with the removal of the altar, the pulpit, and the sundial, Pnyx may be deemed to have undergone no very material alteration. It had formerly many houses about it, and that region of the city was called by its name. Cimon, with Elpinice his sister, lived in Pnyx; and Plato relates of the earlier Athens, that it had extended on one side of the Acropolis toward the rivers Eridanus and Ilissus, and on the other had comprised Pnyx, having beyond it mount Lycabettus ".

CHAP. XIV.

STORY OF THESEUS-A TEMPLE ERECTED TO HIM-THE DECORATIONS-PRESENT STATE OF THE TEMPLE-THE SCULPTURES GYMNASIUM OF PTOLEMY.

WE proceed now to the temple of Theseus. This most renowned hero, it is related, was born at Træzen, a city of the Peloponnesus, and was the son of Neptune and Egeus, king of Athens, by Ethra daughter of Pittheus. His mother conducted him, when sixteen years old, to a rock, beneath which Ægeus had deposited his sword and slippers. She directed him to bear these pledges to Athens; and he resolved to go by land, though the way was full of perils. In Epidauria he was stopped by Periphetes, whom he slew, and afterwards carried about his weapon, which was a club, in imitation of Hercules. Sinis or Pityocamptes, whose haunt was by the Isthmus of Corinth, had been accustomed to

u

Lycabettus.] The site of the edifice is upon Lycabettus, consequently could not be Pnyx, being beyond that region. R.

fasten to bended pines the unfortunate persons whom he could seize, to be torn in pieces by their elastic violence. On him Theseus retaliated. He killed Phoea, the terrible sow of Crommyon, and mother of the famous Caledonian boar. He then entered the Megaris and encountered Sciron, whom he threw into the sea. It was the practice of this monster to force passengers to wash his feet by a precipice called Chelone, and to kick them unexpectedly down. By Eleusis, Cercyon made him wrestle for his life, and was overcome. By the Eleusinian Cephissus he slew Polypemon, surnamed Procrustes, compelling him to undergo the same torture which he was used to inflict on travellers; fitting their bodies to his beds, either by tension or amputation. Passing the Cephissus, he was hospitably entertained by the Phytalidæ. He arrived at Athens on the 8th of Hecatombæon, or July. He wore his hair plaited, and a garment which reached to his heels. Ægeus, on seeing the sword, acknowledged him for his son. After this, Theseus subdued Pallas, who had rebelled; and drove the Marathonian bull alive into the city, where it was sacrificed to Apollo Delphinius. He sailed to Crete, destroyed the Minotaur, and escaped out of the Labyrinth, assisted by a clew given him by Ariadne, daughter of Minos. He made Athens the capital of all Attica, and instituted the Panathenæan festival. He defeated the Amazons. He assisted Adrastus in recovering the bodies of the dead Argives from the Thebans, and slew Creon their king. He was present at the marriage feast of Pirithous; and aiding, with the Lapithæ, to expel the Centaurs, who were intoxicated, and offered violence to the women. He was fifty years old when

he seized Helen, a girl not marriageable, as she was dancing in a temple at Sparta. His abettor was Pirithous, who, in return, required his company on a like expedition, which proved unfortunate. It was to procure for him the daughter of Pluto, king of the Molossi; or, as mythologists relate, they meditated a rape of Proserpine, and descended into hell, but were detained there, condemned to sit on a rock without power to rise. Hercules obtained liberty for Theseus. In the mean time the Tyndaridæ had invaded Attica, and taken Aphidna, where Helen was concealed, with Ethra his mother, whom they carried away into captivity. The Athenians received them into the city as friends, at the persuasion of Menestheus, whom they made king. Theseus returned to Athens, but was soon compelled to fly. He took refuge in the island of Scyros, where he was killed by Lycomedes the king, who pushed him down a precipice.

It was the popular opinion at Athens, after the battle of Marathon, that the spectre of Theseus had been seen fighting against the Medes. The Pythia directed the Athenians to remove his relics to their city, and to honour him as a hero. His bones, with a brasen helmet and a sword lying near them, were discovered by Cimon, son of Miltiades; who transported them from Scyros, about eight hundred years after he died. The Athenians received them with splendid processions and sacrifices; and rejoiced, as if he were come again in person. They instituted sacred rites for him, as for a god, and erected an heroum.or monument on the Colonus Hippius, and a temple in the city, on which they conferred the privilege of an asylum. This building, which was

called the Theseum, was in subsequent ages reputed so exceedingly holy, that with the Parthenon and another temple it was generally adored.

The temple of Theseus was decorated with (ypapai) representations of the Athenians fighting with the Amazons, and of the battle of the Centaurs with the Lapithæ. Theseus was distinguished as having killed a Centaur, while the others were engaged in equal combat. The third wall required explanation, as Pausanias observes, partly from time, partly because Micon had not expressed the whole story. Minos, it was said, had required Theseus to prove he was the son of Neptune, by recovering a signet which he threw into the sea; and they related, that he arose with it, and with a golden crown, presented to him by Amphitrite. It was Micon who painted Theseus and the Athenians fighting with the Amazons in the stoa or portico called Pocile. He was also a statuary.

The temple of Theseus is of the Doric order, and in the style of its architecture greatly resembles the Parthenon. Though a very ancient fabric, it is entire, except the roof, which is modern, and vaulted, with an aperture or two for the admission of light. The pavement has been removed, and the walls are bare. It is a Greek church, dedicated to St. George, as good a hero as Theseus. A recess for the holy table has been erected, as in the Parthenon, but in the pronaos; and decorated with portraits of saints. The entrance is in the side of the cell, at a low door, which is kept locked, except on the festival, when mass is celebrated. It is plated with iron, and much battered; the Turks firing at it with bullets, to try the force of their powder, the goodness of their pieces,

or their own dexterity at a mark. In the corner, within, stands a circular marble, which has served as a font. From the inscriptions, which range in four columns, it appears to have belonged to the Prytaneum. Among the names of travellers on the wall is that of Mr. Vernon. The cell has been painted on the outside with figures of saints, unless these traces, which are faint, may be referred rather to the pencil of Micon. An attentive spectator will discover likewise some architectural ornaments and mouldings, with stars in the soffits of the lacunaria of the portico. The posticum has been injured by lightning. The substruction is visible, except on the side next the Areopagus, where the soil reaches nearly to the top of the step.

owner.

The sculptures still extant about this temple, though much impaired, witness the hand of a master, and furnish abundant proof that Theseus was its The exploits of this hero and of Hercules were carved on the metopes, in sixteen compartments, in alto relievo, and the following subjects are intelligible; viz. Theseus killing the sow of Crommyon; throwing Sciron from a rock into the sea; wrestling with Cercyon; destroying the Minotaur; driving the bull of Marathon to Athens; Hercules strangling the Nemean lion; with Iolaus destroying the hydra; receiving the golden apples

* After "Prytaneum," Revett adds, "and was probably the "standard of a measure."

y See his letter relating to Greece, and particularly to Athens. Philosoph. Trans. n. 124. For an account of the author, see Wood's Athen. Oxon. second ed. vol. ii. col. 599, 600.

» Mr. Pars found out the method used in drawing the echinus or eggs and anchors, from the marks of the compasses on the wall.