6£ T R A V E i S i n G R E E C E . '
fides, not in a ftrait line, but with an obtufe angle at the fteps. ’
This place has been miftaken for' the areopagus, and, for the
odeum, but was the Pnyx.
Pnyx was a place of. public affembly, not boafting thecurious
labour of a theatre, but formed with the fimplicity o f primitive
times. . There the citizens met to tranfadl their affairs,;. and
by law no perfon could be crowned elfewhere,-' on a dec^ee^of
the people. The bufinefs was done afterwards in the theatre of
Bacchus; but they^donifnued to chufe the magiftrafes Inti to
vote the ftrategus of pWtor in pnyx, which'was hallbweffby
command of an oracle. * The furniture onrecord.is a ftone or
altar;’ on which certain oaths were, taken; a pulpit for the
orators ; and a fim-dial, foade on; the wall when ^pfeudes was
archon’ . The pulpit, which before looked toward the fea, was
turned a contrary way by the thirty tyrants; who cOnfid'ered
naval dominion as the parent of democracy. A porti&n %fr. the
rock 'hear the entrance, within^ was probably left for the altat
® be placed, on it ; and a broad ftep'or bank, on eachfidCBy
the pefpendipular wall, was intended perhaps 'to? raife the -
magistrates who prefided, and' perfons o f fuperiof rank,; above
the croud. The grooves,-it may; be ponje&uted; were for’
tablets containing decrees and orders. The .'circular wall,
which now teaches only 'to the top of the terrace, .it is. likely,
waS higher and ferved as an inclofure. Excepting this, and
the accceffion o f foil, with the removal 'of the altar, the pulpit,
and the fun-dial, pnyx may be deemed to have'.ufidergphe ijjp
very material alteration. It had formerly many houfes about it,
and that region of the city, was called by its name. Cimon,
with Elpinice his After, lived in Pnyx; and piato relates of the
earlier Athens, that it had extended on one fide of the acropolis
toward the rivers Eridanus and Iliffus, and on the.other had
comprized Pnyx, having beyond it mount Lycabettus. {
* Before Chrift, 434. .
C H A P .
T R A V E L S i n G R E E C E. 69
C .H A P. XIV. .
ffljjru o f Phefeus--- A tetn0e fr e 0 \ f to decorations
P r e j e n t -r?- Gymnqfium o f
W E proceed now; to. the temple p f Thei£$Si, This moll
repQ'syncdf.hero,,.ibis relatu4^,,wasfbpri^a|Txcejjen,.,a. q ity$f |he-
Pelqppnnjii}S|..ancLwas „the £bn of Neptune and^Egeus kiugrjof
Athens by iEfhra. daughter of Pitthlng. His mother, eqndudted
him, s|l^,n.,jξeem, years, old»^tp^^qck, . beneath, which .Egeus
had depofited, bAfwprd and dippers., ? She differs! |nni
tliefp, plgdg^ ,tft. Athen.s.| £9' £9 rHi land, though
the.v^||yt,fw^S^lk of perfts*. Tm-Epidauria hejW^^Ippped by
Periphetes, jwltom /he .flew, and afterwards- carried a|>gut his
weapop, whicli was a club, in imitation of Hercules, ' Sinis or
Pityocamptes, whofeha^ t ? ^ s Tby--the Ifthmus.pf Qorintfe had
becnj. accuftomecl to. fallen to-, bended pines the^unfprtunate
p e r fo^ vwhom, be, popld - feize, to be torn in pieces, b y . their
elaftic violence. . On him Thefeus retaliated. He killed Phcea
the terrible few ,,?£ Crommyon, and. mother o f the famous
Caled9nisn boar.. He then entered the Megaris and encountered
Scirqm wbomt he threw into. the fea. It vyas the,practice o f
this mondet,ftQv? force p.affenger&.to, wafti his feet. by ^ preeijnee
called Che,lone, .and to,. k ic k .them unexpectedly r down. By
Elenfis, Cercyon made him wreftle for his life,, ./anA-W^bver.-
come- By the Eleufinian .Cephiffus, he flew Polypemon fur-
named Prpcrufte.s, compelling hirn tp undergo the fametorture
which he wa.s ufed tp.inflicft pii. travellers fitting their bodies
to his beds» either >. by tenfion or amputation. Pafiingp the
Cephiffus, he was hoipitably entertained by the Phytalidae. ' He
arrived at Athens on the eighth:of Heeatombseon or July; He
wore his hair platted, and a garment, which reached to his
heels.