A Day In Old Athens

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So much for the bare "bones" of the Acropolis; but now under the
dazzling sunshine how it glitters with indescribable splendor!
Before us as we ascend a whole succession of buildings seem lifting
themselves, not singly, not in hopeless confusion, but grouped
admirably together by a kind of wizardry, so that the harmony is
perfect,--each visible, brilliant column and pinnacle, not merely
flashing its own beauty, but suggesting another greater beauty just
behind.

192. The Use of Color upon Athenian Architecture and Sculptures.--While
we look upward at this group of temples and their wealth of
sculptures, let us state now something we have noticed during all
our walks around Athens, but have hitherto left without comment.
Every temple and statue in Athens is not left in its bare white
marble, as later ages will conceive is demanded by "Greek Architecture"
and statuary, but is decked in brilliant color--"painted," if you
will use an almost unfriendly word. The columns and gables and
ceilings of the buildings are all painted. Blue, red, green, and
gold blaze on all the members and ornaments. The backgrounds of
the pediments, metopes, and frieze are tinted some uniform color
on which the sculptured figures in relief stand out clearly. The
figures themselves are tinted or painted, at least on the hair,
lips, and eyes. Flesh-colored warriors are fighting upon a bright
red background. The armor and horse trappings on the sculptures
are in actual bronze. The result is an effect indescribably vivid.
Blues and reds predominate: the flush of light and color from the
still more brilliant heavens above adds to the effect. Shall we
call it garish? We have learned to know the taste of Athenians
too well to doubt their judgment in matters of pure beauty. And
they are right. UNDER AN ATHENIAN SKY temples and statues demand
a wealth of color which in a somber clime would seem intolerable.
The brilliant lines of the Acropolis buildings are the just answer
of the Athenian to the brilliancy of Helios.

193. The Chief Buildings on the Acropolis.--And now to ascend the
Acropolis. We leave the discussion of the details of the temples
and the sculpture to the architects and archeologists. The whole
plateau of the Rock is covered with religious buildings, altars,
and statues. We pass through the Propylea, the worthy rival of
the Parthenon behind, a magnificent portal, with six splendid Doric
columns facing us; and as we go through them, to right and to left
open out equally magnificent columned porticoes.[*] As we emerge
from the Propylea the whole vision of the sacred plateau bursts
upon us simultaneously. We can notice only the most important of
the buildings. At the southwestern point of the Acropolis on the
angle of rock which juts out beyond the Propylea is the graceful
little temple of the "Wingless Victory," built in the Ionic style.
The view commanded by its bastion will become famous throughout the
world. Behind this, nearer the southern side, stands the less
important temple of Artemis Brauronia. Nearer the center and directly
before the entrance rises a colossal brazen statue--"monstrous,"
many might call its twenty-six feet of height, save that a master
among masters has cast the spell of his genius over it. This is
the famous Athena Promachos,[+] wrought by Phidias out of the spoils
of Marathon. The warrior goddess stands in full armor and rests
upon her mighty lance. The gilded lance tip gleams so dazzlingly
we may well believe the tale that sailors use it for a first landmark
as they sail up the coast from Cape Sunium.

[*]That to the north was the larger and contained a kind of picture
gallery.

[+]Athena Foremost in Battle.

Looking again upon the complex of buildings we single out another
on the northern side: an irregularly shaped temple, or rather
several temples joined together, the Erechtheum, wherein is the
sanctuary of Athena Polias (the revered "City Warden"), the ancient
wooden statue, grotesque, beloved, most sacred of all the holy
images in Athens. And here on the southern side of this building
is the famous Caryatid porch; the "Porch of the Maidens," which
will be admired as long as Athens has a name. But our eyes refuse
to linger long on any of these things. Behind the statue of the
Promachos, a little to the southern side of the plateau, stands
the Parthenon--the queen jewel upon the crown of Athens.

194. The Parthenon.--Let others analyze its sculptures and explain
the technical reasons why Ictinus and Callicrates, the architects,
and Phidias, the sculptor, created here the supreme masterpiece
for the artistic world. We can state only the superficialities.
It is a noble building by mere size; 228 feet measure its side,
101 feet its front. Forty-six majestic Doric columns surround it;
they average thirty-four feet in height, and six feet three inches
at the base. All these facts, however, do not give the soul of
the Parthenon. Walk around it slowly, tenderly, lovingly. Study
the elaborate stories told by the pediments,--on the east front
the birth of Athena, on the west the strife of Athena and Poseidon
for the possession of Athens. Trace down the innumerable lesser
sculptures on the "metopes" under the cornice,--showing the battles
of the Giants, Centaurs, Amazons, and of the Greeks before Troy;
finally follow around, on the whole inner circuit of the body of
the temple, the frieze,[*] showing in bas-relief the Panathenaic
procession, with the beauty, nobility, and youth of Athens marching
in glad festival; comprehend that these sculptures will never be
surpassed in the twenty-four succeeding centuries; that here are
supreme examples for the artists of all time,--and THEN, in the
face of this final creation, we can realize that the Parthenon will
justify its claim to immortality.

