Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/298

 vices, it would not hold water. At the bottom of b and c were found fragments of ordinary ancient pottery. There appears to have been a low and narrow doorway through the foundation of the wall, dividing this portico from the temple, to the underground space or crypt, where these holes occur, and also some communication from above, through a slab rather different from the rest, in the pavement of the portico immediately over them."

Pausanias has not expressly mentioned any other objects as being in the Pandroseium, but we may presume that it contained a statue of Pandrosus, and an altar of Thallo, one of the Horae, to whom, he informs us elsewhere (ix. 35. § 1), the Athenians paid divine honours jointly with Pandrosus. He has also omitted to notice the oUovpos 5^f, or

THE SALT-WELL OF THE ERECHTHEIUM.

Erechthonian serpent, whose habitation in the Erechtheium was called ipduccatkoty and to whom honey cakes were presented every month. (Aristoph. Lysistr, 759; Herod, viii. 41; Plut. Them. 10, Dem. 26; Hesych. s. v. OXWovpov; Soph. ap. Etymol. M. s. v. Apd<cai;Aos.) We have no means of determining the position of this SfMbcovXor.

The Erechtheium was surrounded on meet sides by a Temenos or sacred inclosure, separated from the rest of the Acropolis by a wall. This Temenos was on a lower level than the temple, and the descent to it was by a flight of steps close to the eastern portico. It was bounded on the east by a wall, extending from this porti o to the wall of the Acropolis, of which a part is still extant. On the north it was bounded by the wall of the Acropolis, and on the south by a wall extending from the southern portico towards the left wing of the Propylaea. Its limits to the west cannot be ascertained. In the Temenos, there were several statues mentioned by Pausanias, namely, that of the aged priestess Lysimacha, one cubit high (comp. Plin. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. § 16); the colossal figures in brass of Erechtheus and Eumolpus, ready to engage in

combat; some ancient wooden statues of Athena in the half burnt state in which they had been left by the Persians; the hunting of a wild boar; Cycnus fighting with Hercules; Theseus finding the slippers and sword of Aegeus under the rock; Theseus and the Marathonian bull; and Cylon, who attempted to obtain the tyranny at Athens. In the Temenos, also, was the habitatian of two of the four maidens, called Arrephori, with their sphaerestra, or place for playing at ball. These two maidens remained a whole year in the Acropolis; and on the approach of the greater Panethenaea they received from the priestess of Polias a burden, the contents of which were unknown to themselves and to the priestess. With this burden they descended into a subterraneous natural cavern near the temple of Aphrodite in the gardens, where they deposited the burden they brought, and carried back another burden covered up. (Paus. i. 27. § 3; Plut. Vit. X. Orat. p. 839; Harpocr., Suid., s. v. Acnryo^^i.) It is probable that the Arrephori passed through the Aglaurium in their descent to the cavern above mentioned. The steps leadig to the Aglaurium issued from the Temenos; and it is not impossible, considering the close connexion of the worship of Aglaurus with that of her sister Pandroeus, that the Aglaurium may have been considered as a part of the Temenos of the Erechtheium.

(Respecting the Erechtheium in general, see Leake, p. 574, seq.; Wordsworth, p. 130, seq.; Müller, De Minervae Poliadis sacris et aede, Gotting. 1820; Wilkins, Prolusiones Architectonicae part I.; Bóckh, Inscr. vol. i. p. 261; Inwood, The Erechtheion of Athens, London, 1827; Von Quaest, Das Erechtheum zu Athen, nach dem Werk des Hr. Inwood mit Verbess. &c., Berlin, 1840; Forchhammer, Hellenika, p. 31, seq.; Thiersch, Uber das Erechtheum auf der Akropolis zu Athen, Munich, 1849, in which it is maintained that the Erechtheum was the domestic palace of King Erechtheus; Bötticher, Der Poliastempel als Wohnhaus des Königs Erechtheus nach der Annahme von Fr. Thiersch, Berlin, 1851, a reply to the preceding work; Tetaz, in Revue Archéoligique, for 1851, parts 1 and 2.)

The Propylaea, the Parthenon and the Erechtheium were the three chief buildings on the Acropolis; but its summit was covered with other temples, altars, statues and works of art, the number of which was so great as almost to excite our astonishment that space could be found for them all. Of these, however, we can only mention the most important.

(i.) The Statue of Athena Promachus, one of the most celebrated works of Pheidias, was a colossal bronze figure, and represented the goddess armed and in the very attitude of battle. Hence it was distinguished from the statues of Athena in the Parthenon and the Erechtheium, by the epithet of Promachus. This Athena was also called "The Bronze, the Great Athena" (il X"^^^ ^ f*fy^V 'A^iyya, Dem. de Fals. Leg. p. 428.) Its position has been already described. It stood in the open air nearly opposite the Propylaea, and was one of the first objects seen after passing through the gates of the latter. It was of gigantic size. It towered even above the roof of the Parthenon; and the point of its spear and the crest of its helmet were visible off the promontory of Sunium to ships approaching Athens.