J. A. M'Clymont

AMONG the influences which contributed to the greatness and glory of Athens the worship of the goddess Athena must be assigned a principal place. In her fully developed character she represented the highest ideal of the Greek mind, and formed the noblest figure in the Greek pantheon. She may be described as the impersonation of wisdom, courage, and energy—equally powerful as the patron goddess of the arts of peace and of the exploits of war. The mythical account of her birth, which represented her as sprung from the head of Zeus after he had swallowed her mother Metis (“Counsel”), betokened her affinity with the highest faculties of the supreme Ruler; and in harmony with this is the etherial nature which was commonly ascribed to her by Homer and other early writers. Her home was supposed to be in the upper regions, the ether being regarded as her proper element. Hence the clearness and brightness which were commonly attributed to her, as well as the keen, rapid, energetic character by which she was also distinguished.

Out of the seventeen columns of the northern peristyle the remains of fourteen, more or less perfect, may be counted on the right. Six of them, which have stood unmoved for more than twenty-two centuries, are distinguished by their splendid colour, almost matching in this respect the second column of the west front, which is also visible. The remains of the north cella wall are seen to the left. The two drums of columns in shadow in the foreground reflect the pure blue of the early morning sky. Over their tops may be seen part of the PropylÆa, and the mountains of Daphni and Megara.

Athena appears to have been worshipped as a powerful and beneficent deity in many places, but it was at Athens that the more intellectual aspects of her nature were brought into the greatest prominence. How she came to be so closely associated with Athens as to give her name to the city (previously known as “Cecropia”) is a question that is not easily answered. According to the Attic mythology it was the result of a contest between her and Poseidon for local supremacy. In support of his claim Poseidon is said to have struck with his trident the rocky summit of the Acropolis, the result being that a salt-water spring appeared, from which there emerged a horse (supposed to be sacred to Poseidon from its resemblance to a rushing wave); and this gift the lord of the ocean set before the assembled jury of the gods as a token of the benefits which he had to confer. Athena then caused an olive-tree to spring up as the symbol of her beneficence, which secured from Zeus Polieus a judgment in her favour. Perhaps the story may have had its origin in the gradual retreat of the sea from the Attic plains; but there is evidently a reference in it to the comparative value of land and water interests, the former being represented by Athena, and the latter by Poseidon. In their early days the Athenians had no idea of the importance of the sea as the destined scene of their naval supremacy; and of all the products of their country the olive was no doubt the most indispensable to them. For its cultivation some knowledge was required, and perhaps also the nature of its oil, with which the lamps were fed, may have helped to make the olive an appropriate emblem of the brilliant goddess. The whole history of Athens, from the rude beginnings of her civilisation till the age of her imperial glory, may be seen reflected, after a symbolic fashion, in the gradual transition of her worship from the wooden image of Athena Polias, which was said to have fallen from heaven, to the magnificent statue of gold and ivory which Pheidias made for the Parthenon; and one of the most interesting studies in art is to be found in tracing the successive stages through which the majestic virgin-goddess was evolved.

As already mentioned, the earliest temple of Athena was connected with the palace of Erechtheus. A little south of the present Erechtheum the foundations of a temple have been discovered, made of Acropolis rock, and corresponding in their length to the name Hecatompedon (“Hundred-Foot”), which was afterwards applied to a portion of the Parthenon. Traces have also been found of a peristyle, which Peisistratus is supposed to have erected, consisting of six columns at each end and ten at each side, made of Kara stone taken from the foot of Hymettus. Various fragments have been unearthed, and in the north-west wall of the Acropolis pieces of the architrave and cornice, with metopes of white Parian marble, are still to be seen, having been built into it by Cimon as a reminder of the destruction wrought by the Persians. Whether the ancient temple of Athena Polias (guardian of the City), which is mentioned in inscriptions and elsewhere, is to be identified

with this recently discovered building, or with the Erechtheum, which (in the form in which it was restored after the Persian invasion) still forms one of the chief ornaments of the Acropolis, is a question on which there is a considerable difference of opinion; but the weight of probability seems to be in favour of the latter supposition.

