Page:English Historical Review Volume 35.djvu/358

360 THE VENETIAN REVIVAL IN GREECE July columns standing, under the name of the ' Palace of Hadrian ', the monument of Philopappos under that of the * Arch of Trajan ', the gate of Athene Archegetis under that of the ' Temple of Augustus or Arch of Triumph ', the adjacent Porch of Hadrian under that of the ' Temple of Olympian Zeus ', and the Pinako- theke under that of the ' Arsenal of Lykourgos '. The Tower of the Winds figures as the ' Gymnasium of Sokrates ', the chor- agic monument of Lysikrates as the ' Lantern of Demosthenes'. The marble lion at the Piraeus, they tell us, had been ' transported there in honour of Leonidas ', while the statue of the tongueless lioness which stood towards the sea commemorated Leaina, the mistress of Harmodios and Aristogeiton, who had bitten out her tongue rather than betray them under torture.^ These accounts are a curious contribution to the Mirabilia of Athens ; but, despite this casual display of popular erudition, the army was not archaeologically minded, the Germans less so than the more cultured Venetians. A Hessian ensign ^ wrote home to his mother mainly about food, regretting that the excellent fresh vegetables were over, wishing that he had a cask of Grerman beer instead of a cask of Athenian wine, and telling her that he had drunk her health in * the temple of the celebrated Demo- sthenes ' (the choragic monument of Lysikrates), which the Capuchins had bought eighteen years earlier and in which his colonel was lodged. He added that he had often dined at Corinth in the temple in which St. Paul preached, and that Athens produced grapes of the size described in the Old Testament. Nor do we obtain much archaeological information from the observant companion of Countess von Koenigsmark. She wrote that her mistress's bad attack of measles had prevented her from making notes in her journal of the antiquities which she had fieen. ' Besides ', she added, ' there are several descriptions of them ', and she specially alluded to the recent work of Spon and Wheler. As for the archaeological knowledge of the Greek inhabitants, she wrote that ' you cannot find any of them who know as much about their ancestors as foreigners do '.' In justice to the Athenians it must be said that Romans are not always specialists upon the Forum, nor Londoners upon the Tower. She found, however, a local doctor to conduct her round the town : he told her that he belonged to the family of Perikles. Those of us who have travelled in Greece have been introduced to other descendants of the great Athenian statesman. The Swedish lady liked Athens. ' The town ', she wrote, * is better than any of the others. There are some very pretty houses, Greek as well as Turkish.' She remarked upon the hospitality of the • AcXr/ov T^r 'IffT. leal 'E$v. 'Eratpiai, V. 222-7 ; Locatelli, ii. 24-34. » Laborde, ii 368. » Ibid. ii. 279.