Greece / Painted by John Fulleylove; described by J.A. McClymont

by J. A. M'Clymont

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

The timber scaffolding, here shown, has been erected for the purpose of examining the condition of the architrave supporting the western frieze. The columns to the right are those of the inner row. The marvellous way in which the marble of the Parthenon takes colour is in no way exaggerated in this drawing. The second column of the northern peristyle (the column across which one of the beams of the scaffolding passes transversely) should be specially noticed. The time of day is towards noon.

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