The age of Peisistratus was distinguished by wonderful advances both in art and literature, largely owing to the encouragement which he gave to sculptors, painters, architects, poets and dramatists, many of whom he brought from other parts of Greece and from Asia Minor. The capitals and drums of columns and the specimens of decorative sculpture which have come to light on the Acropolis, show what progress had been made in this direction since the beginning of the sixth century, when Athenian art was still in its infancy. One of the most interesting discoveries in this connection was that of a number of female figures in marble (in 1886) which were found buried in a grave on the Acropolis, the Athenians having, apparently, felt that this was the most reverent way to dispose of them, seeing they were so mutilated as to be no longer suitable as votive offerings. They bore the name of “Maidens,” and were probably the images of priestesses or other officials connected with the worship of Athena. Most of them are represented as wearing the Ionic chiton without brooches, the old Doric garment having been forbidden some time previously on account of the tragic use which had been made of their pins by the Athenian women on the occasion referred to at p. 82. There are fourteen of these figures, called by the Germans “die Tanten,” and their importance in connection with the study of sixth-century art can hardly be overestimated. The effect of their varied colouring is particularly interesting.

It was part of the policy of Peisistratus to harmonise the different religious cults of the state, and for this purpose he erected temples to Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus and other deities. The temple of Zeus, in particular, seems to have been designed on a grand scale (though never completed), for some of the drums of its columns, discovered among the foundations of the temple afterwards erected by Hadrian on the same site beside the Ilissus, have a diameter of seven feet ten inches, which exceeds anything of the same period to be found in Greece. Peisistratus’ chief care, however, was bestowed upon the Acropolis, where he sought to invest the worship of Athena with such splendour and beauty as to maintain her ascendency. For this purpose he added greatly to the magnificence of the Pan-Athenaic games, which he almost raised to a Pan-Hellenic rank, and the celebration of which was chosen as the occasion for the opening of the Parthenon. The beautifully embroidered peplos, which was annually prepared as a covering for the wooden image of the goddess, formed the chief ornament in the great procession to the Acropolis, and the interest of the proceedings culminated in the solemn dedication of the gift. It is also significant that it was under Peisistratus

that coins were first struck with the head of Athena on one side, and on the other the likeness of an owl—an emblem which is still worn in their caps by the schoolboys of Greece, and in which there may be a reference to the supposed power of the owl to see in the dark, a power associated, in an intellectual sense, with glaukopis Athena. It was to the goddess that Peisistratus seems to have attributed his success in regaining power on his return to Athens after his temporary exile. In order to give the Athenians the impression that their guardian deity favoured his return, he is said to have got a tall and stately woman to assume the guise of Athena and sit by his side in the chariot which drew him up to the Acropolis, his partisans at the same time crying out that Athena bade the city welcome her protÉgÉ to the seat of authority. The supposed goddess was said to have been only a flower-seller, Phya by name, who afterwards married one of Peisistratus’ sons.

Before the Persians quitted Athens they reduced to ruins or to ashes the temples and most of the other buildings of any value, and many years were required for the work of restoration. Fully a generation passed before any of the three temples on the Acropolis which excite so much admiration—the Parthenon, the Erechtheum, and the NikÉ—were ready for dedication. This delay was partly owing to the more pressing need for attending to the renewal of the city walls and other fortifications, partly to the alteration which was made on Cimon’s plan for the erection of the Parthenon. His name is associated not only with the massive wall on the southern side of the Acropolis but also with an enormous substructure intended to level up the sloping rock of the Acropolis and fill up the vacant space within the wall. This substructure was evidently intended to be the basis for a longer and narrower temple than the existing Parthenon, as it projects about fifteen feet at the east end, and bears traces of having had an addition of a few feet made to its breadth.

It was not till 447 B.C., when Pericles was at the height of his power, that the building of the temple was actually commenced; and it took about ten years to finish. Pericles had previously made an appeal to other Greek cities to unite with Athens in some such commemoration of their victory over the Persians, but the response was disappointing. Fortunately, however, other means were available, owing to many of the states allied with Athens in the Delian League commuting into money-payments the obligations they were under to contribute ships to the defensive navy of which Athens was the head. It was this Delian fund mainly which enabled Pericles to carry out his great project for glorifying the Acropolis as the throne of Athena and the rallying-point of Hellenic patriotism. Of all the architectural monuments of the Periclean age the Parthenon is by far the grandest, producing a wonderful impression of strength and dignity and grace. There is a charm in the subtle harmony of its proportions quite apart from the rich decoration of frieze and pediment. The perfect unity of plan which it

