Yes; in those fragments, though by time defaced,
And rude, insensate conquerors, yet remains
All that may charm th' enlightened eye of taste,
On shores where still inspiring freedom reigns.
As vital fragrance breathes from every part
Of the crushed myrtle, or the bruised rose,
E'en thus th' essential energy of art
There in each wreck imperishably glows!
The soul of Athens lives in every line,
Pervading brightly still the ruins of her shrine.
--MRS. HEMANS.
North of the Parthenon stood the Erechthe'um, an irregular but
beautiful structure of the Ionic order, dedicated to the worship
of Neptune and Minerva. Considerable remains of it are still
standing. In addition to the great edifices of the Acropolis
referred to, which were adorned with the most finished paintings
and sculptures, the entire platform of the hill appears to have
been covered with a vast composition of architecture and sculpture,
consisting of temples, monuments, and statues of gods and heroes.
The whole Acropolis was at once the fortress, the sacred enclosure,
and the treasury of the Athenian people--forming the noblest museum
of sculpture, the richest gallery of painting, and the best school
of architecture in the world.
2. OTHER ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS OF ATHENS.
Beneath the southern wall of the Acropolis was the Theatre of
Bacchus, capable of seating thirty thousand persons, and the
seats of which, rising one above another, were cut out of the
sloping rock. Adjoining this on the east was the Ode'um, a smaller
covered theatre, built by Pericles, and so constructed as to
imitate the form of Xerxes's tent. On the north-east side was
the Prytane'um, where were many statues, and where citizens who
had rendered service to the state were maintained at the public
expense. A short distance to the north-west of the Acropolis,
and separated from it only by some hollow ground, was the small
eminence called Areop'agus, or Hill of Mars, at the eastern
extremity of which was situated the celebrated court of Areopagus.
About a quarter of a mile south-west stood the Pnyx, the place
where the public assemblies of Athens were held in its palmy
days, and a spot that will ever be associated with the renown
of Demosthenes and other famed orators. The steps by which the
speaker mounted the rostrum, and a tier of three seats for the
audience, hewn in the solid rock, are still visible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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