Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/235

 Primitive Grekce : Mycenian Art. the subject.' With or without columns, the plan would suit a temple equally well : one is tempted to ask if these are not the remains of the temple of the Ilian Athene which stood here in the time of Strabo, when Ilium was but a poor, open hamlet, which he designates as small and insignificant.* Its rustic appear- ance, instead of detracting from the veneration which surrounded it, would have added thereto, and helped the inhabitants to pass it off to the simple and credulous visitors as synchronous with Homeric Troy. Whatever its original purpose, the building is of unquestionable antiquity. In the debris that filled the hall ' DiiRPFELD. « Strabo.