DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4264#0104
01? THE PItOPYL/EA.
1.04
Here it was that every Athenian youth, when arrived at a certain age, took a
to save her coun ry.^ ^ ^ ^ defence of his country, its religion, and its laws, whenever occa-
solemn <^ *^ ^.^ tfl witness Aglauros, Enyalius, Mars, and Jupiter.
I am ware of the confusion and contradictions we find in the different relations of this very
ancient legendary tale concerning Aglauros, which, like others current among the Athenians, was
doubtless meant to inculcate the duty of sacrificing every consideration, and life itself, for the public
good. Here it has no other business than to ascertain the situation of the temple of Aglauros, which
it seems pretty clearly to point outa.
PLATE XLI.
Fio-. 1. A view of the Propyltea, and the two contiguous buildings, in their present state, taken
from the situation of the little Ionic temple of Aglauros, marked D in the following plate.
The building on the left hand is the temple of Victory Apteros ; that in the middle is the
portico of six columns; and that on the right is the building which was decorated with the paintings
of Polygnotus.
Fig. 2. A continuation of the basso-relievos at Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Two pieces of basso-relievos, which appear to have belonged to the little Ionic tem-
ple above mentioned. The one represents a combat between the Athenians and Amazons ; the
other is also a combat; but I do not see any circumstance introduced that may point out who are the
parties engagedb.
PLATE XLII.
The plan of the Propylasa.
A. The Propylsa properly so called; a, b,
c, d, e, the five gates or entrances into the Acro-
polis.
a Earlier and more authentic authorities than Ulpian describe
the Hiekon of Aglauros as near the Prytaneum and above
the Anaceium, the locality of which structures appears to have
been towards the eastern end of the north side of the Acropolis.
Herodotus, as before mentioned, speaks of the Aglaureum as
behind the gates. The fable or history of Aglauros as recited
by Ulpian, is also subject to be called in question, by his having
confounded the daughter of Cecrops with those of Ereehtheus.
The situation of the sanctuary of Aglauros, for it was not a
temple, is supposed to have been at a cavern under the Pelasgic
wall, and beneath the Ereehtheum, at a site marked letter V* in
the plan of the Acrojiolis, Plate II. in the description of which
at note e, p. 15. are fuller remarks on that locality. It may
be considered that where the name, ' Temple of Aglauros ', sub-
sequently occurs in this chapter, it should be read, 'Temple of
Victory Apteros'. [jed.]
* In these bas-reliefs the most brilliant design and execution
of the best epoch of Grecian art, are seen predominant, in defiance
of the wanton mutilation they have experienced. They formed
part of the small edifice called by Wheler and Spon, the Temple
of Victory Apteros, in which they appear not to have been mis-
taken, and Wheler speaks of that building as decorated with a
' basso-relievo of little figures well cut'. This temple having been
destroyed since that period by the Turks, probably to give room
for the formation or enlargement of the central battery, the
fragments were inserted by them in a wall on the ascent
to the Acropolis. There they were delineated by Pars in 1705,
and in the year 1804, the agents of -Lord Elgin happily re-
moved them from that situation, and they now decorate the
British Museum. These friezes consist of four slabs, each pair
allusive to a different subject; in height and in length they cor-
respond with the dimensions of the building described by Wheler
as fifteen feet by nine, as well as with the other fragments found
near the site of the same edifice. The subjects represented were
' From the top of this cavern, an ascent by steps excavated in the rock and
leading to the Acropolis, has been recently discovered by the Greeks. This corn-
Athenian combats, and highly appropriate therefore to their own
Temple of Victory. The longest of these compositions, which is
seen at fig- 3, is thirteen feet five inches long, and represents a
combat of Greeks with Greeks. Each party bears the round shield
or o-o-tt);, their heads are mostly covered with helmets; those who
may be supposed to be the Athenians or victors, are chiefly naked
with a chlamys floating in the wind, aiding the effect of the ap-
pearance of the vigorous muscular action with which the figures
are animated, while their opponents are more or less clothed
with a tunic, and their reins girt with a belt. The shortest of
the friezes at fig. 2, is twelve feet three inches in length ; it
bears allusion to a combat of Greeks and Persians, for the dis-
tinctions of sex are too strongly marked to leave it doubtful
whether the draped and equestrian figures were Amazons, for
which they have been mistaken. The Athenians, as in the pre-
vious relief, are represented naked and with round shields, while
the Persians, five of whom are overpowered, are protected with
the Asiatic crescent-shaped shields, named by the Romans ' lu-
nat»3 peltae', and a large Eastern quiver is suspended by their left
sides; their limbs are clad with a tunic bound tight round the
waist, fitting loosely the entire figure even below the knees and
elbows, in a fashion similar to that in which both the Greeks
and Romans attired representations of their uncivilized enemies,
having the barbarian clothing of the legs, the ' barbara tegmina
crurum', or ' Persica braca', called by the Greeks Bfaaxoi. Vis-
conti, who appears to have been unfortunate in attributing the
temple to which these friezes belonged to the heroine Aglauros,
was more so in viewing a part of them as a contest with the
Amazons. The combat of Persians and Athenians probably re-
corded the battle of Marathon; that of Athenians and Greeks may
have alluded to some triumph of the former over their neigh-
bours, previous to the Peloponnesian war, antecedent to which
this temple was doubtless built; possibly that when they over-
came the Boeotians and Chalcidians on the same day, on which
munication from above was probably an ancient sally-port, and by the objects
found concealed there, it appears to have been known to the Venetians. [*■•"-J
w
■:'
jjiii"
1.04
Here it was that every Athenian youth, when arrived at a certain age, took a
to save her coun ry.^ ^ ^ ^ defence of his country, its religion, and its laws, whenever occa-
solemn <^ *^ ^.^ tfl witness Aglauros, Enyalius, Mars, and Jupiter.
