But while the date of the so-called Lenaea has been so long open to question, until recently it has been universally held that some portion at least of all the festivals at Athens in honor of the wine-god was held in the precinct by the extant theatre of Dionysus. With the ruins of this magnificent structure before the eyes, and no other theatre in sight, the temptation was certainly a strong one to find in this neighborhood the Limnae mentioned in the records of the ancients. When Pervanoglu found a handful of rushes in the neighborhood of the present military hospital, the matter seemed finally settled. So, on the maps and charts of Athens we find the word Limnae printed across that region lying to the south of the theatre, beyond the boulevard and the hospital. When, therefore, Mythology and Monuments of Athens, by Harrison and Verrall, appeared over a year ago, those familiar with the topography of Athens as laid down by Curtius and Kaupert were astonished to find, on the little plan facing page 5, that the Limnae had been removed from their time-honored position and located between the Coloneus Agoraeus and the Dipylum. That map incited the preparation of the present article.
While investigating the reasons for and against so revolutionary a change, the writer has become convinced that here, Dr. Dörpfeld, the author of the new view, has built upon a sure foundation. How much in this paper is due to the direct teaching of Dr. Dörpfeld in the course of his invaluable lectures An Ort und Stelle on the topography of Athens, I need not say to those who have listened to his talks. How much besides he has given to me of both information and suggestion I would gladly acknowledge in detail; but as this may not always be possible, I will say now that the views presented here after several months of study, in the main correspond with those held by Dr. Dörpfeld. The facts and authorities here cited, and the reasoning deduced from these, are, however, nearly all results of independent investigation. So I shall content myself in general with presenting the reasons which have led me to my own conclusions; for it would require a volume to set forth all the arguments of those who hold opposing views.
The passage Thucydides, II. 15, is the authority deemed most weighty for the placing of the Limnae to the south of the Acropolis. The question of the location of this section of Athens is so intimately connected with the whole topography of the ancient city, that it cannot be treated by itself. I quote therefore the entire passage:
το δέ προ τουτου η ακρόπολις ή νυν ούσα πόλις ην, καΐ το υπ' αυτήν προς νότον μάλιστα τετραμμενον. τεκμηριον δε · τα γaρ ιeρa εv αυτη τη άκροπόλει και άλλων θεών εστί, καΐ τα εζω προς τοuτο το μέρος της πολεως μάλλον ΐδρυται, το τε του Διός του Όλυμπίου, καϊ το Πύθιον, καϊ το της Γης, καΐ το εν Αίμναις Διονύσου, ω τα αρχαιότερα Διονύσια τη δωδέκατη ποιείται eν μηνΐ Άνθεστηριώνι · ώσπερ καΐ οι απ' 'Αθηναίων Ιωveς ετι καΐ νυν νομιζουσιν. ΐδρυται δε καΐ αλλά ιερα ταύτη αρχαια. και τη κρήνη τη νnν μeν των τυράννων ουτω σκευασάυτων Έννεακρούνω καλουμένη, το δε πάλαι φανερων των πηγων ούσων Καλλιρρόη ωνομασμένη, εκείνη τε εγγυς ουση τα πλείστου αξια εχρωντο, και νυν ετι απο του αρχαίου προ τε γαμικων και ες αλλα των ιερων νομίζεται τω uδατι χρησθαι.
Two assumptions are made from this text by those who place the Limnae by the extant theatre. The first is that υπ' αυτήν includes the whole of the extensive section to the south of the Acropolis extending to the Ilissus, and reaching to the east far enough to include the existing Olympieum, with the Pythium and Callirrhoe, which lay near. The second assumption is that these are the particular localities mentioned under the τεκμήριον δε. Let us see if this is not stretching υπ' αυτήν a little. I will summarize, so far as may be necessary for our present purpose, the views of Dr. Dörpfeld on the land lying υπο την ακρόπολιν, or the Pelasgicum.
That the Pelasgicum was of considerable size is known from the fact that it was one of the sacred precincts occupied when the people came crowding in from the country at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, [117] and from the inscription [118] which forbade that stone should be quarried in or carried from the precinct, or that earth should be removed therefrom. That the Pelasgicum with its nine gates was on the south, west, and southwest slopes, the formation of the Acropolis rock proves, since it is only here that the Acropolis can be ascended easily. That it should include all that position of the hillside between the spring in the Aesculapieum on the south and the Clepsydra on the northwest, was necessary; for in the space thus included lay the springs which formed the source of the water-supply for the fortifications. That the citadel was divided into two parts, the Acropolis proper, and the Pelasgicum, we know. [119] One of the two questions in each of the two passages from Aristophanes refers to the Acropolis, and the other to the Pelasgicum, and the two are mentioned as parts of the citadel. That the Pelasgicum actually did extend from the Aesculapieum to the Clepsydra we know from Lucian. [120]
Footnote 117:[ (return) ] THUCYDEDES, II. 17.
Footnote 118:[ (return) ] DITTENBERGER, S. I. G. 13, 55 ff.
Footnote 119:[ (return) ] THUCYDEDES, II. 17; ARISTOPHANES, Birds, 829 ff.; Lysistrata, 480 ff.
Footnote 120:[ (return) ] Piscator, 42.