In the Land of Temples Part 5

ON the afternoon of St. George's Day I wandered out of the city up to the Acropolis, and found the whole plain and the approaches crowded; while the stairs were black with people, and so were the lofty platforms. The fete that afternoon, as I saw it from Mars Hill, was more real than any restoration or imaginations.

x.x.xI

THE TEMPLE OF NIKE, ATHENS

x.x.xI THE TEMPLE OF NIKE, ATHENS

ONE has but to cross to the other side of the Propylaea from the top of the steps--from the great platform and altar before the wall, to find an equally inspiring--or inspired--arrangement. For there is no accident in these compositions. The way the line of the sea cuts blue against the white temple walls and shows through the columns at either end, and the way the nearer hill of Lycabettus piles up dark against the shining base on which the temple stands and that is accented, too, by the one dark note of the theatre--though it is later that one sees these arrangements were not accidents. These things were all thought out by the builders of Temples.

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x.x.xII

THE TEMPLE OF NIKE FROM MARS HILL, ATHENS

x.x.xII THE TEMPLE OF NIKE FROM MARS HILL, ATHENS

THIS is the grandest grouping of the Acropolis. The way in which the whole, in solemn square ma.s.ses, piles up--the temple dominating all--is marvellous. It is finer, I am sure, in ruin, than ever it was in perfection.

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x.x.xIII

THE ODEON, ATHENS

x.x.xIII THE ODEON, ATHENS

LOOKING down from the Acropolis, one sees the theatre--even the Greeks mostly placed the theatre before the temple. But what I saw that afternoon was a school of small Greek boys studying and reciting in the Odeon, because the school had been taken for barracks. But as a soldier said to me, Mars was more real to him than the Turks he had been fighting.

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x.x.xIV

THE STREET OF THE TOMBS, ATHENS

x.x.xIV THE STREET OF THE TOMBS, ATHENS

TO be buried under the shadow, or in sight of the Acropolis must have been glorious. Nowhere else is there such a decorative arrangement of death.

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x.x.xV

ELEUSIS: THE PAVEMENT OF THE TEMPLE

x.x.xV ELEUSIS: THE PAVEMENT OF THE TEMPLE

SWEPT away is everything, mysteries and all--all that remains is the great pavement on which stand the stumps of columns; yet I doubt if it was finer ever. And the long drive out over the sacred way, the long, quiet day; and the long drive back, with the Acropolis growing more and more majestic in the twilight, were perfect.

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x.x.xVI

AEGINA

x.x.xVI AEGINA

ONLY at Aegina, so far as I have seen, is there a real--yet it is so beautiful it seems unreal--forest in Greece. Nowhere in the world do the trees in dense, deep shade so cover the slopes that lead down, almost black, to the deep blue sea; and where have I ever seen such a contrast between the bosky woods and the barren cliffs that tower above them? And all this is but a background for one of the most beautiful temples in this beautiful land, placed perfectly, by the greatest artists of the past, in the most exquisite landscape. Yet the guardian told me I was the third person who had visited Aegina between January and April last year.

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x.x.xVII

AEGINA ON ITS MOUNTAIN TOP

x.x.xVII AEGINA ON ITS MOUNTAIN TOP

AS, after the long ride across the island, ever climbing, one comes from the dense wood, suddenly in front is the splendid pile, on either side the forest, beyond the sea; and in the airy distance, Athens and the Acropolis.

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x.x.xVIII

THE SHINING ROCKS, DELPHI