By E. F. BRIDELL-FOX.
THE BIRTH OF ATHÉNÉ.
(From a Vase in the British Museum.)
All rights reserved.]
PART II.
THE ELGIN MARBLES.
“Abode of gods whose shrines no longer burn.”
I have now to complete my account of the sculptures of the Parthenon, that wonderfully beautiful temple to Athéné (or Minerva), at Athens, which has never ceased to be the centre of attraction for all visitors to Greece from the time it was first built—namely, about 435 years B.C.—even till the present moment, when it stands a shattered wreck on its rocky height.
My first article dealt chiefly with the long, sculptured frieze that ran continuously the whole length of the walls of the building (protected by the outer colonnade), and the ceremonials which that frieze represented. The present article will be devoted chiefly to the fragments of the external frieze, and to the figures of the eastern and western pediments, which represented the chief legends connected with the goddess.