exhibits was no doubt due to the genius of Pheidias, assisted by the architectural skill of Ictinus and Callicrates, while the mechanical precision and careful finish in the execution prove the competency of the sculptors and masons who were employed under their supervision. It is surprising how much attention was paid to nice optical considerations, which must have been very difficult to calculate, though they enhance greatly the general effect. For example, there is scarcely a straight line in the whole edifice, quadrangular as it is. There is a slight convex curve on the line of the steps and of the substructure, and the same is the case with the architrave. There is a gentle swelling of the columns towards their centre, and the axes of the columns incline slightly inwards.

Nowhere, perhaps, is the fineness of the workmanship more apparent than in the joining of the drums composing each column, generally twelve in number, and rising to a height of thirty-four feet. They fit so closely and exactly that they almost look as if they had grown together. In this respect there is a marked difference between the columns which have never been disturbed and those which have been restored by the collection of fallen drums. The smoothing of the flat surfaces of the drum was mainly done in the quarry, the part near the centre being left rough and slightly hollow. There was a hole in the centre for a wooden plug, into which a cylindrical peg was inserted for the purpose of securing an exact correspondence in the position of the drums. The fluting—each column has twenty flutes—was done after the drums were in position, with the exception of a beginning that was previously made on the stones intended for the top and bottom of the column.

Of the outer colonnade, comprising eight columns at each end, and fifteen others at each side, with an inner row of columns at each end, the greater number are still in position, though in some cases in a fragmentary form; the chief gaps are about the middle of the sides. There is hardly any trace of the sculptures on the pediments. Part of those which stood at the east end, representing the birth of Athena, are to be found in the British Museum. Those of the west gable, representing the contest between Athena and Poseidon, have entirely disappeared. Great part of the outer Doric frieze still remains, including forty-one of the original ninety-two metopes, on which were depicted various mythical battle scenes. The best remaining, both as regards workmanship and condition, are those on the south side, representing the struggles of the Lapiths and Centaurs. The inner frieze, running round the top of the temple walls, and surmounting the inner columns, represented the great Pan-Athenaic festival, including figures, in low relief, of knights and chariots, magistrates and maidens, priests and victims, and terminating in an assembly of the gods at the east end. The most of this frieze and fifteen of the metopes are preserved in the British Museum. They had been carried off by Lord Elgin at the beginning of the nineteenth century, with the consent of the

Turkish government, and were purchased from him at a cost of £35,000.

The almost total disappearance of the bright and varied colouring which enhanced the beauty of certain parts of the building, and the loss of so many of the wonderful sculptures, as well as the gaps in the walls and colonnade, detract greatly from the ancient glory of the building. But time has added a golden tinge to the Pentelic marble of which it is composed, and the whole exterior wears a rich and mellow aspect,—especially when seen under the light of the rising or the setting sun,—which affords some compensation for the damage sustained in other respects. Very beautiful, too, the temple seems in the light of a full moon, when the soft radiance lends an etherial look to it, standing as it does between heaven and earth, and harmonises well with the virgin purity which the very name Parthenon denotes.

The full length of the temple is about 230 feet, and its breadth about 100 feet. It consisted of a pronaos or foretemple, for the reception of votive offerings; the cella proper, forming the new hecatompedon, and divided into three long aisles by two rows of Doric columns; the parthenon, a name afterwards extended to the whole building, but originally applied to a chamber towards the west; and the opisthodomos, enclosed (like the pronaos) with high railings between the columns. The two last-mentioned chambers were used as treasuries, but in the middle aisle of the hecatompedon stood the most precious thing of all, namely the chryselephantine image of the virgin-goddess, facing the doorway in the east, so as to catch the rays of the rising sun. The face, hands and feet were covered with ivory, the pupils of the eyes were of precious stone, while the rest of the image was embossed or inlaid with gold—amounting to upwards of forty talents (about £150,000)—which could be taken off when required. The statue was about thirty feet in height and stood on a pedestal about eight feet high, the position of which can easily be recognised from the setting of dark stone in the marble pavement. The line of the parapet in front is also quite distinct. Several descriptions of the statue have come down to us, and also some copies of it in miniature (especially the Varvakeion and Lenormant models, both found in Athens), which, however, give us a very inadequate conception of its beauty and grandeur. It was intended to be an embodiment of the energy, freedom and dignity characteristic of Athena as the representative of the genius of the young Athenian empire. She stood upright, resting her weight upon her right foot, having on her head a helmet with a triple crest, supported by a sphinx, and wearing on her shoulders and breast her scaly Ægis with the Gorgon’s head in the centre. Her left hand held a spear, which she rested on the rim of her embossed shield. On the inner side of the shield appeared the sacred serpent, the symbol of Erichthonius, her adopted ward. In her extended right hand she held a beautiful winged Victory. So lavish was the artist of his skill and labour in the construction of the statue that even the soles of Athena’s

