DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4264#0064
64 OF THE TEMPLES OF ERECHTHEUS,
have been a close room, illuminated only by a lamp ; whereas in this of Pandrosus a free admission
was given to light and air, the spaces between the caryatides being left entirely open.
The olive and the spring of sea-watera prove this to be the fabulous scene of contention be-
tween the two divinities; they also prove that these Temples were rebuilt on the same spot where
those stood that were burnt by Xerxes, which doubtless were of great antiquity, probably the most
ancient in Athens. Homer mentions that of Minervab, under which name he seems to include them
all, as Herodotus afterwards does under that of Erechtheus c.
An inscription brought from Athens at the expense of the Society of Dilettanti, and published
by Dr. Chandlerd, contains a survey of such parts of these temples as were at that time unfinished,
with what seems to be an estimate in Attic minas of the expense of completing them, amounting to
between three and four hundred pounds sterling".
This survey was taken by order of the people of Athens' when Diodes was archon, which
'da.Xc&tTact, eh* T« ?\6yoq ttccp' 'A$r,vc(.ict)v Ylocrn-
TOLt; WtPi T'lq "XteP'tlSi [/.CCPTVplCC S"Hc7t)ciJ.
a In the fictitious Travels of Guillitiere, he describes having
seen the salt spring, and Wheler and Spon were told that it then
existed, perhaps equally erroneously- The area of the temple
is now still enveloped in its marble ruins, therefore the position
of the well remains concealed. The spring that supplied it,
is perhaps the same that issues near the Propylffia, the water of
which is brackish. CED0
t> Homer. II. B. v. 549 '. Od. II. v. 81 \
c 'Ecrn It tyj 'AkcottoAi tcc'jtji 'EoEp/O^o? roii yyystio$ AEyo^-Eyou titcct
VTftS, BV TW l7\U,\f] TE X.Ki vC4?
OSWKZ TE XCSl AvrtVUlY;l', ipiCtCCV
tuutyjV uv T'fit iXatr,v a.y.a T0 ctAAw Igw ;caTEAa/5s £f/,<irp
Pja^a^t, Herodotus, 1. VIII. sect. 55.
' There is in the Acropolis, the Temple of Erechtheus, who
is said to be born of the earth ; in this is the olive and the sea,
produced there, as the Athenians relate, by Neptune and Mi-
nerva, in testimony of their contention about that country.
This olive-tree, together with the rest of the temple, was burnt
by the barbarians.'
Herodotus is supposed to have recited his history at Athens,
in the fourth year of the eighty-fourth Olympiad, that is, before
Phidias had set up his statue of Minerva in the Parthenon, and
perhaps the Temples of Minerva Polias and of Pandrosus were
not then rebuilt.
'' Inscriptiones Antiquse. Oxoniae, 1774, p. 37-
c The marginal Greek cyphers, attached to the columns of
this inscription, which are here supposed by Stuart to have
formed the items of an estimate for completing this edifice,
were first pointed out by the Chevalier Visconti, and afterwards
by the architect Mr. Wilkins, to have related to the number
of pieces of marble belonging to different parts of the edifice, the
state and situation of which are spoken of contiguous to them.
The proof of this is, that the words near these cyphers are
found to be either singular, dual, or plural, in correspondence
with the numbers I. II. or III., &c. which are inscribed in the
lines adjoining. See Visconti, Museo Pio Clementino, 1788,
Tomo IV. p. 89; and Mem. p. 90. Wilkins's Atheniensia, p.
19G. L>d.]
f The Marble here alluded to is so important a monument in
the history of Grecian constructive architecture, that we can do
no less than insert it for the satisfaction of the reader. It is
perfectly unique, and is the more highly interesting from be-
longing to a structure of the age of Pericles, still in existence.
Dr. Chandler discovered it at a house on the Acropolis not far
from the Temple of Minerva Polias, and under somewhat diffi-
cult and romantic circumstances obtained possession of it for the
Dilettanti Society, who have since presented it to the British
Museum.
A transcript from this Athenian inscription is here given in
the common character, divested of the archaisms incident as be-
fore-mentioned to marbles engraved previous to the archonship
of Euclid. The republication of this architectural curiosity, is
from the very important amendment of Dr. Chandler's version
of it, through the superior architectural knowledge, and aca-
demic learning, of Mr. W. Wilkins, to which are added several
elucidations from the researches of the German commentators,
Schneider, Midler, and Boeekh, united to those of our own
countryman Mr. H. J. Rose, of Cambridge, to whose elegant
volume on ancient Greek Inscriptions the Republic of Letters is
much indebted.
MARMOR ARCHITECTONICUM ATHENIENSE.
