Pen Pictures of the Holy Land, VIII

Pen Pictures of the Holy Land. BY HAMILTON GARDNER. VIII.—Athens. From Athens the world has received a heritage such as has been given by no other city. In philosophy, in sculpture, in architecture, in the science of government, this city has probably contributed more than any other. As a center of art and learning it dominated the world of knowledge and culture for centuries. Its illustrious sons, too, have added greatly to its fame. What city would not enjoy prestige with such names among its roster of citizens as the philosophers Socrates, Aristotle and Plato; the law-giver Solon; the statesman Pericles; the orator Demosthenes; and the general Miltiades? A MACEDONIAN GUARD IN THE KING S GARDEN.

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 795 Athens, too, is not without its interesting ecclesiastical history. On Mar's Hill, the Apostle Paul delivered a speech to the assembled Athenians that remains to this day one of the three or four greatest orations in history. Afterward, he also established a branch of the Christian church here. Although the history of Athens dates back to 2,000 B. C, and although she was mistress of the known world for a long time, the city was only an insignificant place at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Since 1821, however, when Greece gained her independence from Turkey, and Athens was selected as the capital, THE ACROPOLIS. The temple on the center of the hill is the Parthenon. the growth of the city has been quite rapid. The result is that the traveler finds it distinctly modern—laid out as it is in straight, wide streets, and dotted with squares and parks. The present population is estimated at 150,000. The center of interest in Athens is the Acropolis—a steep, rocky hill, around which the ancient city was built. At first it served as a fortress to the fugitive Ionians who founded the city. Later it came to be the center of religious worship, and the important temples were erected on it. The chief business of the state was also transacted on the Acropolis. Today the hill is covered with the ruins of the old temples—one to Nike and one to Athena being the principal ones.

796 IMPROVEMENT ERA. As the Acropolis is the center of Athens, so is the Parthenon the gem of the Acropolis. The Parthenon is considered the most perfect building ever erected by man. Attempts have been made to duplicate it, but it is still regarded as standing alone in its architectural perfection. Although built in 437-38 B.*C., enough of it still remains to impress the observer with its grandeur. The Parthenon is approximately 225 feet long and 100 feet wide. A double row of columns ran around it, and the whole was covered with a gabled roof. Part of an exquisitely sculptured frieze, which was originally 524 feet long, still stands. To appear perfectly harmonious to the eye, the columns were made to lean slightly inward and the platform to bulge up a little in the center. This fact I verified by sighting along the floor. If in imagination one could restore the Parthenon with its insurpassable architecture, its beautiful frieze, its ninety-eight columns and fifty life-size statues; and then fill the courtyard of the Acropolis with costly shrines, with here and there a religious procession passing; and last of all, people the whole with classic Greeks, clad in their flowing white togas—we should have a picture which, in classic beauty at least, could not be surpassed. On the sloping hillside of the Acropolis, now almost over-run with weeds, is the ancient Greek theatre of Dionysius. The seats were cut out of the rock in the shape of a half-circle, higher FRONT VIEW OF THE PARTHENON.

PEN PICTURES 01 [THE HOLY LAND. 797 than, and facing, the stage. Originally the theatre held fifteen thousand spectators. Curtains and other modern stage contrivances were, of course, completely lacking—the players merely came out from behind a low wall. The first row of seats belonged to the dignitaries of the church and the state. True to the American irreverence for things ancient, and their desire to assert their equality with anyone else, one of us, while a picture was taken, occupied the seat which the inscription said once belonged to the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Mar's Hill, where Paul delivered his famous sermon on the "Unknown God," rises near the Acropolis. It is simply a projecting backbone of rock. American propensities again asserted THE TEMPLE OF DIONYSIUS. themselves here. Not having a Bible along, one of us took a Baedeker guide book and, assuming a "Ye-men-of-Athens" pose, was photographed on the spot where Paul addressed the Athenians centuries before. Modern Athens also contains many other treasures from the past. One of the most important is the Theseum, a temple dedicated to Theseus, the mythical founder of the city, and built in the style of the Parthenon. It is, however, the much better preserved of the two, in fact is considered the best preserved of all Greek builidings. The ruins of the great temple of Jupiter also

798 IMPROVEMENT ERA. THE THESEUM. deserve mention, as well as the Triumphal Arch erected by the Emperor Hadrian. And not the least interesting is the new stadium, erected on the site of the old stadium, where the Olympic games were held, and where in 1906 the American athletes easily defeated the rest of the world in a revival of this ancient festival. The best idea of the wonderful high plane on which the Greek sculpture stood, can be obtained in the National Museum. Here the thousands of busts depict, with striking vividness, the ability with which Helenic sculptors could portray character in marble and bronze. The marvelously well-preserved vases and urns also give an admirable picture of Grecian life and character. Besides these, there are antiquities of all kinds—weapons, ornaments, reliefs from tombs, and vessels of gold, silver and clay. Of the life and customs of the modern Greeks, I need say nothing here. The Greek population of the United States is sufficient that Americans can obtain this information at home. mar's hill. I LA*. v L H V