DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.796#0243
THE AGE OF PERICLES 209
foramen, t.e. a small hole in the roof above a terminal
stone. It is probable that the crypt below the porch also
served as the abode of the Erichthonios serpent (okovpof
ocpis). That this sacred serpent was intimately associated
with the legendary history of the snake-king Erechtheus and
had its dwelling place in or near the Erechtheum is a matter
of literary tradition. Thus Philostratus {Imag. ii. 17) speaks
of the serpent of Athena which dwells on the Acropolis,
and Eustathius (Odjss. i. 357) refers to the guardian serpent
(okovpo? Spaxwv) as dwelling in the temple of the Polias.
The lexicographer Hesychius says that the sacred serpent,
which was identified with Erichthonios, dwelt in the sanctuary
of Erechtheus. The probability is that in the oldest form
of the legend Erichthonios or Erechtheus was the sacred
serpent of Athena which lived in or near the Erechtheum,
was considered the guardian of the Acropolis, and was fed
with honey-cakes once a month. During the Persian invasion
a report, circulated according to Plutarch by the wily
Themistocles, that the honey-cake had been left untasted by
the serpent, was one of the strongest motives which led the
Athenians to abandon their city to the enemy, thinking that
the serpent and with it the goddess Athena had forsaken
Athens (136).
Having discussed the general plan of the interior of the
Erechtheum, we next take up the difficult question of the
names and uses of the several apartments. At the risk of
appearing to be dogmatic we present what on the whole
seems to us to be the most reasonable view, relegating to
Appendix iii. and to the chapter that deals with the route
of Pausanias fuller discussion of the points in dispute.
Pausanias (i. 26, 5) says that before the entrance to the
Erechtheum there is an altar of Zeus Most High, upon which
they sacrifice nothing that has life (137). Unhappily the
position of this altar cannot be determined with certainty,
and we are therefore left in doubt where Pausanias places
the entrance. Some hold that the entrance referred to by
Pausanias is the usual one of a Greek temple, that is, through
the eastern portico, while others, locating the altar of Zeus
in the north porch, think the entrance is through the richly
decorated north door. On the latter theory this altar has
foramen, t.e. a small hole in the roof above a terminal
stone. It is probable that the crypt below the porch also
served as the abode of the Erichthonios serpent (okovpof
ocpis). That this sacred serpent was intimately associated
with the legendary history of the snake-king Erechtheus and
had its dwelling place in or near the Erechtheum is a matter
of literary tradition. Thus Philostratus {Imag. ii. 17) speaks
of the serpent of Athena which dwells on the Acropolis,
and Eustathius (Odjss. i. 357) refers to the guardian serpent
(okovpo? Spaxwv) as dwelling in the temple of the Polias.
The lexicographer Hesychius says that the sacred serpent,
which was identified with Erichthonios, dwelt in the sanctuary
of Erechtheus. The probability is that in the oldest form
of the legend Erichthonios or Erechtheus was the sacred
serpent of Athena which lived in or near the Erechtheum,
was considered the guardian of the Acropolis, and was fed
with honey-cakes once a month. During the Persian invasion
a report, circulated according to Plutarch by the wily
Themistocles, that the honey-cake had been left untasted by
the serpent, was one of the strongest motives which led the
Athenians to abandon their city to the enemy, thinking that
the serpent and with it the goddess Athena had forsaken
Athens (136).
Having discussed the general plan of the interior of the
Erechtheum, we next take up the difficult question of the
names and uses of the several apartments. At the risk of
appearing to be dogmatic we present what on the whole
seems to us to be the most reasonable view, relegating to
Appendix iii. and to the chapter that deals with the route
of Pausanias fuller discussion of the points in dispute.
Pausanias (i. 26, 5) says that before the entrance to the
Erechtheum there is an altar of Zeus Most High, upon which
they sacrifice nothing that has life (137). Unhappily the
position of this altar cannot be determined with certainty,
and we are therefore left in doubt where Pausanias places
the entrance. Some hold that the entrance referred to by
Pausanias is the usual one of a Greek temple, that is, through
the eastern portico, while others, locating the altar of Zeus
in the north porch, think the entrance is through the richly
decorated north door. On the latter theory this altar has