E) wtarirai toS koD too It tto'Aei h u to &.qxa.~m a.ya.'A^a. Bpo<7u» ....
r,c Ksiplc-lEK;, Xajlafc; 'Ay^vXr,9Et, AloiV,; KsptimB{, 'Aa^irUtut
*i)Ao*A>); Aj£ag»si;, T^a.^jj.a.Tvjq 'Ets'k^o; K-uJatVaisu;
Txd)s a.tiy^a^av sqya ToD veoD wg xaTEAaj3oeE%ovTa zcctcc to -^rt
<pit?)ixcc -rov Si/j.ov o 'Ewiys^; iimi e%sgycc,trpltu. xa) bpUgya \tt\ Aio
x)Aeouc a?^oi/T05j Ke^owiJo; li^vratsvoiani ir^rr,^ lm T?s /3ooAn;
i) NlxoeJais;; MagaOumf ttjSto? ly/jaftpaTEUo-si'.
ToS tiov t«Se KaTeAago^E). *pU%ycc. toirut Ixao-Tou oix It-ipya-
Eirt rri ym'ia. ry 57gof toS Kehjottiou. oral b a^o; a ete§o; oi$\
nAivOoi;; aD/roti; pixo; TETfa oi 'ima-Sit a?f/,o<-
I III n^(, ttAoto; SiwoScu;, TOj/o; Mtoc exttoos;, ,rA«TO; Sin
rpvpivXwr All h(, ffa%o5 mitaXoi-
Mxa-^aXia'tat fMMq rsT^TrcSa, rmrm Uaorou om igigyx
Ar,fj.ov 'E/7£%0rtc;, p-lyaXtropo;, h OTr' 'AGy,v/i
]i$l, A/o> Qvyccrnp, -s«s 5e Z,uIh^os "A^voa,
KiS;
Kavgot 'ASyva'twv, vspirsXXapivuvhtaU'rc.jv
Athens the fair where great Erechtheus sway'd,
That owed his nurture to the blue-eyed maid,
But from the teeming furrow tool; his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth.
Him Pallas placed amidst her wealthy fane,
Adored with sacrifice and oxen slain ;
Where as the years revolve, her altars blaze,
And all the tribes resound the Goddess' praise.' i
— AeVvji
Ixtro o ej Ma^a&wvo;, ««) ibguiiyuiav 'A^jJvjjv,
Avvi d'Eps^Eljjo; cruxivov Sofcov.
The winds to Marathon the virgin bore;
Thence, where proud Athens rears her towery head,
With opening streets and shining structures spread,
She passed, delighted with the well-known seats,
And to Erechtheus sacred dome retreats,' ropit.
[*»•]
[*»•]
have been a close room, illuminated only by a lamp ; whereas in this of Pandrosus a free admission
was given to light and air, the spaces between the caryatides being left entirely open.
The olive and the spring of sea-watera prove this to be the fabulous scene of contention be-
tween the two divinities; they also prove that these Temples were rebuilt on the same spot where
those stood that were burnt by Xerxes, which doubtless were of great antiquity, probably the most
ancient in Athens. Homer mentions that of Minervab, under which name he seems to include them
all, as Herodotus afterwards does under that of Erechtheus c.
An inscription brought from Athens at the expense of the Society of Dilettanti, and published
by Dr. Chandlerd, contains a survey of such parts of these temples as were at that time unfinished,
with what seems to be an estimate in Attic minas of the expense of completing them, amounting to
between three and four hundred pounds sterling".
This survey was taken by order of the people of Athens' when Diodes was archon, which
'da.Xc&tTact, eh* T« ?\6yoq ttccp' 'A$r,vc(.ict)v Ylocrn-
TOLt; WtPi T'lq "XteP'tlSi [/.CCPTVplCC S"Hc7t)ciJ.
a In the fictitious Travels of Guillitiere, he describes having
seen the salt spring, and Wheler and Spon were told that it then
existed, perhaps equally erroneously- The area of the temple
is now still enveloped in its marble ruins, therefore the position
of the well remains concealed. The spring that supplied it,
is perhaps the same that issues near the Propylffia, the water of
which is brackish. CED0
t> Homer. II. B. v. 549 '. Od. II. v. 81 \
c 'Ecrn It tyj 'AkcottoAi tcc'jtji 'EoEp/O^o? roii yyystio$ AEyo^-Eyou titcct
VTftS, BV TW l7\U,\f] TE X.Ki vC4?
OSWKZ TE XCSl AvrtVUlY;l', ipiCtCCV
tuutyjV uv T'fit iXatr,v a.y.a T0 ctAAw Igw ;caTEAa/5s £f/,<irp
Pja^a^t, Herodotus, 1. VIII. sect. 55.
' There is in the Acropolis, the Temple of Erechtheus, who
is said to be born of the earth ; in this is the olive and the sea,
produced there, as the Athenians relate, by Neptune and Mi-
nerva, in testimony of their contention about that country.
This olive-tree, together with the rest of the temple, was burnt
by the barbarians.'
