DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0461
CHAPTER XIII.
Way to the Piraeus. Tumuli. The long walls. Port Piraeus. Single Ionic column, and sarcophagus.
Supposed tomb of Themistocles. Port Mounychia. Doric temple. Subterraneous chambers.
Other remains. Port Phalerou. Cape Kolias. Ancient Piraean quarries. General view from the
Piraeus. Piraean necropolis. The- opening of several tombs, and description of their contents.
Bronze inscriptions of the magistrates Diodorus and Dcinias. Imprecatory inscription on a lamina
of lead. Description of some Ceramic vases found at Athens. Duplicate vases. Modern burials.
Return to Athens.
A large tumulus of earth occurs on the left of the road, on the
way to the Piraeus, and at the entrance of the olive grove. When
this tumulus was excavated, it was found to contain several broken
vases and plates of terra cotta, with bones of animals, birds, and fish,
the remains of the Nekrodeipnon, or funereal feast. It is gene-
rally supposed to be the sepulchre of the Amazon Antiope; but
without recurring to fabulous ages, it is far more likely to be the
pjj^a kbvov,1 or cenotaph of Euripides f and the absence of human
bones is a further corroboration of that opinion.
Tumuli are common in Greece, and indeed in most parts of the
world ; and are probably not peculiar to any one nation. They are
extremely numerous in Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace; and in
travelling through the latter country from Gallipoli to Constanti-
nople, I saw near a hundred. Those of the Trojan plain are too
well known to require notice. They abound in Italy, France,
1 Pausan. b. 1. c. 2. 2 See Dr. Chandler's Travels in Greece, c. 6. p. 24.
Way to the Piraeus. Tumuli. The long walls. Port Piraeus. Single Ionic column, and sarcophagus.
Supposed tomb of Themistocles. Port Mounychia. Doric temple. Subterraneous chambers.
Other remains. Port Phalerou. Cape Kolias. Ancient Piraean quarries. General view from the
Piraeus. Piraean necropolis. The- opening of several tombs, and description of their contents.
Bronze inscriptions of the magistrates Diodorus and Dcinias. Imprecatory inscription on a lamina
of lead. Description of some Ceramic vases found at Athens. Duplicate vases. Modern burials.
Return to Athens.
A large tumulus of earth occurs on the left of the road, on the
way to the Piraeus, and at the entrance of the olive grove. When
this tumulus was excavated, it was found to contain several broken
vases and plates of terra cotta, with bones of animals, birds, and fish,
the remains of the Nekrodeipnon, or funereal feast. It is gene-
rally supposed to be the sepulchre of the Amazon Antiope; but
without recurring to fabulous ages, it is far more likely to be the
pjj^a kbvov,1 or cenotaph of Euripides f and the absence of human
bones is a further corroboration of that opinion.
Tumuli are common in Greece, and indeed in most parts of the
world ; and are probably not peculiar to any one nation. They are
extremely numerous in Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace; and in
travelling through the latter country from Gallipoli to Constanti-
nople, I saw near a hundred. Those of the Trojan plain are too
well known to require notice. They abound in Italy, France,
1 Pausan. b. 1. c. 2. 2 See Dr. Chandler's Travels in Greece, c. 6. p. 24.