DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0065
Chap in.]
RECENT DISCOVERIES.
37
for him; but on being told that it was so buried amongst
the stones, that it could not be got at, he ordered the whole
corner or end of the pediment to be thrown down, to enable
him to gratify his wishes.
In the excavations which have; been made for rebuilding
the town, near the remains of the temple of Ceres, to the
east of that of Theseus, several remarkable statues and
pedestals have lately been discovered. There are three of
the latter in situ, on two of which statues are still standing,
and which appear to have been placed on each side of
the road leading from the temple. The nearest pedestal
has lost its statue; but on it is carved an olive-tree,
with a serpent twined round it, which is generally con-
sidered as the symbol of a hero. The same bas-relief
occurs on the furthest pedestal, which supports a well ex-
ecuted statue, terminating from the knees downwards in
the figure of a serpent. This is supposed by Signor Petaki
to represent Erichthonius, the fourth king of Athens. The
head and greater part of the arms are broken off, but the
hero seems to have been in the act of throwing a spear,
against which, the second figure on the pedestal, which is
placed nearly half-way between the other two, but on the
opposite side of the road, appears to have been defendinghim-
self. Signor Petaki considers that it represents the contest
between Erichthonius and Phorbas, king of Euboea, and
that they belonged to the heroic statues described by Di-
casarchus, as standing near the portico of the Poocile, which
is close by towards the east.
Beyond the Pcecile is an ancient gateway, commonly
called the Gate of the Agora. The discovery of an inscrip-
tion upon it, hitherto overlooked, shows that it was the por-
tico of a temple dedicated to A0HNH APXAIETH2. A
long inscription on a high marble slab within this por-
tico, which has been called a tariff, has turned out, on
being decyphered, to be an edict, offering to public compe-
tition the management of the property of a certain Hip-
parchus, which had been confiscated. I also heard that
RECENT DISCOVERIES.
37
for him; but on being told that it was so buried amongst
the stones, that it could not be got at, he ordered the whole
corner or end of the pediment to be thrown down, to enable
him to gratify his wishes.
In the excavations which have; been made for rebuilding
the town, near the remains of the temple of Ceres, to the
east of that of Theseus, several remarkable statues and
pedestals have lately been discovered. There are three of
the latter in situ, on two of which statues are still standing,
and which appear to have been placed on each side of
the road leading from the temple. The nearest pedestal
has lost its statue; but on it is carved an olive-tree,
with a serpent twined round it, which is generally con-
sidered as the symbol of a hero. The same bas-relief
occurs on the furthest pedestal, which supports a well ex-
ecuted statue, terminating from the knees downwards in
the figure of a serpent. This is supposed by Signor Petaki
to represent Erichthonius, the fourth king of Athens. The
head and greater part of the arms are broken off, but the
hero seems to have been in the act of throwing a spear,
against which, the second figure on the pedestal, which is
placed nearly half-way between the other two, but on the
opposite side of the road, appears to have been defendinghim-
self. Signor Petaki considers that it represents the contest
between Erichthonius and Phorbas, king of Euboea, and
that they belonged to the heroic statues described by Di-
casarchus, as standing near the portico of the Poocile, which
is close by towards the east.
Beyond the Pcecile is an ancient gateway, commonly
called the Gate of the Agora. The discovery of an inscrip-
tion upon it, hitherto overlooked, shows that it was the por-
tico of a temple dedicated to A0HNH APXAIETH2. A
long inscription on a high marble slab within this por-
tico, which has been called a tariff, has turned out, on
being decyphered, to be an edict, offering to public compe-
tition the management of the property of a certain Hip-
parchus, which had been confiscated. I also heard that