DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.803#0040
34 THE BRITISH. MUSEUM.
Ceramicus: here two roads branched out, one called
•the Holy Way ran nearly due west to Eleusis; the
other, in a north-west direction, led to the Academy,
and thence to Colonos the scene of one of Sophocles'
.noble dramas, and over the range of Parnes to Thebes.
On the road from the Dipylum to the Academy, and
without the city walls, were the burying places and
monuments of many of the greatest men of Athens,
now only known to us from the brief description of
Pausanias. Here was seen the tomb of Thrasybulus
who overthrew the tyranny of the Thirty, and of Peri-
cles, the beautifier of Athens and at one time her
elected ruler with more than kingly power, but
without the title. Here also were the monuments
of those who had fallen in some of the great battles
recorded by Herodotus and Thucydides. Of all
these memorials hardly any thing now remains above
ground, except some rude masses of masonry, though
future excavations may perhaps bring new foundations
to light. One small piece of marble found near the
site of the Academy, and now in the Elgin collection
of the British Museum, commemorates those Athenians
who fell in the battle of Potideea b. c. 432;
The burying place of Athens was not, however,
limited exactly to the road leading past the Academy;
for there was a burying place also near the gate of
Acharnse (now Gribos Kapesi), as we learn from
Mr. Burgon's excavations in this district, where he
discovered the celebrated Panathenaic vase, whose
inscription has given rise to so much discussion*.
There were also burying grounds south of the city
towards the Ilissus; and indeed all round it. The
Academia, so well known as the school of Plato, and
*■ Our opinion about this matter might be mistaken, if we were
not to add that all further discussion about the inscription must
be considered useless by any competent Greek critic. Brb'ndsted's
reading is the only one that is correct, and the only one that any
scholar would ever thirtk of gi?ing. ■ - . .....
Ceramicus: here two roads branched out, one called
•the Holy Way ran nearly due west to Eleusis; the
other, in a north-west direction, led to the Academy,
and thence to Colonos the scene of one of Sophocles'
.noble dramas, and over the range of Parnes to Thebes.
On the road from the Dipylum to the Academy, and
without the city walls, were the burying places and
monuments of many of the greatest men of Athens,
now only known to us from the brief description of
Pausanias. Here was seen the tomb of Thrasybulus
who overthrew the tyranny of the Thirty, and of Peri-
cles, the beautifier of Athens and at one time her
elected ruler with more than kingly power, but
without the title. Here also were the monuments
of those who had fallen in some of the great battles
recorded by Herodotus and Thucydides. Of all
these memorials hardly any thing now remains above
ground, except some rude masses of masonry, though
future excavations may perhaps bring new foundations
to light. One small piece of marble found near the
site of the Academy, and now in the Elgin collection
of the British Museum, commemorates those Athenians
who fell in the battle of Potideea b. c. 432;
The burying place of Athens was not, however,
limited exactly to the road leading past the Academy;
for there was a burying place also near the gate of
Acharnse (now Gribos Kapesi), as we learn from
Mr. Burgon's excavations in this district, where he
discovered the celebrated Panathenaic vase, whose
inscription has given rise to so much discussion*.
There were also burying grounds south of the city
towards the Ilissus; and indeed all round it. The
Academia, so well known as the school of Plato, and
*■ Our opinion about this matter might be mistaken, if we were
not to add that all further discussion about the inscription must
be considered useless by any competent Greek critic. Brb'ndsted's
reading is the only one that is correct, and the only one that any
scholar would ever thirtk of gi?ing. ■ - . .....