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ATHENS. I.—Ancient Athens. RECENT investigation on scientific lines has thrown a new and unexpected light on the art, the monuments, and the topography of ancient Athens. Numerous and costly excavations have been carried out by the Greek Government and by native and foreign scientific societies, while accidental discoveries have been frequently made during the building of the modern town. The museums, enriched by a constant inflow of works of art and inscriptions, have been carefully and scientifically arranged, and afford opportunities for systematic study denied to scholars of the past generation. Improved means of communication have enabled many acute observers to apply the test of scrutiny on the spot to theories and conclusions mainly based on literary evidence; five foreign schools of archaeology, directed by eminent scholars, lend valuable aid to students of all nationalities, and lectures are frequently delivered in the museums and on the more interesting and important sites. The native archaeologists of the present day hold a recognized position in the scientific world ; the patriotic sentiment of former times, which prompted their zeal but occasionally warped their judgment, has been merged in devotion to science for its own sake, and the supervision of excavations, as well as the control of the art-collections, is now in highly competent hands. Athens has thus become a centre of learning, a meeting-place for scholars, and a basis for research in every part of the Greek world. The attention of many students has naturally been concentrated on the ancient city, the birthplace of European art and literature, and a great development of investigation and discussion in the special domain of Athenian archaeology has. given rise to a voluminous literature. Many theories hitherto universally accepted have been called in question or proved to be unsound: the views of Leake, for instance, have been challenged on various points, though many of the conclusions of that great topographer have been justified and confirmed by modern research. The supreme importance of a study of Greek antiquities on the spot, long understood by scholars on the Continent and in America, is gradually coming to be recognized in England, where a close attention to ancient texts, not always adequately supplemented by a course of local study and observation, has hitherto fostered a peculiarly conservative attitude in regard to the problems of Greek archaeology. Since the foundation of the German Institute in 1874, Athenian topography has to a large extent become a speciality of German scholars, among whom Wilhelm Dorpfeld occupies a pre-eminent position owing to his great architectural attainments and unrivalled local knowledge. Many of his bold and novel theories have provoked strenuous opposition, while others have met with general acceptance, except among scholars of the more old-fashioned type. Prehistoric Athens.—Numerous traces of the. “Mycenaean ” epoch have recently been brought to light in Athens and its neighbourhood. Among the T a Iy ctnd a i of thisare agethediscovered the sur" ' monuments rounding districts rock-hewnin tombs of Spata, accidentally revealed by a landslip in 18/7, and the domed sepulchre at Menidi, near the ancient Acharnae, excavated by Lolling in 1879. Other “Mycenaean landmarks have been laid bare at Eleusis, Thoricus, Halae, and Aphidna. These structures, however, are of comparatively
minor importance in point of dimensions and decoration; they were apparently designed as places of sepulture for local chieftains, whose domains were afterwards incorporated in the Athenian realm by the o-woikict/xos attributed to Theseus. The situation of the Acropolis, dominating the surrounding plain and possessing easy communication with the sea, favoured the formation of a relatively powerful state — inferior, however, to Tiryns and Mycenae; the myths of Cecrops, Erechtheus, and Theseus bear witness to the might of the princes who ruled in the Athenian citadel, and here we may naturally expect to find traces of massive fortifications resembling in some degree those of the great Argolid cities. Such, in fact, have been brought to light by the recent excavations on the Acropolis (18851889). Remains of primitive polygonal walls which undoubtedly surrounded the entire area have been found at various points a little within the circuit of the existing parapet. The best preserved portions are at the eastern extremity, at the northern side near the ancient “ royal ” exit, and at the south-western angle. The course of the walls can be traced with a few interruptions along the southern side. On the northern side are the foundations of a primitive tower and other remains, apparently of dwelling-houses, one of which may have been the ttv/uvos 86/jlos ’Epey^ijos mentioned by Homer (Od. vii. 81). Among the foundations were discovered fragments of “ Mycenaean ” pottery. The various approaches to the citadel on the northern side—the rock-cut flight of steps north-east of the Erechtheion, the stairs leading to the well Clepsydra, and the intermediate passage supposed to have furnished access to the Persians—are all to be attributed to the primitive epoch. Two pieces of polygonal wall, one beneath the bastion of Nike Apteros, the other in a direct line between the Roman gateway and the door of the Propylsea, are all that remain of the primitive defences of the main entrance. These early fortifications of the Acropolis, ascribed to the primitive non-Hellenic Pelasgi, must be distinguished from the Pelasgicum or Pelargicum, which PeIaSm was in all probability an encircling wall, built gicum. round the base of the citadel and furnished with nine gates from which it derived the name of Enneapylon. Such a wall would be required to protect the clusters of dwellings around the Acropolis as well as the springs issuing from the rock, while the gates opening in various directions would give access to the surrounding pastures and gardens. This view, which is that of Curtius, alone harmonizes with the statement of Herodotus (vi. 137) that the wall was “ around ” (tht/m) the Acropolis and that of Thucydides (ii. 17) that it was “ beneath ” (viro) the fortress. Thus it would appear that the citadel had an outer and an inner line of defence in pre-historic times. The space enclosed by the outer wall was left unoccupied after the Persian wars in deference to an oracular response apparently dictated by military considerations, the maintenance of an open zone being desirable for the defence of the citadel. A portion of the outer wall has been recognized in a piece of primitive masonry discovered near the Odeion of Herodes Atticus; other traces will probably come to light when the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis have been completely explored. Leake, whom Frazer follows, assumed the Pelasgicum to be a fortified space at the western end of the Acropolis; this view necessitates the assumption that I the nine gates were built one within the other, but early