[*]This, of course, is on the outside wall of the "cells," but
inside the surrounding colonnade.

One thing more. There are hardly any straight lines in the Parthenon.
To the eye, the members and the steps of the substructure may seem
perfectly level; but the measuring rod betrays marvelously subtle
curves. As nature abhors right angles in her creations of beauty,
so have these Greeks. Rigidity, unnaturalness, have been banished.
The Parthenon stands, not merely embellished with inimitable
sculptures, but perfectly adjusted to the natural world surrounding.[*]

[*]It was an inability to discover and execute these concealed
curves which give certain of the modern imitations of the Parthenon
their unpleasant impressions of harness and rigidity.

We have seen only the exterior of the Parthenon. We must wait now
ere visiting the interior, for Phormion is beginning his sacrifice.

195. A Sacrifice on the Acropolis.--Across the sacred plateau
advances the little party. As it goes under the Propylea a couple
of idle temple watchers[*] give its members a friendly nod. The
Acropolis rock itself seems deserted, save for a few worshippers
and a party of admiring Achean visitors who are being shown the
glories of the Parthenon.[+] There seems to be a perfect labyrinth
of statues of gods, heroes, and departed worthies, and almost as
many altars, great and small, placed in every direction. Phormion
leads his friends onward till they come near to the wide stone
platform somewhat in the rear of the Parthenon. Here is the "great
altar" of Athena, whereon the "hecatombs" will be sacrificed, even
a hundred oxen or more,[&] at some of the major public festivals;
and close beside it stands also a small and simple altar sacred
to Athena Parthenos, Athena the Virgin. Suitable attendants have
been in readiness since dawn waiting for worshippers. One of
Phormion's party leads behind him a bleating white lamb "without
blemish."[$] It is a short matter now to bring the firewood and
the other necessaries. The sacrifice takes place without delay.

[*]The most important function of these watchers seems to have been
to prevent dogs from entering the Acropolis. Probably they were
inefficient old men favored with sinecure offices.

[+]The Acropolis seems to have become a great "show place" for
visitors to Athens soon after the completion of the famous temples.

[&]We know by an inscription of 169 oxen being needed for a single
Athenian festival.

[$]This was a very proper creature to sacrifice to a great Olympian
deity like Athena. Goats were not suitable for her, although desirable
for most of the other gods. It was unlawful to sacrifice swine to
Aphrodite. When propitiating the gods of the underworld,--Hades,
Persephone, etc.,--a BLACK victim was in order. Poor people could
sacrifice doves, cocks, and other birds.

First a busy "temple sweeper" goes over the ground around the altar
with a broom; then the regular priest, a dignified gray-headed man
with a long ungirt purple chiton, and a heavy olive garland, comes
forward bearing a basin of holy water. This basin is duly passed
to the whole company as it stands in a ring, and each in turn dips
his hand and sprinkles his face and clothes with the lustral water.
Meantime the attendant has placed another wreath around the head
of the lamb. The priest raises his hand.

"Let there be silence," he commands (lest any unlucky word be
spoken); and in a stillness broken only by the auspicious twittering
of the sparrows amid the Parthenon gables, he takes barley corns
from a basket, an sprinkles them on the altar and over the lamb.
With his sacred knife he cuts a lock of hair from the victims head
and casts it on the fire. Promptly now the helper comes forward
to complete the sacrifice. Phormion and his friends are a little
anxious. Will the lamb take fright, hang back, and have to be
dragged to its unwilling death? The clever attendant has cared
for that. A sweet truss of dried clover is lying just under the
altar. The lamb starts forward, bleating joyously. As it bows its
head[*] as if consenting to its fate the priest stabs it dexterously
in the neck with his keen blade. The helper claps a bowl under
the neck to catch the spurting blood. A flute player in readiness,
but hitherto silent, suddenly strikes up a keen blast to drown the
dying moans of the animal. Hardly has the lamb ceased to struggle
before the priest and the helper have begun to cut it up then and
there. Certain bits of the fat and small pieces from each limb
are laid upon the altar, and promptly consumed. These are the
goddess's peculiar portion, and the credulous at least believe
that she, though unseen, is present to eat thereof; certainly the
sniff of the burning meat is grateful to her divine nostrils. The
priest and the helpers are busy taking off the hide and securing
the best joint--these are their "fees" for professional services.
All the rest will be duly gathered up by Phormion's body servant
and borne home,--for Phormion will give a fine feast on "sacred
mutton" that night.[+]

