DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1031#0156
CHAPTER XVII.
ATHENS----THE ACROPOLIS.
The Erectheum--------Inscriptions.
Ikcto b' £s Mapa8i2va ku\ evpvdyvtav 'Adtjvqp
Adve S' 'E.peydfio<; mvKtvdv Z6fxov.
Hom. Odvss. vii. 80.
Erecthei Athenis delubrum vidimus.
Ciceh. Nat. D. III. 19.
Of the Temple of Minerva Polias2 now before us,
a general idea may be formed by conceiving a cella,
about ninety feet long, standing from east to west,
intersected at its west end by an irregular transept;
and at each of the three extremities thus formed, a
portico. The southern portico was not, like the north-
ern and eastern, supported by Ionic columns, but
by Caryatides. The interior of the nave has been
intersected by two marble partitions parallel to the
east end; and was thus divided into three separate
compartments or chambers, of which the eastern was
the narrowest. The question hence arises, how these
chambers were occupied, and to what deities were
they respectively dedicated.
The arguments which may be used to deter-
mine this question are these. The sacred olive-tree
' See the Plan in the map of Athens.
12
ATHENS----THE ACROPOLIS.
The Erectheum--------Inscriptions.
Ikcto b' £s Mapa8i2va ku\ evpvdyvtav 'Adtjvqp
Adve S' 'E.peydfio<; mvKtvdv Z6fxov.
Hom. Odvss. vii. 80.
Erecthei Athenis delubrum vidimus.
Ciceh. Nat. D. III. 19.
Of the Temple of Minerva Polias2 now before us,
a general idea may be formed by conceiving a cella,
about ninety feet long, standing from east to west,
intersected at its west end by an irregular transept;
and at each of the three extremities thus formed, a
portico. The southern portico was not, like the north-
ern and eastern, supported by Ionic columns, but
by Caryatides. The interior of the nave has been
intersected by two marble partitions parallel to the
east end; and was thus divided into three separate
compartments or chambers, of which the eastern was
the narrowest. The question hence arises, how these
chambers were occupied, and to what deities were
they respectively dedicated.
The arguments which may be used to deter-
mine this question are these. The sacred olive-tree
' See the Plan in the map of Athens.
12