DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0181
THE SHRINES OF ATTICA
159
sition, not far from the palace, surrounded by grounds
which furnish a favorite promenade for Athenians.
The wonder is, not that Athens has so little to
show in the way of modern buildings, but that it has
so much. The growth of the city has been remark-
able. Sixty years ago it was a small village of not
more than three hundred houses, and devoid of even
the ordinary comforts of civilized life. To-day it is
a city of one hundred and twenty thousand people.
It has broken away from Oriental trammels and
cast in its lot with European civilization. Its uni-
versity is conducted by a body of professors, most of
whom have been educated in Germany and who fol-
low German methods. The students do not have,
however, that thorough preparation which German
students bring to their university studies. The work
of teaching them is, therefore, more elementary than
it should be in a university.
Athens has three theatres of good size for winter
use, and a small variety theatre and several out-of-
door summer theatres. Every winter there is a season
of French and Italian opera. In the Old Theatre
plays are given in Greek, mostly translations from
the French. Occasionally there is a native produc-
tion, usually a patriotic play, in which the actors
appear in the short-skirted fustanella dress which the
Greeks adopted from the Albanians. I have seen an
act from Antigone given as a prelude to one of these
national fustanella plays. The contrast in style was
striking enough, but both were essentially Greek.
In painting and in music Athens furnishes no
ground for comparison with the great capitals of
Europe. It has not had the wealth to command
159
sition, not far from the palace, surrounded by grounds
which furnish a favorite promenade for Athenians.
The wonder is, not that Athens has so little to
show in the way of modern buildings, but that it has
so much. The growth of the city has been remark-
able. Sixty years ago it was a small village of not
more than three hundred houses, and devoid of even
the ordinary comforts of civilized life. To-day it is
a city of one hundred and twenty thousand people.
It has broken away from Oriental trammels and
cast in its lot with European civilization. Its uni-
versity is conducted by a body of professors, most of
whom have been educated in Germany and who fol-
low German methods. The students do not have,
however, that thorough preparation which German
students bring to their university studies. The work
of teaching them is, therefore, more elementary than
it should be in a university.
Athens has three theatres of good size for winter
use, and a small variety theatre and several out-of-
door summer theatres. Every winter there is a season
of French and Italian opera. In the Old Theatre
plays are given in Greek, mostly translations from
the French. Occasionally there is a native produc-
tion, usually a patriotic play, in which the actors
appear in the short-skirted fustanella dress which the
Greeks adopted from the Albanians. I have seen an
act from Antigone given as a prelude to one of these
national fustanella plays. The contrast in style was
striking enough, but both were essentially Greek.
In painting and in music Athens furnishes no
ground for comparison with the great capitals of
Europe. It has not had the wealth to command