sandals were embellished with carving. On the front of the pedestal also there was a picture of the mythical creation of Pandora in the presence of twenty divinities. The statue expressed the Hellenic aspirations of Pheidias as an artist and of Pericles as a statesman; and, as if to commemorate their harmonious influence, the great sculptor covertly introduced into the relief on the outside of Athena’s shield his own portrait and that of his friend—the former in the guise of a bald-headed old man lifting up a stone with both hands, the latter as a warrior fighting with an Amazon, his face partially concealed by his raised hand holding a spear. On this account some of Pheidias’ enemies brought against him a charge of impiety, founded upon an old law which forbade the setting up in sacred places of the images of living men. They had previously tried to ruin him by accusing him of embezzling part of the gold entrusted to him, but the charge had been triumphantly refuted by the actual weighing of the gold on the image, which was found to correspond exactly to the amount assigned for this object. Unfortunately the charge of impiety could not be so easily refuted, and, in spite of Pericles’ advocacy, Pheidias was compelled to pay a heavy fine and was thrown into prison, from which he does not appear to have been ever set free.

No monument seems ever to have been erected in honour of Pheidias, but for more than 2000 years the Parthenon, which will always be associated with his memory, retained the beauty of its exterior unimpaired. On the official abolition of the Greek religion by the Emperor Justinian in the end of the sixth century A.D. it was converted into the church of the “Virgin Mother of God,” which necessitated considerable changes on its interior to fit it for Christian worship. At a later time it was turned into a Turkish mosque, a minaret being added to it. In 1687 it was used as a powder magazine by the Turks, in their endeavours to hold the Acropolis against the Venetians under Morosini, who had already taken the city. This use of it became known to the besiegers, and by a well-directed shot a bomb was thrown into the magazine, causing a terrific explosion which blew out the roof and the two sides of the building—the combatants little realising what an irreparable loss had thus been inflicted on the interests of civilisation and art. Morosini would fain have carried off to Venice the chief figures on the west pediment, but, owing to the awkwardness of the workers employed, the precious sculptures fell to the ground and were broken to pieces.

There was on the Acropolis another colossal image of Athena—referred to by Demosthenes as “the great bronze Athena”—which had been set up as a memorial of Athenian valour in the Persian war from funds contributed by the rest of the Greeks. The base of its pedestal is still shown on the Acropolis between the PropylÆa and the Erechtheum. Pausanias tells us that the gleaming crest of the helmet and tip of the spear could be seen by ships sailing from Cape Sunium to Athens. There is good reason for identifying this Athena Promachos (“Champion”), as it came to be called

in later times, with an image of Athena which was destroyed in a riot at Constantinople in 1203 A.D., and about which the Byzantine historian Nicetas gives us the following particulars: “It was of bronze, thirty feet high. The goddess was portrayed standing upright, clad in a tunic which reached to her feet, and was drawn in by a girdle at the waist. On her breast was a tight-fitting Ægis with the Gorgon’s head. On her head she wore a helmet with a nodding plume of horse-hair. Her tresses were plaited and fastened at the back of her head, but some locks strayed over her brow from beneath the rim of the helmet. With her left hand she lifted the folds of her garment; her right hand was stretched out in front of her, and her face was turned in the same direction, as if she were beckoning to some one. There was a sweet look, as of love and longing, in the eyes, and the lips seemed as if about to part in honeyed speech. The ignorant and superstitious mob smashed the statue because, after the first siege and capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders, they fancied that the outstretched hand of the statue had summoned the host of the invaders from out of the West.”[5]

