DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.796#0440
392 THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS
together naturally with the sea of Erechtheus. Accordingly, my own
opinion inclines to the more commonly accepted view that Pausanias
begins his description with the west cella C, to which he adds later
the account of the "cult tokens" in the ante-rooms, i.e. the west hall
D and the north porch. Judeich cites as a somewhat similar pro-
cedure that Pausanias, xxiv. 7, mentions the statue of Iphicrates which
stood in the pronaos only after he has already described the statue
of Athena within the Parthenon. The interpretation of SnrXovv o'it<r]pa
is a veritable crux. That 06/07/xa may mean the west half of the
Erechtheum as well as the whole building admits, I think, of no
doubt, though, as Schubart {Philol. xv. 385) has shown, in Pausanias
the word means commonly a whole building. In the former case
SittXow may mean that the west half itself is double in the sense
that it has two adjoining apartments, i.e. C and Z>, or, taking
the interpretation of K. Botticher, Michaelis {A.M. ii. p. 24),
Diimmler (Pauly-Wissowa, ii. 1955) and Korte (RAein. Mus. liii. 262),
that this term refers to the fact that in this part of the building
there were two stories, meaning thereby that there was a crypt below
the floor level. That this meaning of the word oucij/ta is possible is
shown, e.g. by Lysias, vs. Eratos. 9, o'ikiSiov kcnl ^uoi SnrXovv, «ra e\ov
ra avia rots k<xt<o. But if we take oiK-qpa to mean the whole building,
it is possible to take SiirXovv as referring to the double nature of the
temple, the east half of which was devoted to the worship of Athena
Polias and the west half to that of Poseidon Erechtheus. On the
whole the interpretation of Snrkovv oiKfj/xa as referring to the two
apparent stories of the west half of the building commends itself as
the more natural one, and is supported by the belief made almost a
certainty by architectural evidence, that the salt well was in the west
hall, D. It is probable that it is this hall that is called to irpoo-To-
ixiaiov in the inscription {C.I.A. i. 322, col. i. 1. 71), i.e. the room with
the well-mouth. That Pausanias puts the three altars and the paintings
of the Butadae in the inner chamber, C, Michaelis and Judeich think
is shown by a scholium on Aristides, i. 107, 5, which, in order to
explain the epithet irdpeSpos as applied to Erechtheus in his relation
to Athena, speaks of the painting of Erechtheus as airio-to -rrji deov,
which he thinks can only mean on the wall that was at the rear of the
Athena Polias statue, i.e. the partition wall common to the chambers B
and C. The effort of Petersen (Jakrb. d. k. d. arch. Inst. xvii. 1902,
p. 63) to explain this away or to make it mean that the painting of
Erechtheus was on the wall of the Polias cella, and thus immediately
behind the goddess, does not commend itself. Why, one might ask,
together naturally with the sea of Erechtheus. Accordingly, my own
opinion inclines to the more commonly accepted view that Pausanias
begins his description with the west cella C, to which he adds later
the account of the "cult tokens" in the ante-rooms, i.e. the west hall
D and the north porch. Judeich cites as a somewhat similar pro-
cedure that Pausanias, xxiv. 7, mentions the statue of Iphicrates which
stood in the pronaos only after he has already described the statue
of Athena within the Parthenon. The interpretation of SnrXovv o'it<r]pa
is a veritable crux. That 06/07/xa may mean the west half of the
Erechtheum as well as the whole building admits, I think, of no
doubt, though, as Schubart {Philol. xv. 385) has shown, in Pausanias
the word means commonly a whole building. In the former case
SittXow may mean that the west half itself is double in the sense
that it has two adjoining apartments, i.e. C and Z>, or, taking
the interpretation of K. Botticher, Michaelis {A.M. ii. p. 24),
Diimmler (Pauly-Wissowa, ii. 1955) and Korte (RAein. Mus. liii. 262),
that this term refers to the fact that in this part of the building
there were two stories, meaning thereby that there was a crypt below
the floor level. That this meaning of the word oucij/ta is possible is
shown, e.g. by Lysias, vs. Eratos. 9, o'ikiSiov kcnl ^uoi SnrXovv, «ra e\ov
ra avia rots k<xt<o. But if we take oiK-qpa to mean the whole building,
it is possible to take SiirXovv as referring to the double nature of the
temple, the east half of which was devoted to the worship of Athena
Polias and the west half to that of Poseidon Erechtheus. On the
whole the interpretation of Snrkovv oiKfj/xa as referring to the two
apparent stories of the west half of the building commends itself as
the more natural one, and is supported by the belief made almost a
certainty by architectural evidence, that the salt well was in the west
hall, D. It is probable that it is this hall that is called to irpoo-To-
ixiaiov in the inscription {C.I.A. i. 322, col. i. 1. 71), i.e. the room with
the well-mouth. That Pausanias puts the three altars and the paintings
of the Butadae in the inner chamber, C, Michaelis and Judeich think
is shown by a scholium on Aristides, i. 107, 5, which, in order to
explain the epithet irdpeSpos as applied to Erechtheus in his relation
to Athena, speaks of the painting of Erechtheus as airio-to -rrji deov,
which he thinks can only mean on the wall that was at the rear of the
Athena Polias statue, i.e. the partition wall common to the chambers B
and C. The effort of Petersen (Jakrb. d. k. d. arch. Inst. xvii. 1902,
p. 63) to explain this away or to make it mean that the painting of
Erechtheus was on the wall of the Polias cella, and thus immediately
behind the goddess, does not commend itself. Why, one might ask,