DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.803#0052
46 THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
tions of the Acropolis, and the building on its summit
of the temple of Athena Polias, and Erectheus.
The oldest extant construction of Athens, we be-
lieve to be the Pelasgic wall on the north side of the
Acropolis; not the work of a people invited into
Attica for that purpose, but the work of the Abori-
gines or the Pelasgi. The gradual decline of the
power of the Pelasgi in Attica, and the extinction
of their name by the preponderance of another
stock, can hardly be doubted, though the progress of
this change is entirely unknown. That their name
should have been attached to a portion of the
city under the Acropolis, as late as the time of
Thucydides (ii. 17), is a decisive proof that the
Pelasgi once occupied the spot, and also that they
were once a component part of the city. There is
hardly an antient city in Europe which does not
possess similar historical memorials. It is certain,
however, that another race shared, at an early period,
with the Pelasgi the ground around the Acropolis, and
this people it was who gave, in course of time, a new
distinctive appellation to the community; just as we
see from many instances in modern times, where the
original settlers of a colony have been supplanted by
a new race, whose name and language have gra-
dually predominated. The restless spirit of the Athe-
nian people was well calculated to obscure a less
enterprising and adventurous race.
Two rival deities contended for the honour of giving
name to Attica, that is, two people disputed both for
religious and political superiority. Poseidon, the god
of thelonians, and Athena, the tutelary goddess of the
people who bore her name, claimed the superiority;
and though it was conceded to Athena, Poseidon still
maintained his ground in Attica. The temple on the
high cliff of Suniura, the first object which the mariner
would see on his approach to the Attic coast, was
tions of the Acropolis, and the building on its summit
of the temple of Athena Polias, and Erectheus.
The oldest extant construction of Athens, we be-
lieve to be the Pelasgic wall on the north side of the
Acropolis; not the work of a people invited into
Attica for that purpose, but the work of the Abori-
gines or the Pelasgi. The gradual decline of the
power of the Pelasgi in Attica, and the extinction
of their name by the preponderance of another
stock, can hardly be doubted, though the progress of
this change is entirely unknown. That their name
should have been attached to a portion of the
city under the Acropolis, as late as the time of
Thucydides (ii. 17), is a decisive proof that the
Pelasgi once occupied the spot, and also that they
were once a component part of the city. There is
hardly an antient city in Europe which does not
possess similar historical memorials. It is certain,
however, that another race shared, at an early period,
with the Pelasgi the ground around the Acropolis, and
this people it was who gave, in course of time, a new
distinctive appellation to the community; just as we
see from many instances in modern times, where the
original settlers of a colony have been supplanted by
a new race, whose name and language have gra-
dually predominated. The restless spirit of the Athe-
nian people was well calculated to obscure a less
enterprising and adventurous race.
Two rival deities contended for the honour of giving
name to Attica, that is, two people disputed both for
religious and political superiority. Poseidon, the god
of thelonians, and Athena, the tutelary goddess of the
people who bore her name, claimed the superiority;
and though it was conceded to Athena, Poseidon still
maintained his ground in Attica. The temple on the
high cliff of Suniura, the first object which the mariner
would see on his approach to the Attic coast, was