Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/300

ruins of a small church, dedicated to S. Dionysius the Areiopagite, and commemorating his conversion here by St. Paul. (Act. Apost. xvii. 34.)

At the opposite or south-eastern angle of the hill, 45 or 50 yards distant from the steps, there is a wide chasm in the rocks, leading to a gloomy recess, within which there is a fountain of very dark water. This was the sanctuary of the Eumenides, commonly called by the Athenians the Semnae (al 2*/wa0i '»^ Venerable Goddesses. (Paus. i. 28. § 6: <iTi>|i<n|iifo tit3iinAt Brit it 'Uptiif mt/v, Dimarch. c. Dem. p. 35, Reiske.) The cavern itself formed the temple, with probably an artificial construction in front. Its position is frequently referred to by the Tragic poets, who also speak of the chasm of the earth (T^Tof Tap' oXnhr x^^y^ ^^ rorrw x^'i'i, Eur. Elect. 1271), and the subterranean chamber (dJAo/iot .... iutA y^t, Aesch. Eumen. 1004, seq.). It was probably in consequence of the subterranean nature of the sanctuary of these goddesses that torches wen employed in their ceremonies. "Aeschylus imagined the procession which escorted the Eumenides to this their temple, as descending the rocky steps above described from the platform of the Areiopagus, then winding round the eastern angle of that hill, and conducting them with the sound of music and the glare of torches along this rocky ravine to this dark enclosure." (Wordsworth.) Within the sacred enclosure was the monument of Oedipus. (Paus. i. 28. § 7.)

Between the sanctuary of the Semnae and the lowest gate of the Acropolis stood the heroum of Heyschus, to whom a ram was immolated before the sacrifices to the Eumenides. (Schol. ad Soph. Oed. Col. 489.) His descendants, the Hesychidae, were the hereditary priests of these goddesses. (Comp. Müller, Eumenides, p. 206, seq., Engl. Trans.) Near the same spot was the monument of Cylon, erected on the spot where he was slain. (Leake, p. 358.)

2. The Pnyx.

The Pnyx (), or place of assembly of the Athenian people, formed part of the surface of a low rocky hill, at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the centre of the Areiopagus hill. "The Pnyx may be best described as an area formed by the segment of a circle, which, as it is very nearly equal to a semicircle, for the sake of conciseness, we shall assume as such. The radius of this semicircle varies from about 60 to 80 yards. It is on a sloping ground, which shelves down very gently toward the hollow of the ancient agora, which was at its foot on the NE. The chord of this semicircle is the highest part of this slope; the middle of its arc is the lowest; and this last point of the curve is cased by a terras wall of huge polygonal blocks, and of about 15 feet in depth at the center: this terras wall prevents the soil of the slope from lapsing down into the valley of the agora beneath it. The chord of this semicircle is formed by a line of rock, vertically hewn, so as to present to the spectator, standing in the area, the face of a flat wall.^[1] In the middle point of this wall of rock, and projecting from, ans applied to it, is a solid rectangular block,

ATHENAE. hewn from the same rock." (Wordsworth.) This is the celebrated Bema (Bima), or pulpit, often called "the Stone" (J XfOor, comp. if i^yop^ wpbt Tp hie^, Plut. Solon, 25), from whence the orators addressed the multitude in the semicircular area before them. The bema looks towards the NE, that is, towards the agora. It is 11 feet broad, rising from a graduated basis: the summit is broken; but the present height is about 20 feet. It was accessible on the right and left of the orator by a flight of steps. As the destinies of Athens were swayed by the orators from this pulpit, the term "the stone" is familiarly used as s figure of the govern-

ment of the state: and the "master of the stone" indicates the ruling statesman of the day (SirriT poTii rvr TeS MAiv rei! 'y vf n«rl, Aristoph. Pax, 680; comp. Acharn. 683, Thesmoph. 528, seq.) The position of the bema commanded a view of the Propylaea and the other magnificent edifices of the Acropolis, while beneath it was the city itself studded with monuments of Athenian glory. The Athenian orators frequently roused the national feelings of the audience by pointing to "that Propylaea there," and to the other splendid buildings, which they had in view from the Pnyx. (IlpoiruXaia TiwTci, Hesych, s. v.; Dem. c. Androt. pp 597, 617; Aesch. de Fals. Leg. p. 253.)

The position and form of the remains that have been just described agree so perfectly with the statements of ancient writers respecting the Pnyx (see authorities quoted by Leake, p. 179), that it is surprising that there should ever have been any doubt of their identity. Yet Spon took them for those of the Areiopagus. Wheler was in doubt whether they belonged to the Areiopagus or the Odeium, and Stuart regarded them as those of the theatre of Regilla. Their true identity was first pointed out by Chandler; and no subsequent writer has entertained any doubt on the subject.

The Pnyx appears to have been under the special protection of Zeus. In the wall of rock, on either side of the bema, are several niches for votive offerings. In clearing away the earth below, several of these

offerings were discovered, consisting of bas-reliefs representing different parts of the body in white marble, and dedicated to Zeus the Supreme (Alt' 'T^Wfi).

1. Hence it is aptly compared by Mure to a theatre, the shell of which, instead of curving upwards, slopes downwards from the orchestra.