powder* the goodnefs of their pieces, .or their own dexterity at a
tearh. In the corner, within, ftands a, circular marble, which
has ferved as a font. Prom the infcriptions, which range in
fpur columns, ,t appears to have, belonged, to the Prytantum.
Among the names o f travellers on the wall «is that Io f Me.
Vernon V The. pell has. been painted oni'thsuoutfide with
figures^ ©f faints, nnlefs thefe traces, which are faint, may be
referred.rather tp the.pendl of Micon. An attentive fpeditor
will difcover Jikewife, fome architeaural ornaments .and. mould -
mgs, with ftara in the foffits o f the lacunaria o f the portico*.
T h e p^fticum has been injured by lightening. The fubftruftion
is vifible, exceptjj on the fide next the areopagus, where the foil
reaches nearly to the top of. the ftep.
T he fculptures ftill extant about this temple, though much
impaired witnefs the hand o f a mafter, and fuinifb abundant
T1*efeus waslts 0wner- The exploits of-this hero
and of Hercules were carved on the metopes,, in fifteen compartments;
m alto relievp, and the following-fubjedts are intelligible,
viz. Tbefeus-killing the foW of Crommyou; throwing
§cjron from a rock into the fea; wreftling with- Cercyon;
deftroymg the Minotaur ; driving the bull o f Marathon to
Athens : Hercules ftrangfing ^ .Nemean JiQn with Iolaus
deftroymg the hydra; receiving the golden apples from a nymph,
one of the Hefpendes. Mr. Pars copied thefe with * h L lL s
reliefs of fhe. ,pronaos and pofticum, except a few'ftones de-
fignedhy.Mr. Stuart., In the Sculpture o f the pofticum, it is
remarkable, that Thefrus js diftinguiflied in the fame manner, as
by Micon. H e is killing a Centaur, whom he has,thrown on
the ground, backwards. In another piece two Centaurs.'are
buiiying one of the Lapithae in a pit aliye, laying over him a
large
T R A V E L S i n G R E E C E . >73
•large; ftone. | On, another is the battle' with the Thebans, and
Creon dead. Two figures with Shields may be Hercules and
his companion Iolaus defcending into hell, Where they find
Thefeus and Pirfthousi fitting orn rocks, and between them a
female, • perhaps Metanoia or Repentance.. •
' T he temple o f Thefeus Was near the Gyxlmafium o f Ptolemy,
noti;fsir In the
gymnafiumV befides other ftatues, was- one of the founder in
brafS'.'-' A remnant o f maffive wall in the town, not far - from
the tefiiple, 44f“Tuppbfed to ’have been part o f that building; - '
,, ,C H A P. XV. £
A marble arch or gate-way — ’The temple of fla tte r Olytnpius— Not
- fmjhed.before Hadrian^—Number of fatues, &c.-rr&he^ rum
o f Athens \— An aquaduB-rr O f the Erida~
. i.nus andU^ifs-Tr.Remark ^ An antient bridge. ;
A F T E R the temple o f Thefeus tfo ruin occurs without the
tow&i* keeping the acropolis, as before, on th^M||bt hand, until
we-'come bppofite to the end o f the. rocky^ where the fcaffold
was ftanding. • There, at fome diftance it* the plain,-is a marble
gate, which' feparated the1 old city from Hadrianopolis, or- New
Athens. - It * is related, that Thefeus e.redted a ftela or column
on the ifthmus of Corinth, which remained above an hundred
years, to the time o f Codriis, when it was demolished by the
Peloponnefians. It had inscriptions in Greek. On one fide,
“ Here is Peloponnefus, not Ionia and on the other “ Here
“ is not Peloponnefus, but Ionia.’^&The gate, ferving as a
boundary, is infcribed in capitals in like manner. Over the
arch on one fide, “ What you fee is Athens; pi# city f p f
** T h e f e u s a n d on the other f r o n t ,Wh a t you feeds the
“ city of Hadrian, and not of Thefeus.” We dug down to
L the