceded it to the Venetians, but his son seized 

 it again, and it remained in the family till 1455, when 

 it surrendered to Omar, a general of Mahomet II., 

 and thus formed one of the two hundred cities which 

 that prince took from the Christians. He settled a 



Becomes a colony in it, and incorporated it completely with the 



Tu r rkfh ,he Turkish empire. 



empire. Since that time, Athens is known in history only 



by two ineffectual attempts of the Venetians to make 

 themselves masters of it. The first was in 1464, 

 under their general Victor Capella. They gained 

 possession both of the Pirasus and of the city ; but, 

 failing in their attempt upon the Acropolis, were 

 obliged to retire. The next was in 1687. In this 

 siege, the Turks having made the Parthenon their 

 powder magazine, a bomb fell into it, and blew up the 

 whole roof of that famous edifice. Athens surren- 

 dered ; but, the very next year, the Venetians were 

 forced to abandon it. 



Present It would be impossible to conclude, without en- 



*tate of deavouring to give some idea of what Athens now 

 Athens. j S; an( J f w hat still remains to her after such a series 

 of destroying revolutions. Even after all that time 

 and barbarism have effected, her ruins still excite as- 

 tonishment and admiration in every beholder. We 

 shall be the better enabled to satisfy the curiosity of 

 our readers, as, besides the latest printed accounts, 

 we have had access to oral information still more re- 

 cent, and of the highest authenticity. 

 The Aero- In this survey, we naturally turn our eyes first to 

 polis. the Acropolis, of which a considerable portion is still 



standing. It has been converted by the Turks into 

 a fortress, and a large irregular wall built round it. 

 In this there appear 6ome remains of the old wall, 

 with fragments of columns, which have been taken 

 from the ruins for the purpose of building it. Of 

 the Propylea, which formed the ancient entrance, the 

 right wing was a temple of Victory. The roof of this 

 edifice remained till 1656, when it was carried away 

 by a sudden explosion. On its columns the Turks 

 have constructed a battery of cannon. In a part of 

 the wall still remaining are some fragments of exquisite 

 sculpture in has relief, representing the combat of the 

 Athenians with the Amazons. Of the opposite wing 

 of the Propylea, there still remain six columns, with 



gateways between them. These columns are of mar- AthenF. 

 file, white as snow, and of the finest architecture, "^v ' 

 Each is not, though it appears to be, composed of a 

 single piece, but of three or four joined so skilfully, 

 that, though exposed to the weather for two thou- 

 sand years, no separation has taken place. These 

 columns are half covered by a wall, which the Turks 

 have raised in front of them. 



From the Propylea, we enter into the Parthenon, 

 that grand display of Athenian magnificence. Eight 

 columns of the eastern front, and several of the la- 

 teral porticos, are still standing. Of the frontispiece, 

 which represented the contest of Neptune and Miner- 

 va for Athens, nothing remains, but the head of a 

 sea-horse, and the figures of two women, whose heads 

 are wanting ; but these slender specimens display ad- 

 mirable truth and beauty. The combat of the Cen- 

 taurs and the Lapithae is in better preservation. Of 

 all the statues with which it was enriched, that of 

 Adrian alone remains. The inside is now converted 

 into a mosque. Upon the whole, this edifice, muti- 

 lated as it is, retains still an air of inexpressible gran- 

 deur. 



There are considerable remains also of the Erec- 

 theum, particularly those beautiful female figures, 

 called Caryatides, which support, instead of columns, 

 two of th$ porticos. 



Of the two theatres, there remains only so much of 

 the outer walls, as is sufficient to shew their site, and 

 their immense magnitude. The area is now ploughed, 

 and produces corn. 



Having thus surveyed the Acropolis, we shall now j-j^ toWH . 

 enter within the town, which does not, however, pre- 

 sent any monuments of equal magnitude. Near a 

 church called Great St Mary, are three exquisite 

 Corinthian columns, supporting an architrave. This 

 passed originally for the temple of Jupiter Olympius; 

 an idea which Stuart has clearly proved to be er- 

 roneous. He supposes it to be a remnant of the 

 Pcecile. 



The Tower of the Winds, by Andronicus Cyr- 

 rhestes, is still entire. Its figure is octagon, and on 

 each of the sides is carved, in relief, a representation 

 of one of the principal winds. The sculpture is ad- 

 mirable. This building owes its preservation to its 

 having become the mosque of an order of Dervises. 



Among the monuments of distinguished men, of 

 which a street called the Tripods was almost entire- 

 ly composed, one only remains, the choragic monu- 

 ment of Lysicrates. It consists of a basement, cir- 

 cular colonnade, and cupola. The order is Corin- 

 thian. The architecture and sculpture are exquisite. 

 It was supposed by Wheeler to be the Lantern of 

 Demosthenes, where that orator retired to study ; but 

 this fs clearly refuted by Stuart. 



Of the splendid Gymnasium erected by Ptolemy, a 

 few black and ruined walls present the only traces. 



Ongoing without the city, our attention is immedi- R u i n with- 

 ately attracted by the sublime ruins of the temple of out the ci- 

 Jup:ter Olympius. Sixteen columns only remain of ty. 

 one hundred and twenty. Wheeler, in 1676, found 

 seventeen ; but a little before Chandler's visit in 

 1 765, one had been overturned for the building of a 

 mosque. Of the 6tatues which, in such numbers, 

 enriched this edifice, none now remain. Some only 



