Throwing the javelin and discus are classical rather than popular events, and their cultivation is fashionable only when an Olympic contest is imminent. Among other 'strong-men' contests, which have long been favourite sports in Scotland, are tossing the caber and putting the stone. The latter is usually a very heavy implement weighing about 56 lb.; the 'caber' is the trunk of a fir or other tree, freed from branches, which is held upright close to the chest by the smaller end, and thrown so as to alight on the heavier end.—Bibliography: Encyclopædia of Sports and Games; Annual Sporting and Athletic Register; F. A. M. Webster, The Evolution of the Olympic Games, 1829 B.C.-A.D. 1914; G. Le Roy, Athlétisme; E. W. Hjertberg, Athletics in Theory and Practice; P. Withington, The Book of Athletics.
Athlone´, a town of Ireland, divided by the Shannon into two parts, one in Westmeath, the other in Roscommon; about 76 miles west of Dublin. Its position has made it one of the chief military depots, and a centre of trade by river, canal, and railway. It manufactures woollen goods, linens, &c. Up to 1885 it sent one member to Parliament. Pop. 7500.
Ath´oll, or Athole, a mountainous and romantic district in the north of Perthshire, Scotland, giving the title to a duke of the Murray family who owns a large area there.
Athor, Hathor, or Het-her, an Egyptian goddess, identified with Aphrodītē or Venus. Her symbol was the cow bearing on its head the solar disc and hawk-feather plumes. Her chief temple was at Denderah. From her the third month of the Egyptian year derived its name.
A´thos (now Hagion Oros or Monte Santo, that is, Holy Mountain), a mountain 6700 feet high, terminating the most eastern of the three peninsulas of Macedonia that jut in parallel directions into the Archipelago. The name, however, is frequently applied to the whole peninsula, which is about 30 miles long by 5 broad. It is covered with forests, and plantations of olive, vine, and other fruit-trees. Both the surface and coast-line are irregular. The Persian fleet under Mardonius was wrecked here in 493 B.C., and to avoid a similar calamity Xerxes caused a canal, of which traces may yet be seen, to be cut through the isthmus that joins the peninsula to the mainland. On the peninsula there are situated about twenty monasteries and a multitude of hermitages, which contain from 6000 to 8000 monks and hermits of the order of St. Basil. The libraries of the monasteries are rich in literary treasures and manuscripts. Every nation belonging to the Greek Church has here one or more monasteries of its own, which are annually visited by pilgrims. After having passed in the fifteenth century from the sovereignty of the Greek Emperors of Byzantium to that of the Sultans, it fell again into the hands of the Greeks, who occupied it in Nov., 1912. Each of the twenty monasteries is a little republic in itself, and until 1912 they used to pay an annual tribute of nearly £4000 to the Turks, and were governed by a synod of twenty monastic deputies and four presidents meeting weekly. They are now ruled either by abbots chosen for life, or by a board of overseers elected for a certain number of years. The revenue of the community is derived from
pilgrims, and from a considerable trade in amulets, rosaries, crucifixes, images, and wooden furniture.
Athy´, a town in Ireland, county of Kildare, 37 miles south-west of Dublin, on the Barrow, which is here joined by the Grand Canal. Its chief trade is in corn. Pop. 3535.
Atit´lan, a lake and mountain of Central America in Guatemala. The lake is about 24 miles long and 10 broad; the mountain is an active volcano 12,160 feet high.
Atlan´ta, a city in the United States, capital of Georgia, on an elevated ridge, 7 miles south-east of the Chattahoochee River. It is an important railway centre; carries on a large trade in grain, paper, cotton, flour, and especially tobacco, and possesses flour-mills, paper-mills, ironworks, &c. Here are Atlanta University for negro men and women, a theological college, a medical college, &c. Atlanta suffered severely during the Civil War, and a battle was fought there on 22nd July, 1864. A fire which broke out on 21st May, 1917, caused damage estimated at more than £1,000,000. Pop. (1920), 200,600.
Atlan´tes, or Telamōnes, in architecture, male figures used in place of columns or pilasters for the support of an entablature or cornice. Female figures so employed are termed caryatides.