DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.803#0050
44 THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
no temple that was erected in honour of Theseus
before the existing edifice that bears his name ; and
this was not raised till after the close of the Persian
wars, when Cimon transported his bones to Athens
from the rocky island of Scyros, where he had died in
exile. The fact of Cimon removing some bones to
Athens can hardly be doubted: at least the event
belongs to an epoch (about e. c. 465) when other
facts, which would attract less attention than this, are
admitted on authority not much stronger than this
story of Plutarch and Pausanias. It would seem
not improbable that it was with some view of attract-
ing the people of Attica to complete and embellish
their ruined metropolis, that a prudent statesman
formed the idea of recurring to the traditional origin
of their social system, and of making the revival of
the name of Theseus serviceable to some project of
more importance. The Panathenaic festival which
had been instituted by Theseus when the separate
communities of Athens were united under one tutelary
deity, Athena, had indeed, as we learn from the his-
tory of Hippias (Thucyd. i. 20), been continued as the
great national festival. This however must have been
interrupted during the Persian wars, and was proba-
bly neglected till the return of peace, security, and
increasing wealth led to the celebration of the festival
in its antient splendour, and the revival of the
memory of Theseus by building his temple (b. c. 465),
At a somewhat later period we may suppose that
additional splendour was given to this festival, as
the representation of it forms the subject of the frieze
of the Parthenon, which will be the subject of a
separate chapter.
It is impossible to avoid making a comparison, or
rather pointing out a contrast, between the historical
sculptures of the Egyptian temples and those which
decorated the public edifices of Athens. The great
no temple that was erected in honour of Theseus
before the existing edifice that bears his name ; and
this was not raised till after the close of the Persian
wars, when Cimon transported his bones to Athens
from the rocky island of Scyros, where he had died in
exile. The fact of Cimon removing some bones to
Athens can hardly be doubted: at least the event
belongs to an epoch (about e. c. 465) when other
facts, which would attract less attention than this, are
admitted on authority not much stronger than this
story of Plutarch and Pausanias. It would seem
not improbable that it was with some view of attract-
ing the people of Attica to complete and embellish
their ruined metropolis, that a prudent statesman
formed the idea of recurring to the traditional origin
of their social system, and of making the revival of
the name of Theseus serviceable to some project of
more importance. The Panathenaic festival which
had been instituted by Theseus when the separate
communities of Athens were united under one tutelary
deity, Athena, had indeed, as we learn from the his-
tory of Hippias (Thucyd. i. 20), been continued as the
great national festival. This however must have been
interrupted during the Persian wars, and was proba-
bly neglected till the return of peace, security, and
increasing wealth led to the celebration of the festival
in its antient splendour, and the revival of the
memory of Theseus by building his temple (b. c. 465),
At a somewhat later period we may suppose that
additional splendour was given to this festival, as
the representation of it forms the subject of the frieze
of the Parthenon, which will be the subject of a
separate chapter.
It is impossible to avoid making a comparison, or
rather pointing out a contrast, between the historical
sculptures of the Egyptian temples and those which
decorated the public edifices of Athens. The great