700 



GREECE. 



Nemsea, are three Doric columns of a temple of Jupiter ; the breadth of this edifice was 65 

 feet, and the length more than double the breadth. The columns are more than 5 feet in diam- 

 eter, and nearly 32 feet high. At Mycenae the gate of the sun is the earliest authenticated 

 sculpture in Europe. A circular wall of large blocks incloses an area of 62 feet diameter, 

 and in this are the two gates. The ar chitraves are fallen, but one is unbroken, and leans upon 

 the wall, from the ground. It is 19 feet long. 



The subterranean edifice covered with a mound of earth, and called the Treasury of Atreus, 

 has been supposed also to be the tomb of Agamemnon. The form is that of a bee-hive. 

 The interior shows many brass nails, which were probably used to secure metal or marble 

 plates. The dome is 50 feet high, and 47^ in diameter ; over the entrance is an enormous 

 stone, 27 feet by 17. At Jero are many ruins, and a cistern in good preservation, 40 feet in 

 length and more than 100 in breadth. There ib the vestige of a great temple to iEsculapius, 

 with inscriptions on some loose marbles of some of his cures. There are good sculptured 

 marbles, and the theatre is the most perfect in Greece. The proscenium only is gone. The 

 orchestra is 89 feet in diameter, and there are 55 rows of seats remaining. Pausanias de- 

 scribes this theatre as the most beautiful he had ever seen. 



The walls of Tirinthus, a sort of fortification on a hill, are nearly perfect, though erected 

 1379 years before Christ. They are nearly 25 feet in thickness. At Sparta, Argos, and 

 Corinth there are few distinct ruins. Near the latter is an amphitheatre, cut in the rock, and at 

 Sparta are the remains of a large theatre, which has some marks of Roman architecture or re- 

 pairs. But the ruins of Sparta are hardly to be traced. At Corinth are 7 columns, supporting 

 their architraves, of the Doric order. They are of stone. They are heavy and inelegant, and 

 of great antiquity. (See cut on page 699.) 



The islands have many ruins. At Caularia are the remains of the Temple of Neptune, 

 where Demosthenes expired, and his monument remained in the precincts of the temple, in 

 the second century. At iEgina is the Temple of Jupiter Panhelleneus, one of the most an- 

 cient and remarkable ruins of Greece. The inhabitants of iEgina, in a very remote age, at- 

 tributed it to jEacus. There are 23 Doric columns standing on a mountain, and rising among 

 trees. In several other islands are theatres, in good preservation, and dilapidated temples. 

 Continental Greece, however, has the most perfect and interesting remains. Delphi has many 

 mouldering ruins, but none in such preservation as to show how ancient art delighted to adorn 

 that seat of the muses. The Castalian spring, issuing from a rock is received into a large 

 square basin, with steps to it cut in the rock. There are niches cut also in the face and sides 

 of the precipice. The present Delphians season their casks in the fountain, by which, says a 

 traveler, they seem to preserve the ancient connexion between Bacchus and Apollo. There 

 is no vestige of the Temple of A])ollo, nor can its site be identified. The theatre has disap- 

 peared, but there are some traces of the stadium and gymnasium. The prophetic cavern is 

 sought for in vain. The brazen pillar, that supported the tripod, is at Constantinople. 



Athens, however, is the only place in Greece in which the traveler may, on a distant view, 

 suppose, that he is not in a country of ruins. The distant view of the Acropolis and its tem- 

 ples, is, in general effect, what it was in the days of Pericles ; but with the distance the de- 

 lusion vanishes. The vicinity is seen strewed with ruins, among which are standing columns, 

 and in the town, ancient marbles are found in the pavements and walls of houses. The first vis- 

 it of a stranger is to the Acropolis, or citadel, as at Rome it is to the Forum. The top of the 

 hill is surrounded by walls. The space is about 800 feet long and 400 broad ; a noble espla- 

 nade for the magnificent structure that crowns it. The color of these monuments is of a golden 

 tint, like autumnal foliage. The Parthenon, or Temple of Minerva, the great fountain of art, 

 whose form and proportions are so often copied in Europe and America, is on the most elevat- 

 ed ground. It is an oblong parallelogram, with a vestibule and portico. The columns of these 

 rest immediately on the steps of the temple, of which there are three. They are without bases, 

 fluted, of the Doric order, 42 feet in height and at the bottom 17| in diameter. The whole 

 structure was 218 feet in length and 98| in breadth. The portico or pronaos occupies about 

 one third of the length of the edifice. The frieze of the vestibule was decorated with trigliphs 

 of the Doric order, and between these were metopes, or tablets of marble, sculptured by Phi- 

 dias or his pupils, with the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithse. The top of the wall of the 

 temple was decorated with other long basso relievos. Lord Elgin, the British envoy at Con- 

 stantinople, caused the best of the sculptures to be taken down and removed. Within the 

 walls are also included the relics of the Propylaea, and the ruins of the Temple of Victory. 

 Behind the former, towards the city, is the Pandrosaeum, and the double Temple of Neptune 



