A RIDE ACKOSS THE PELOPONNESE. 173 



had never claimed to be. There is something sub- 

 lime in the simplicity of the Doric architecture, 

 whatever the material in which it works. Then, 

 too, the historic associations of the place began to 

 assert themselves. Here was a piece of mosaic pave- 

 ment, made of black and white pebbles, on which 

 one could still make out a beautiful design. By how 

 many of the greatest men of old Greece might this 

 not have been trod? There, in the centre of the 

 temple, stands an oblong block of stone, conjectured 

 to be part of the base of Phidias's statue of Zeus in 

 gold and ivory, a statue which the ancients were 

 unanimous in pronouncing to be the greatest that the 

 world had seen. Had it only been made of Parian 

 marble, who knows that the labours of the past two 

 years might not have brought back to the sight of 

 men this masterpiece ! But the material chosen for 

 the work was too precious to last. The story goes 

 that the statue was carried to Constantinople by one 

 of the Greek emperors, and there destroyed in a 

 conflagration. 



The stadium, or race-course, seems to have been to 

 the east of the temple of Zeus, running along at the 

 foot of Mount Kronion. At present, however, this 

 spot is covered with a tangled mass of luxuriant grass 

 and shrubs, which puts accurate examination out of 

 the question. 



When we visited Olympia just a year ago, only 

 the temple of Zeus had been dug out. Since that 



