DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0182
l6o THE ISLES AND SHRINES OF GREECE
them, and has more wisely devoted its slender means to
unearthing and sheltering the treasures of plastic art
buried in its own soil. It has not even money to do
this thoroughly, and must depend for some time to
come upon foreign aid and co-operation in this field.
But Greece has one resource which is steadily enrich-
ing her: it is the patriotism and liberality of wealthy
Greeks, some of whom have made their wealth
abroad and who have reared and endowed public
buildings of Athens. From this source we may
expect more for Greece in the future. Even the
prisons have been the subject of private generosity;
and I had a call from a gentleman in Athens who
came to consult me in regard to plans for a new
reformatory which a benevolent man had offered to
the government. The new Conservatory, or Odeion,
in an unpretentious building, is conducted by a Greek
graduate of Munich, and with some German instruct-
ors on its teaching force. It is likewise assisted by
private benevolence. The piano is a favorite instru-
ment in Athens, and tyrannizes over the education
of young ladies there as elsewhere. There is a
fairly good choral society, but no local orchestra.
A Handel oratorio or a Beethoven symphony would
be out of the question in Athens for the present.
With the exception of the music at the Russian
Church, and an occasional chorus at the Cathedral,
there is no ecclesiastical music worthy of the name.
The droning of the priests in the temple and the
monotonous bacchanals in the wine-shops, are any-
thing but grateful to a European car.
The monuments of Athens, with its temple-crowned
Acropolis and the rich treasures of its museums, con-
them, and has more wisely devoted its slender means to
unearthing and sheltering the treasures of plastic art
buried in its own soil. It has not even money to do
this thoroughly, and must depend for some time to
come upon foreign aid and co-operation in this field.
But Greece has one resource which is steadily enrich-
ing her: it is the patriotism and liberality of wealthy
Greeks, some of whom have made their wealth
abroad and who have reared and endowed public
buildings of Athens. From this source we may
expect more for Greece in the future. Even the
prisons have been the subject of private generosity;
and I had a call from a gentleman in Athens who
came to consult me in regard to plans for a new
reformatory which a benevolent man had offered to
the government. The new Conservatory, or Odeion,
in an unpretentious building, is conducted by a Greek
graduate of Munich, and with some German instruct-
ors on its teaching force. It is likewise assisted by
private benevolence. The piano is a favorite instru-
ment in Athens, and tyrannizes over the education
of young ladies there as elsewhere. There is a
fairly good choral society, but no local orchestra.
A Handel oratorio or a Beethoven symphony would
be out of the question in Athens for the present.
With the exception of the music at the Russian
Church, and an occasional chorus at the Cathedral,
there is no ecclesiastical music worthy of the name.
The droning of the priests in the temple and the
monotonous bacchanals in the wine-shops, are any-
thing but grateful to a European car.
The monuments of Athens, with its temple-crowned
Acropolis and the rich treasures of its museums, con-