I am ware of the confusion and contradictions we find in the different relations of this very
ancient legendary tale concerning Aglauros, which, like others current among the Athenians, was
doubtless meant to inculcate the duty of sacrificing every consideration, and life itself, for the public
good. Here it has no other business than to ascertain the situation of the temple of Aglauros, which
it seems pretty clearly to point outa.
PLATE XLI.
Fio-. 1. A view of the Propyltea, and the two contiguous buildings, in their present state, taken
from the situation of the little Ionic temple of Aglauros, marked D in the following plate.
The building on the left hand is the temple of Victory Apteros ; that in the middle is the
portico of six columns; and that on the right is the building which was decorated with the paintings
of Polygnotus.
Fig. 2. A continuation of the basso-relievos at Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Two pieces of basso-relievos, which appear to have belonged to the little Ionic tem-
ple above mentioned. The one represents a combat between the Athenians and Amazons ; the
other is also a combat; but I do not see any circumstance introduced that may point out who are the
parties engagedb.
PLATE XLII.
The plan of the Propylasa.
A. The Propylsa properly so called; a, b,
c, d, e, the five gates or entrances into the Acro-
polis.
a Earlier and more authentic authorities than Ulpian describe
the Hiekon of Aglauros as near the Prytaneum and above
the Anaceium, the locality of which structures appears to have
been towards the eastern end of the north side of the Acropolis.
Herodotus, as before mentioned, speaks of the Aglaureum as
behind the gates. The fable or history of Aglauros as recited
by Ulpian, is also subject to be called in question, by his having
confounded the daughter of Cecrops with those of Ereehtheus.
The situation of the sanctuary of Aglauros, for it was not a
temple, is supposed to have been at a cavern under the Pelasgic
wall, and beneath the Ereehtheum, at a site marked letter V* in
the plan of the Acrojiolis, Plate II. in the description of which
at note e, p. 15. are fuller remarks on that locality. It may
be considered that where the name, ' Temple of Aglauros ', sub-
sequently occurs in this chapter, it should be read, 'Temple of
Victory Apteros'. [jed.]
* In these bas-reliefs the most brilliant design and execution
of the best epoch of Grecian art, are seen predominant, in defiance
of the wanton mutilation they have experienced. They formed
part of the small edifice called by Wheler and Spon, the Temple
of Victory Apteros, in which they appear not to have been mis-
taken, and Wheler speaks of that building as decorated with a
' basso-relievo of little figures well cut'. This temple having been
destroyed since that period by the Turks, probably to give room
for the formation or enlargement of the central battery, the
fragments were inserted by them in a wall on the ascent
to the Acropolis. There they were delineated by Pars in 1705,
and in the year 1804, the agents of -Lord Elgin happily re-
moved them from that situation, and they now decorate the
British Museum. These friezes consist of four slabs, each pair
allusive to a different subject; in height and in length they cor-
respond with the dimensions of the building described by Wheler
as fifteen feet by nine, as well as with the other fragments found
near the site of the same edifice. The subjects represented were
' From the top of this cavern, an ascent by steps excavated in the rock and
leading to the Acropolis, has been recently discovered by the Greeks. This corn-
Athenian combats, and highly appropriate therefore to their own
Temple of Victory. The longest of these compositions, which is
seen at fig- 3, is thirteen feet five inches long, and represents a
combat of Greeks with Greeks. Each party bears the round shield
or o-o-tt);, their heads are mostly covered with helmets; those who
may be supposed to be the Athenians or victors, are chiefly naked
with a chlamys floating in the wind, aiding the effect of the ap-
pearance of the vigorous muscular action with which the figures
are animated, while their opponents are more or less clothed
with a tunic, and their reins girt with a belt. The shortest of
the friezes at fig. 2, is twelve feet three inches in length ; it
bears allusion to a combat of Greeks and Persians, for the dis-
tinctions of sex are too strongly marked to leave it doubtful
whether the draped and equestrian figures were Amazons, for
which they have been mistaken. The Athenians, as in the pre-
vious relief, are represented naked and with round shields, while
the Persians, five of whom are overpowered, are protected with
the Asiatic crescent-shaped shields, named by the Romans ' lu-
nat»3 peltae', and a large Eastern quiver is suspended by their left
sides; their limbs are clad with a tunic bound tight round the
waist, fitting loosely the entire figure even below the knees and
elbows, in a fashion similar to that in which both the Greeks
and Romans attired representations of their uncivilized enemies,
having the barbarian clothing of the legs, the ' barbara tegmina
crurum', or ' Persica braca', called by the Greeks Bfaaxoi. Vis-
conti, who appears to have been unfortunate in attributing the
temple to which these friezes belonged to the heroine Aglauros,
was more so in viewing a part of them as a contest with the
Amazons. The combat of Persians and Athenians probably re-
corded the battle of Marathon; that of Athenians and Greeks may
have alluded to some triumph of the former over their neigh-
bours, previous to the Peloponnesian war, antecedent to which
this temple was doubtless built; possibly that when they over-
came the Boeotians and Chalcidians on the same day, on which
munication from above was probably an ancient sally-port, and by the objects
found concealed there, it appears to have been known to the Venetians. [*■•"-J
w
■:'
jjiii"