There was on the Acropolis a third image of the goddess by the great artist—known as the “Lemnian Athena”—in which she was represented in a mild and peaceful aspect. Pausanias speaks of it as the best worth seeing of the works of Pheidias; and with this harmonises a reference to it in one of the Dialogues of Lucian, who is the only other ancient writer that mentions it. Referring to a proposal that a perfect type of feminine beauty should be formed by combining the best features of the most famous statues, the Lemnian statue is mentioned as one that might supply the outline of the face with soft cheeks and shapely nose. Unfortunately no authentic copies of it have yet been discovered. Pausanias also mentions a statue dedicated to Athena Hygieia (“Health”) on the Acropolis, and Plutarch tells a story of its having been set up by Pericles in gratitude for a revelation made to him by the goddess in a dream regarding a medicinal herb which would cure a favourite slave of his, who had been injured by a fall while engaged in building operations. According to Pliny, the herb was known ever afterwards by the name of parthenium, but he connects the story with a statue of a slave. Another aspect in which Athena was worshipped was as ErganÉ the goddess of arts and industries; and no less than five inscriptions have been found on the Acropolis in honour of Athena under this title. Homer represents her as weaving her own robe, and according to Pindar the ship Argo was built under her direction. Close to the Lemnian image there stood a statue of Pericles, the chief maker of imperial Athens. It faced the PropylÆa and was much admired, being regarded as a proof how “art can add to the nobility of noble men.”

The two other temples which still adorn the Acropolis are of the Ionic order. They are much smaller and less imposing than the Parthenon, but

in some respects they may be regarded as even more beautiful. With regard to the Erechtheum, whatever may have been the case before the destruction of the sacred buildings by the Persians, it was the temple which now bears this name that was subsequently recognised by the state as the official place of worship, in which were preserved the ancient wooden image of Athena Polias (carefully removed to Salamis on the approach of the Persians) and the golden lamp which was never allowed to go out. Its erection a few years after the dedication of the Parthenon was probably due to the conservative tendencies in the state, of which Nicias was the exponent, in opposition to the bolder and more progressive policy of Pericles. There seems to have been considerable delay in the process of building, owing to the Peloponnesian war, and it was not till 408 B.C. that the work was complete. Nothing could be more exquisitely beautiful than the Ionic columns of the porch at the eastern end, and the CaryatidÆ, or “Maidens,” supporting the architrave of the portico on the southern side. Originally there were six of the former, but one of them was removed by Lord Elgin, and is now in the British Museum. The same fate befell one of the CaryatidÆ, which has been replaced with a terra-cotta cast, while another bears the marks of modern reconstruction. On the northern side of the temple, projecting a little beyond the west end, and at a considerably lower level than the parts already mentioned (the difference of height amounting to nine feet), there is a beautiful entrance, with four columns in front and one on either side. The doorway is regarded as the finest thing of the kind in existence. It leads into the Erechtheum proper. As already indicated, Erechtheus is one of the oldest names in Attic mythology. According to Hesiod, his daughter CreÜsa married Xuthus, son of Hellen and brother of Æolus and Dorus, the heads of the Æolian and Dorian branches of the Hellenic race; and, through his grandsons, AchÆus and Ion, Erechtheus became the progenitor of the AchÆans and Ionians. Homer again tells us that Erechtheus was worshipped in the temple of Athena (Il. ii. 549-551), and we learn from Pausanias that sacrifices were offered to him on the altar of Poseidon, by command of the oracle. The peculiar construction of the temple was doubtless due to the fact that it was intended for the accommodation of more than one deity. Under the lower chambers were shown (as they still are!) the marks of Poseidon’s trident and the sea-spring (now a great covered cistern) through which the noise of the waves could be heard when the wind was blowing from the south.