Herodotus is supposed to have recited his history at Athens,
in the fourth year of the eighty-fourth Olympiad, that is, before
Phidias had set up his statue of Minerva in the Parthenon, and
perhaps the Temples of Minerva Polias and of Pandrosus were
not then rebuilt.
'' Inscriptiones Antiquse. Oxoniae, 1774, p. 37-
c The marginal Greek cyphers, attached to the columns of
this inscription, which are here supposed by Stuart to have
formed the items of an estimate for completing this edifice,
were first pointed out by the Chevalier Visconti, and afterwards
by the architect Mr. Wilkins, to have related to the number
of pieces of marble belonging to different parts of the edifice, the
state and situation of which are spoken of contiguous to them.
The proof of this is, that the words near these cyphers are
found to be either singular, dual, or plural, in correspondence
with the numbers I. II. or III., &c. which are inscribed in the
lines adjoining. See Visconti, Museo Pio Clementino, 1788,
Tomo IV. p. 89; and Mem. p. 90. Wilkins's Atheniensia, p.
19G. L>d.]
f The Marble here alluded to is so important a monument in
the history of Grecian constructive architecture, that we can do
no less than insert it for the satisfaction of the reader. It is
perfectly unique, and is the more highly interesting from be-
longing to a structure of the age of Pericles, still in existence.
Dr. Chandler discovered it at a house on the Acropolis not far
from the Temple of Minerva Polias, and under somewhat diffi-
cult and romantic circumstances obtained possession of it for the
Dilettanti Society, who have since presented it to the British
Museum.
A transcript from this Athenian inscription is here given in
the common character, divested of the archaisms incident as be-
fore-mentioned to marbles engraved previous to the archonship
of Euclid. The republication of this architectural curiosity, is
from the very important amendment of Dr. Chandler's version
of it, through the superior architectural knowledge, and aca-
demic learning, of Mr. W. Wilkins, to which are added several
elucidations from the researches of the German commentators,
Schneider, Midler, and Boeekh, united to those of our own
countryman Mr. H. J. Rose, of Cambridge, to whose elegant
volume on ancient Greek Inscriptions the Republic of Letters is
much indebted.
MARMOR ARCHITECTONICUM ATHENIENSE.
E) wtarirai toS koD too It tto'Aei h u to &.qxa.~m a.ya.'A^a. Bpo<7u» ....
r,c Ksiplc-lEK;, Xajlafc; 'Ay^vXr,9Et, AloiV,; KsptimB{, 'Aa^irUtut
*i)Ao*A>); Aj£ag»si;, T^a.^jj.a.Tvjq 'Ets'k^o; K-uJatVaisu;
Txd)s a.tiy^a^av sqya ToD veoD wg xaTEAaj3oeE%ovTa zcctcc to -^rt
<pit?)ixcc -rov Si/j.ov o 'Ewiys^; iimi e%sgycc,trpltu. xa) bpUgya \tt\ Aio
x)Aeouc a?^oi/T05j Ke^owiJo; li^vratsvoiani ir^rr,^ lm T?s /3ooAn;
i) NlxoeJais;; MagaOumf ttjSto? ly/jaftpaTEUo-si'.
ToS tiov t«Se KaTeAago^E). *pU%ycc. toirut Ixao-Tou oix It-ipya-
Eirt rri ym'ia. ry 57gof toS Kehjottiou. oral b a^o; a ete§o; oi$\
nAivOoi;; aD/roti; pixo; TETfa oi 'ima-Sit a?f/,o<-
I III n^(, ttAoto; SiwoScu;, TOj/o; Mtoc exttoos;, ,rA«TO; Sin
rpvpivXwr All h(, ffa%o5 mitaXoi-
Mxa-^aXia'tat fMMq rsT^TrcSa, rmrm Uaorou om igigyx
Ar,fj.ov 'E/7£%0rtc;, p-lyaXtropo;, h OTr' 'AGy,v/i
]i$l, A/o> Qvyccrnp, -s«s 5e Z,uIh^os "A^voa,
KiS;
Kavgot 'ASyva'twv, vspirsXXapivuvhtaU'rc.jv
Athens the fair where great Erechtheus sway'd,
That owed his nurture to the blue-eyed maid,
But from the teeming furrow tool; his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth.
Him Pallas placed amidst her wealthy fane,
Adored with sacrifice and oxen slain ;
Where as the years revolve, her altars blaze,
And all the tribes resound the Goddess' praise.' i
— AeVvji
Ixtro o ej Ma^a&wvo;, ««) ibguiiyuiav 'A^jJvjjv,
Avvi d'Eps^Eljjo; cruxivov Sofcov.
The winds to Marathon the virgin bore;
Thence, where proud Athens rears her towery head,
With opening streets and shining structures spread,
She passed, delighted with the well-known seats,
And to Erechtheus sacred dome retreats,' ropit.
[*»•]
[*»•]