CHAPTER XIV—ATHENS ANCIENT AND MODERN—SIGHTS AND SCENES IN THE GRECIAN CAPITAL.
First Impressions of Athens—Opinion of the “Doubter”—“Not Worth Damming”—The Oldest Inhabitant of Athens—Celebrated Ruins—Reminiscences of Greek Grammar—A “Big Injun” on Greek—Drinking beer on sacred sol—A toper-graphical survey—The Acropolis-What is it?—The Temple of Jupiter Olympus—Seven Hundred years in Building—A young Englishman in a scrape—Sunset from the Acropolis—Byron’s glorious lines—The Parthenon and its surroundings—Foundations of the Ancient Citadel—Excavations of antiquarians—Greek Art—An important discovery—The line of beauty.
THE first view of Athens gives a stranger a favorable impression; the city stands in a plain, at the foot of Mount Lycabettus and the Acropolis, and is between the river Cephissus on one side and the Elissus on the other.
Considered as rivers these streams are of very little consequence and hardly worth mentioning, but regarded as brooks they are entitled to some respect. The Greeks call them rivers and I suppose they ought to know what they are about.
It is with some hesitation I venture to suggest that if the Elissus and Cephissus were united, it would take about sixteen mil, lion of these combined streams to equal the Mississippi. The “Doubter” said he didn’t believe that a man in search of a mill-site would consider either of these Athenian torrents worth damming.
The oldest inhabitant of Athens is dead, and his death occurred according to the historians, about thirty-four hundred years ago, or to be particular about dates, in 1643 before the Christian Era. A gentleman named Cecrops came there from Egypt and founded a city which he called Cecropia.
I enquired about Cecrops and learned, much to my regret, that he is no longer alive. Had he been in Athens I would have paid him my respects.
I will not attempt to write the history of Athens, for a variety of reasons, any one of which would be sufficient, and as two or three at least will occur to every reader, I refrain from mentioning them.