DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.796#0029
8 THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS
that the archons took the oath referred to by Aristotle
{Constitution of Athens, 55) at an altar in front of this cave,
for here, immediately in front of the cave, was found a quad-
rangular sinking in the rock suitable for the base of an
altar (/3). All this certainly favors the opinion that this was
the cave of Apollo. This opinion is confirmed by an exami-
nation of the passages in the ancient writers which deal with
these caves. Pausanias (i. 28) locates the sanctuary of Apollo
in a cave near the Clepsydra. Since the cave immediately
above the spring has been shown to be not the Apollo cave,
it is likely to be the next one, i.e. cave B. Then Pausanias
goes on to say that here Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, met
Apollo. But Euripides in his Ion tells how Apollo met
Creusa in a cave on the northern cliffs of the Acropolis and
how Creusa exposed Ion, the offspring of that union, in the
same cave. And that this cave was sacred to Pan is to be
inferred from vv. 936, 937, of this play. "Thou knowest a
cave on the north side of the Cecropian cliffs which we call
long ?" asks Creusa ; whereupon the slave answers, " I know
where is the shrine of Pan and altars near." In a beautiful
ode (vv. 492-502), the chorus sings :
" O Athens, what thy cliff hath seen !
The northward scar, Pan's cavern seat,
With rocks before and grassy floor
Where dancing tread the Aglaurids' feet,
Their triple measure on the green
Neath Pallas' fane,
Whene'er the god in his retreat
Times on the reed a quavering strain" (6).
From this passage it is clear that the cave in which the
lovers meet was a shrine of Pan. The Ion then implies either
the identity or the close proximity to each other of the Apollo
and Pan sanctuaries. If the cave of Pan was not identical
with that of Apollo (2?), it must have been either cave Y or
cave A-A. This point may be determined by reference to the
Lysistrata of Aristophanes. In this comedy (911 ff.), Cinesias
proposes a secret meeting with Myrrhina in a cave which he
calls the sanctuary of Pan. It is plain that the dark recesses
of the cave A-A are much more suitable for such a rendezvous
than cave T or any of the other caves further to the west, all
that the archons took the oath referred to by Aristotle
{Constitution of Athens, 55) at an altar in front of this cave,
for here, immediately in front of the cave, was found a quad-
rangular sinking in the rock suitable for the base of an
altar (/3). All this certainly favors the opinion that this was
the cave of Apollo. This opinion is confirmed by an exami-
nation of the passages in the ancient writers which deal with
these caves. Pausanias (i. 28) locates the sanctuary of Apollo
in a cave near the Clepsydra. Since the cave immediately
above the spring has been shown to be not the Apollo cave,
it is likely to be the next one, i.e. cave B. Then Pausanias
goes on to say that here Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, met
Apollo. But Euripides in his Ion tells how Apollo met
Creusa in a cave on the northern cliffs of the Acropolis and
how Creusa exposed Ion, the offspring of that union, in the
same cave. And that this cave was sacred to Pan is to be
inferred from vv. 936, 937, of this play. "Thou knowest a
cave on the north side of the Cecropian cliffs which we call
long ?" asks Creusa ; whereupon the slave answers, " I know
where is the shrine of Pan and altars near." In a beautiful
ode (vv. 492-502), the chorus sings :
" O Athens, what thy cliff hath seen !
The northward scar, Pan's cavern seat,
With rocks before and grassy floor
Where dancing tread the Aglaurids' feet,
Their triple measure on the green
Neath Pallas' fane,
Whene'er the god in his retreat
Times on the reed a quavering strain" (6).
From this passage it is clear that the cave in which the
lovers meet was a shrine of Pan. The Ion then implies either
the identity or the close proximity to each other of the Apollo
and Pan sanctuaries. If the cave of Pan was not identical
with that of Apollo (2?), it must have been either cave Y or
cave A-A. This point may be determined by reference to the
Lysistrata of Aristophanes. In this comedy (911 ff.), Cinesias
proposes a secret meeting with Myrrhina in a cave which he
calls the sanctuary of Pan. It is plain that the dark recesses
of the cave A-A are much more suitable for such a rendezvous
than cave T or any of the other caves further to the west, all