He took refuge in the temple of Athena _Chalciœcus_, on learning that a confidential slave had betrayed him. The ephors immediately built up the doors and took off the roof, keeping watch over the refugee, and carrying him out at the last moment, that the sacred precinct might not be polluted by his death. Both cases are curious illustrations of the way in which men will try at times to evade their religious obligations without giving up their form of godliness. The divine anger in the case of the Spartans was only appeased by the dedication of two bronze statues to Athena in obedience to the Delphian oracle. On the break-up of the Athenian empire, after the battle of Ægospotami, a remnant of the former Dorian [Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA ON THE ISLAND OF ÆGINA The Temple, which is magnificently situated on the top of one of the hills near Mount Elias, in the southern part of the island, looks eastward towards Cape Colonna, over the blue waters of the Saronic Gulf. The coast seen above the sea is part of the west coast of Attica running down to Sunium. The drawing includes five out of the six columns of the east front of the Temple, and five out of the twelve columns of the north side, also two columns of the _pronaos_, together with the architraves. These columns are of limestone, still partly covered with their marble stucco.] inhabitants of Ægina was brought back by the Spartans, and the Athenian settlers were expelled. But in spite of the occasional success of their naval strategy, by which they took the Piræus once or twice completely by surprise, the Æginetans never recovered any considerable degree of their former prosperity. At the present day the chief attraction which Ægina has to offer to the traveller, over and above the pleasant sail from the Piræus, with its interesting points of view, is a Doric temple of the sixth century or even earlier, standing in solitary grandeur, on the summit of a hill which commands a beautiful view of the plain of Attica on the north and the Argolic peninsula on the west. It was once thought to be the temple of Zeus described by Pausanias, but latterly it has been identified as the temple of Athena mentioned by Herodotus. Within the last few years, however, a new theory has been put forth by Professor Fürtwangler, who holds it to be the temple of Aphæa mentioned by Pausanias, a goddess nearly related to Artemis as a protector of women. In any case the twenty columns still standing form an imposing monument, and are well worthy of a visit, though the sculptures on the pediments are no longer to be seen, having been purchased by the King of Bavaria and deposited in the museum at Munich. CHAPTER IX ATHENS AND ITS GODDESS