[*]If a larger animal--an ox--failed to bow its head auspiciously,
the omen could be rectified by suddenly splashing a little water
in the ears.

[+]As already suggested (section 159) a sacrifice (public, or, if
on a large scale, private) was about the only occasion on which
Athenians tasted beef, pork, or mutton.

Meantime, while the goddess's portion burns, Phormion approaches
the altar, bearing a shallow cup of unmixed wine, and flings it
upon the flame.

"Be propitious, O Lady," he cries, "and receive this my drink
offering."[*]

[*]The original intention of this libation at the sacrifice was very
clearly to provide the gods with wine to "wash down" their meat.

The sacrifice is now completed. The priest assures Phormion that
the entrails of the victim foretokened every possible favor in
future athletic contests--and this, and his insinuating smile, win
him a silver drachma to supplement his share of the lamb. Phormion
readjusts the chaplet upon his own head, and turns towards the
Parthenon. After the sacrifice will come the prayer.

196. The Interior of the Parthenon and the Great Image of Athena.--The
whole Acropolis is the home of Athena. The other gods harbored
thereon are only her inferior guests. Upon the Acropolis the dread
goddess displays her many aspects. In the Erechtheum we worship
her as Athena Polias, the ancient guardian of the hearths and homes
of the city. In the giant Promachus, we see her the leader in
war,--the awful queen who went with her fosterlings to the deadly
grappling at Marathon and at Salamis; in the little temple of
"Wingless Victory"[*] we see her as Athena the Victorious, triumphant
over Barbarian and Hellenic foe; but in the Parthenon we adore in
her purest conception--the virgin queen, now chaste and clam, her
battles over, the pure, high incarnations of all "the beautiful and
the good" that may possess spirit and mind,--the sovran intellect,
in short, purged of all carnal, earthy passion. It is meet that
such a goddess should inhabit such a dwelling as the Parthenon.[+]

[*]The term "Wingless Victory" (Nike Apteros) has reference to a
special type and aspect of Athena, not to the goddess Nike (Victory)
pure and simple.

[+]There was still another aspect in which Athena was worshipped on
the Acropolis. She had a sacred place ("temenos"), though without
a temple, sacred to her as Athena Ergane--Athena Protectress of
the Arts.

Phormion passes under the eastern porch, and does not forget
(despite the purification before the sacrifice) to dip the whisk
broom, lying by the door, in the brazen laver of holy water and
again to sprinkle himself. He passes out of the dazzling sunlight
into a chamber that seems at first to be lost in a vast, impenetrable
gloom. He pauses and gazes upward; above him, as little by little
his eyes get their adjustment, a faint pearly light seems streaming
downward. It is coming through the translucent marble slabs of the
roof of the great temple.[*] Then out of the gloom gleam shapes,
objects,--a face. He catches the glitter of great jewels and of
massy gold, as parts of the rich garments and armor of some vast
image. He distinguishes at length a statue,--the form of a woman,
nearly forty feet in height. Her left wrist rests upon a mighty
shield; her right hand holds a winged "Victory," itself of nigh human
size. Upon her breast is the awful egis, the especial breastplate
of the high gods. Around the foot of her shield coils a serpent.
Upon her head is a might helmet. And all the time that these things
are becoming manifest, evermore clearly one beholds the majestic
face,--sweetness without weakness, intellectuality without coldness,
strength mingled justly with compassion. This is the Athena
Parthenos, the handiwork of Phidias.[+]

[*]This seems to be the most reasonable way to assume that the
"cella" of the Parthenon was lighted, in view of the danger, in case
of open skylights, of damage to the holy image by wind and rain.

