DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5504#0010
104 Travels in Gi-eece, Turkey, and the Holy Land,
seldom apart. Would that I could communicate to my readers
the pleasure I felt in inspecting, in his company, the noble
ruins which have engrossed the Avhole of his attention for
thirty years past! The extent of his researches has been such,
that even where he entertains doubts he does not fail to afford
instruction.
He appeared to me to be, at this time, about sixty-five
years of age, and was just recovered from a severe illness, not-
withstanding which his vivacity and the poignancy of his wit,
still unabated, served to engender and foster discussion: he
might have supported a theme advan tag-eon sly beneath the
celebrated portico, the vestiges of which his imagination has
portrayed.
His house is situated between the ruins of the library of
the Ptolemies, and the temple of Theseus. When we were
seated on the terrace, in the evening, we could distinctly hear
the discordant music of the Egyptian slaves, who assemble
together occasionally to forget their bondage : they performed
Nubian dances on the very spot where the festival of the
founder of Athens was once celebrated by brilliant theories.
Our first excursion led us towards the temple of Minerva,
and the Propylseum, to which we ascended with anxious speed.
I was perplexed, for I wished to admire every thing at once.
I could have imprinted kisses on these venerable marbles, if
they had not been covered by the obscures names of the dif-
ferent travellers who have visited Athens for some centuries
past.
Amid these sacred ruins, Ave feel a solemn awe which
deprives us in a great measure of the power of utterance : Ave
speak in half whispers. Here it Avas that the echo Ave still
reverence once repeated the rival and celebrated songs of the
tribes of Acamantis and Hippothoontis; for here they sung the
victories of Theseus on Mount Homole, and in the plains of
Thermodon.
We advanced sIoavIv among a heap of reversed columns and
broken friezes, to the spot Avhere once stood the statue of Mi-
nerva, and on the site of Avhich a small mosque has been
erected.
This great destruction is not the Avork of ages, the ravages
of Avhich are not any Avhere to be discerned: the fine polish
of the marble, the sharp angles, and the compactness of the
masonry, every thing, in short, unites to absolve time, and to
accuse the barbarous hand of man.
At sun rise it Avas my delight to seat myself on the summits
of the marble Avails of the Parthenon, Avhence I could overlook
the immense theatre of the pomp, the dissensions, and the
seldom apart. Would that I could communicate to my readers
the pleasure I felt in inspecting, in his company, the noble
ruins which have engrossed the Avhole of his attention for
thirty years past! The extent of his researches has been such,
that even where he entertains doubts he does not fail to afford
instruction.
He appeared to me to be, at this time, about sixty-five
years of age, and was just recovered from a severe illness, not-
withstanding which his vivacity and the poignancy of his wit,
still unabated, served to engender and foster discussion: he
might have supported a theme advan tag-eon sly beneath the
celebrated portico, the vestiges of which his imagination has
portrayed.
His house is situated between the ruins of the library of
the Ptolemies, and the temple of Theseus. When we were
seated on the terrace, in the evening, we could distinctly hear
the discordant music of the Egyptian slaves, who assemble
together occasionally to forget their bondage : they performed
Nubian dances on the very spot where the festival of the
founder of Athens was once celebrated by brilliant theories.
Our first excursion led us towards the temple of Minerva,
and the Propylseum, to which we ascended with anxious speed.
I was perplexed, for I wished to admire every thing at once.
I could have imprinted kisses on these venerable marbles, if
they had not been covered by the obscures names of the dif-
ferent travellers who have visited Athens for some centuries
past.
Amid these sacred ruins, Ave feel a solemn awe which
deprives us in a great measure of the power of utterance : Ave
speak in half whispers. Here it Avas that the echo Ave still
reverence once repeated the rival and celebrated songs of the
tribes of Acamantis and Hippothoontis; for here they sung the
victories of Theseus on Mount Homole, and in the plains of
Thermodon.
We advanced sIoavIv among a heap of reversed columns and
broken friezes, to the spot Avhere once stood the statue of Mi-
nerva, and on the site of Avhich a small mosque has been
erected.
This great destruction is not the Avork of ages, the ravages
of Avhich are not any Avhere to be discerned: the fine polish
of the marble, the sharp angles, and the compactness of the
masonry, every thing, in short, unites to absolve time, and to
accuse the barbarous hand of man.
At sun rise it Avas my delight to seat myself on the summits
of the marble Avails of the Parthenon, Avhence I could overlook
the immense theatre of the pomp, the dissensions, and the