Immediately to the west of the temple was the Pandroseum, a precinct sacred to Pandrosus, one of the daughters of Cecrops, who obeyed the injunction of Athena when her two sisters gratified their curiosity by opening the box entrusted to them, the result being that they went mad when they saw disclosed the serpent-like Erichthonius whom Athena had taken under her charge. Somewhere in this neighbourhood was the Cecropium, probably a shrine over the tomb of Cecrops, and

here also may have been the den of the serpent which appears coiled beside Athena’s shield. Within the Pandroseum there grew the sacred olive-tree, of which we are told by Herodotus that, having been burnt down when the Persians devastated the Acropolis, it put forth a fresh shoot of a cubit’s length within two days—a presage of the speedy recovery of Athens from her crushing adversity. Under the olive-tree was the altar of Zeus HerkËus, which was, perhaps, originally included in the court of the palace of Erechtheus. At no great distance may also be seen the rocky elevation (a few feet in height) which is supposed to have been the primitive altar on which sacrifices were first offered to Athena. Like the Parthenon, the Erechtheum has passed through strange vicissitudes, having been at one time used as a Christian church and at another time as the residence for the wives of a Turkish governor of Athens—considerable alterations being made upon it in both cases.

The temple of NikÉ Apteros (“wingless victory”) stands on the edge of the Acropolis to the south of the PropylÆa. The term “wingless” has reference to the fact that Victory was generally represented as a winged woman, and Pausanias explains the want of wings on the statue of the goddess in this temple as expressing the faith of the Athenians that Victory would never desert their city. A more natural explanation is to be found in the fact that Victory is here represented under the guise of Athena, who was never depicted as having wings. The temple seems to have been erected some years before the Erechtheum, and about the same time as the PropylÆa and the Parthenon. Its history is in some respects even more remarkable than that of either of the other temples. It was demolished by the Turks in 1687 in order to afford materials for the construction of a bastion. In 1835, after the Greeks had regained their independence, the bastion was taken down, the result being that nearly all the fragments of marble were recovered and the temple restored very much in its original form. When it is closely examined the joints and patches betray its second-hand character (as do also some terra-cotta figures in the frieze, the originals having been removed some time before the restoration to the British Museum), but when it is seen from a little distance it presents a charming appearance. It is a very small temple, consisting of a cella sixteen feet long, with four Ionic columns in front and rear. Each of the column-shafts is made out of a single block of Pentelic marble, and has twenty-four flutes. There is a beautiful frieze with sculptures in high relief. On the eastern front is a representation of various divinities, while the subjects depicted on the three other sides are appropriate to the views seen in the several directions. The northern side looks towards Marathon, the southern towards Salamis, and on both these sides we see a representation of battles between Greeks and Persians; but on the western side, which looks towards CithÆron, there is a picture of a conflict between Greeks and Greeks, the Thebans having allied themselves with the

Persians at the battle of PlatÆa. Round three sides of the temple there was a parapet, breast-high, made of upright marble slabs, some of which have been recovered from the dÉbris. They are adorned with female figures representing Winged Victories, which display wonderful freedom and ease in execution, especially as regards the drapery. There is a beautiful view from the NikÉ, looking west and south, which has been finely described by Byron in “The Corsair”:—

In keeping with the splendour of the temples on the summit of the Acropolis was the PropylÆa, or great entrance, already mentioned. The magnificent marble staircase, 72 feet wide, which now leads up to it, was of later construction, under the Romans. But the porticoes of Pentelic marble at the top, with their rows of Doric and Ionic columns, supporting a marble roof, adorned with golden stars, and the adjoining chambers, one of which was used as a picture-gallery (pinacotheca), were built in the time of Pericles at a cost of more than £400,000, and were justly regarded as one of the chief glories of Athens, as their ruins still are of the modern city.

Within a few hundred yards of the Acropolis lies the small rocky hill called Areopagus. Although associated with the God of War in name and story, it was also the traditional scene of one of Athena’s greatest triumphs, when she held the scales of justice so wisely between the grief-stricken matricide Orestes and the avenging Erinyes or Furies who had dogged his steps all the way from Argos to Delphi and from Delphi to Athens. In the rocky cleft at the side of the hill was the awful shrine in which the relentless pursuers, otherwise called the Eumenides (“Gracious Ones”), found their quietus—the Areopagus becoming thenceforward the authorised tribunal for the trial of all cases of homicide, and superseding the savage law of blood-feud. It was on this same Mars’ Hill that the apostle of a higher faith pled with the Athenians for the recognition of the risen Christ, whom he proclaimed as the appointed representative of the “Unknown God,” whose altar he had observed in the adjacent market-place.