ATHENS. 



45 



Athens, ployed in the construction of miserable huts. Even 

 I ' without any such object, the Turks were in the ha- 

 bit of climbing up the walls, and amusing themselves 

 with defacing the precious remains of sculpture with 

 which they were adorned. We have already seen 

 the disaster which befel the Parthenon, in conse- 

 quence of its being converted into a powder maga- 

 zine ; yet this had not prevented the Turks from 

 turning the Erectheum to the same use. One temple, 

 which Stuart found in tolerable preservation, had, 

 since his time, ben destroyed so completely, that his 

 Lordship could with difficulty distinguish where it 

 had stood. 



By these operations, Lord Elgin has, as it were, 

 transported Athens to London, and has formed a 

 school of Grecian art, to which there does not, at 

 present, exist a parallel. 



All the histories of Greece treat copiously of 

 Athens ; both ancient, as Herodotus, Thucydides, 

 Xenophon ; and modern, as Rollin, Gillies, Mit- 

 ford, &c. See Xenophon de liepublica Athcniensium. 

 A number of elaborate tracts by Meursius, de ltegi- 

 Ims Alticis, de Fortuna Attica, de Itepublica Atheui- 

 ensium, &c. ; all which Gronovius has inserted in his 

 Thesaurus. Young's History of Athens. Drum- 

 mond on the Government of Athens. The modern 

 state of Athens was described, in 1676, ty Wheeler 

 and Spon ; and, more recently, in 1765, by Chandler, 

 in his Travels in Greece. Messrs Stuart and Revett, 

 who travelled about the same time with the last, 

 have published the Ruins (if Athens, with magnificent 

 plates. The most recent account is by Scrofani, a 

 Sicilian, of whose accuracy, however, we entertain 

 serious doubts, (p) 



Athens. 





Atherina 

 Athlete 



ATH 



ATHERINA, a genus of fishes belonging to the 

 order of Abdominales, in the division of bony fishes. 

 See Ichthyology, (f) 



ATHERSTONE, a market-town in the parish 

 of Mancetter, in Warwickshire. There is here a 

 manufactory of hats, ribbands, and shaloons, and the 

 cotton trade has been lately introduced. Number of 

 houses 546. Population 2650, of whom 748 are 

 employed in trade. Distance from Warwick 23 

 miles, (j ) 



ATHINI, the modern name of Athens. 



ATHLETE, among the ancients, persons who 

 were trained to feats of strength and agility. In 

 times when national safety depended more on muscu- 

 lar exertion, than on the delicate management of war- 

 like machines, vigour and activity of body were the 

 qualities of chief consideration. Accordingly, in 

 those stages- of society denominated savage, the great- 

 est hero is generally the most robust individual ; and 

 the breadth of his breast, the magnitude of his limbs, 

 and the swiftness of his career, are, in the songs of 

 the bards, no less the topics of panegyric, than are 

 his martial atchievements. Hence arose, in different 

 countries, independently of the love of pastime, va- 

 rious customs and institutions tending to the deve- 

 lopement of the bodily powers. The Greeks sur- 

 passed all nations in their attention to this circum- 

 stance ; for, though the Romans had also, in the days 

 of their simplicity, their racers and wrestlers, they 

 forsook, in process of time, these harmless and manly 

 sports, for the inhuman exhibition of gladiatorial 

 combats, and the fights of wild beasts. 



The athletic exercises of the Greeks were all ori- 

 ginally subservient to the formation of the soldier, 

 and calculated to produce a race of men alike distin- 

 guished for symmetry of form, hardiness of constitu- 

 tion, and corporeal power. We will not take it up- 

 on us to say, that the Greeks were, in these respects, 

 the very first in the world ; but whether we judge 

 from the form and attitude of the Grecian figure as 

 displayed in the ancient statues, or from the tremen- 



ATH 



dous onset of the Grecian warrior in the day of bat- ^thleta:. 

 tie, we are equally entitled to draw the conclusion, \^^^ Y ^^ m 

 that this system of exercises was not without its ef- 

 fect. 



These sports were for a long time practised by the 

 people, without the aid of professional instruction: but 

 a little before the age of Plato, they assumed a scientific 

 appearance, when regular professors started up, wlio 

 made it their exclusive business to practise the athle- 

 tic arts. The excessive encouragement bestowed en 

 these masters, was only in proportion to the value at- 

 tached by the Greeks to their employment. Excel- 

 lence in this department was the chief ambition of the 

 youth, as it opened for them a passage to the first of 

 mortal honours ; for not only was a conqueror in the 

 Olympic games in many cases supported in splendour 

 during the remainder of his life ; but he received an 

 honorary crown ; his name was immortalized in pub- 

 lic songs ; statues were erected to his memory ; his 

 victory was an aera in the annals' of his country ; and, 

 in the earlier periods, was sometimes worshipped as a 

 god. For these reasons, the athletic arts were rank- 

 ed by the Greeks among those denominated liberal. 

 It was long the ambition of kings and princes to ex- 

 cel in them ; and no pains or expenses were spared for 

 the possible attainment of such high distinction. But 

 fter the institution of regular establishments for these 

 exercises, the original intention was soon forgotten. 

 Maintained in luxury at the public expense, and 

 therefore not very respectable for their morals, the 

 athletae degenerated into mere prize-fighters ; their 

 arts, hitherto accounted liberal, and ranked among 

 the noblest accomplishments, gradually suffered in 

 the general estimation ; and their habits of body and 

 mind, instead of promoting the military character, 

 rendered them much inferior, in that respect, to the 

 ordinary citizens. Thus, by mistaking the means 

 for the end, the Greeks in a great measure defeated 

 the purpose of the institution : for, though the games 

 were now carried to much greater perfection, and 

 were still accessible to as many as inclined ; yet they 