[+]Of this statue no doubt there could be said what Dion Chrysostomos
said of the equally famous "Zeus" erected by Phidias at Olympia.
"The man most depressed with woes, forgot his ills whilst gazing
on this statue, so much light and beauty had Phidias infused within
it." Besides the descriptions in the ancient writers we get a
clear idea of the general type of the Athena Parthenos from recently
discovered statuettes, especially the "Varvakeion" model (401/2
inches high). This last is cold and lifeless as a work of art, but
fairly accurate as to details. [Note from Brett: In 2001, this
remains the best statue ever found representing Athena Parthenos
and a detailed analysis of the effect of the original statue on the
populous can be found at http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/CC96/lapatin.htm.
The statuette itself is currently in the Athens Museum.]

We will not heap up description. What boots it to tell that the
arms and vesture of this "chryselephantine" statue are of pure
gold; that the flesh portions are of gleaming ivory; that Phidias
has wrought the whole so nobly together that this material, too
sumptuous for common artists, becomes under his assembling the
perfect substance for the manifestation of deity?

...Awestruck by the vision, though often he has seen it, Phormion
stands long in reverent silence. Then at length, casting a pinch
of incense upon the brazier, constantly smoking before the statue,
he utters his simple prayer.

197. Greek Prayers.--Greek prayers are usually very pragmatic.
"Who," asks Cicero, who can speak for both Greeks and Romans in
this particular, "ever thanked the gods that he was a good man? Men
are thankful for riches, honor, safety.... We beg of the sovran
God [only] what makes us safe, sound, rich and prosperous."[*]
Phormion is simply a very average, healthy, handsome young Athenian.
While he prays he stretches his hands on high, as is fitting to a
deity of Olympus.[+] His petition runs much as follows:--

"Athena, Queen of the Aegis, by whatever name thou lovest best,[&]
give ear.

"Inasmuch as thou dids't heed my vow, and grant me fair glory at
Mantinea, bear witness I have been not ungrateful. I have offered
to thee a white sheep, spotless and undefiled. And now I have it
in my mind to attempt the pentathlon at the next Isthmia at Corinth.
Grant me victory even in that; and not one sheep but five, all as
good as this to-day, shall smoke upon thine altar. Grant also unto
me, my kinsmen and all my friends, health, riches and fair renown."

[*]Cicero, "De Nat. Deor," ii. 36.

[+]In praying to a deity of the lower world the hands would be held
down. A Greek almost NEVER knelt, even in prayer. He would have
counted it degrading.

[&]This formula would be put in, lest some favorite epithet of the
divinity be omitted.

A pagan prayer surely; and there is a still more pagan epilogue.
Phormion has an enemy, who is not forgotten.

"And oh! gracious, sovran Athena, blast my enemy Xenon, who strove
to trip me foully in the foot race. May his wife be childless or
bear him only monsters; may his whole house perish; may all his
wealth take flight; may his friends forsake him; may war soon cut
him off, or may he die amid impoverished, dishonored old age. If
this my sacrifice has found favor in thy sight, may all these evils
come upon him unceasingly. And so will I adore the and sacrifice
unto thee all my life."[*]

[*]Often a curse would become a real substitute for a prayer; e.g.
at Athens, against a rascally and traitorous general, a solemn
public curse would be pronounced at evening by all the priests and
priestesses of the city, each shaking in the air a red cloth in
token of the bloody death to which the offender was devoted.

The curse then is a most proper part of a Greek prayer! Phormion
is not conscious of blasphemy. He merely follows invariable custom.

It is useless to expect "Christian sentiments" in the fourth century
B.C., yet perhaps an age should be judged not by its average, but
by its best. Athenians can utter nobler prayers than those of
the type of Phormion. Xenophon makes his model young householder
Ishomenus pray nobly "that I may enjoy health and strength of body,
the respect of my fellow citizens, honorable safety in times of
war, and wealth honestly increased."[*]

[*]Xenophon, "The Economist," xi, p. 8.

There is a simple little prayer also which seems to be a favorite
with the farmers. Its honest directness carries its own message.

"Rain, rain, dear Zeus, upon the fields of the Athenians and the
plains."[*]

[*]It was quoted later to us by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who
adds, "In truth, we ought not to pray at all, or we ought to pray
in this simple and noble fashion."

Higher still ascends the prayer of Socrates, when he begs for
"the good" merely, leaving it to the wise gods to determine what
"the good" for him may be; and in one prayer, which Plato puts in
Socrates's mouth, almost all the best of Greek ideals and morality
seems uttered. It is spoken not on the Acropolis, but beside the
Ilissus at the close of the delightful walk and chat related in
the "Phoedrus."

"Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, give me
the beauty of the inward soul, and may the outward and the inward
man be joined in perfect harmony. May I reckon the wise to be
wealthy, and may I have such a quantity of gold as none but the
temperate can carry. Anything more?--That prayer, I think, is
enough for me."

Phormion and his party are descending to the city to spend the
evening in honest mirth and feasting, but we are fain to linger,
watching the slow course of the shadows as they stretch across the
Attic hills. Sea, sky, plain, mountains, and city are all before
us, but we will not spend words upon them now. Only for the
buildings, wrought by Pericles and his might peers, we will speak
out our admiration. We will gladly confirm the words Plutarch
shall some day say of them, "Unimpaired by time, their appearance
retains the fragrance of freshness, as though they had been inspired
by an eternally blooming life and a never aging soul."[*]

[*]Plutarch wrote this probably after 100 A.D., when the Parthenon
had stood for about five and half centuries.

Chapter XXI. The Great Festivals of Athens.

198. The Frequent Festivals at Athens.--Surely our "Day in Athens"
has been spent from morn till night several times over, so much
there is to see and tell. Yet he would be remiss who left the city
of Athena before witnessing at least several of the great public
festivals which are the city's noble pride. There are a prodigious
number of religions festivals in Athens.[*] They take the place
of the later "Christian Sabbath" and probably create a somewhat
equal number of rest days during the year, although at more irregular
intervals. They are far from being "Scotch Sundays,"[+] however.
On them the semi-riotous "joy of life" which is part of the Greek
nature finds its fullest, ofttimes its wildest, expression. They
are days of merriment, athletic sports, great civic spectacles,
chorals, public dances.[&] To complete our picture of Athens we
must tarry for a swift cursory glance upon at least three of these
fete days of the city of Pericles, Sophocles, and Phidias.

[*]In Gulick ("Life of the Ancient Greeks," pp. 304-310) there is
a valuable list of Attic festivals. The Athenians had over thirty
important religious festivals, several of them, e.g., the Thesmorphoria
(celebrated by the women in honor of Demeter), extending over a
number of days.

[+][NOTE from Brett: A "Scotch Sunday" refers to the practice of
the Sabbath day in Scotland. During the Sabbath day (at the time
of the author of this work) in Scotland no activity goes on except
for Church. There is no travel, no telecommunication, no cooking,
not allowed to read the newspaper, etc. A "Scotch Sunday" therefore,
represents a day of religious austerity.]

[&]It is needless to point out that to the Greeks, as to many other
ancient peoples,--for example, the Hebrews,--DANCING often had a
religious significance and might be a regular part of the worship
of the gods.

199. The Eleusinia.--Our first festival is the Eleusinia, the
festival of the Eleusinian mysteries. It is September, the "19th
of Boedromion," the Athenians will say. Four days have been spent
by the "initiates" and the "candidates" in symbolic sacrifices
and purifications.[*] On one of these days the arch priest, the
"Hierophant," has preached a manner of sermon at the Painted Porch
in the Agora setting forth the awfulness and spiritual efficacy
of these Mysteries, sacred to Demeter the Earth Mother, to her
daughter Persephone, and also to the young Iacchus, one of the many
incarnations of Dionysus, and who is always associated at Elusis
with the divine "Mother and Daughter." The great cry has gone
forth to the Initiates--"To the Sea, ye Myste!" and the whole vast
multitude has gone down to bathe in the purifying brine.

[*]Not all Athenians were among the "initiated," but it does not
seem to have been hard to be admitted to the oaths and examination
which gave one participation in the mysteries. About all a candidate
had to prove was blameless character. Women could be initiated as
well as men.

Now on this fifth day comes the sacred procession from Athens across
the mountain pass to Eleusis. The participates, by thousands, of
both sexes and of all ages, are drawn up in the Agora ere starting.
The Hierophant, the "Torchbearer," the "Sacred Herald," and the other
priests wear long flowing raiment and high mitres like Orientals.
They also, as well as the company, wear myrtle and ivy chaplets and
bear ears of corn and reapers' sickles. The holy image of Iacchus
is borne in a car, the high priests marching beside it; and forth
with pealing shout and chant they go,--down the Ceramicus, through
the Dipylon gate, and over the hill to Eleusis, twelve miles away.

200. The Holy Procession to Eleusis.--Very sacred is the procession,
but not silent and reverential. It is an hour when the untamed
animal spirits of the Greeks, who after all are a young race and
who are gripped fast by natural instinct, seem uncurbed. Loud
rings the "orgiastic" cry, "Iacche! Iacche! evoe!"

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