les
four hundred years before the Christian era. Statues of wonderful
beauty, by famous sculptors, were arranged along the steps. At times of
great rejoicing, as after a victory, triumphal processions ascended
these flights to present offerings to the gods, or to deposit in the
treasury of the temple the spoils taken from their enemies and to offer
sacrifices and worship to their protecting goddess. The Propylaea, or
grand entrance hall and gateway to the Acropolis, stood at the head of
the stairway; these broken columns are all that remain of one of the
most imposing structures of that golden age."

[Illustration: GIGANTIC STATUES OF WOMEN UPHOLD THE CORNICE.]

"Keep close to the professor and never mind the guide," urged one of our
companions. We followed her suggestion.

"This small building on our right with four graceful Ionic columns in
front," continued the professor, "is the Temple of the Wingless Victory,
so called because it was erected by the Athenians in honor of Nike, the
goddess of Victory. The statue of Nike which they placed within the
temple, bore in her hand the palm of victory and upheld the wreath of
laurel, but lacked the customary wings. The Athenians hoped that without
wings victory might never depart from the shores of Greece."

"The building to our left," said the professor as we moved on, "was
named the Erechtheum after the Attic hero Erechtheus, and once contained
a seated figure of the goddess Athena. These six gigantic statues of
women upholding the cornice of the porch are the Caryatides and deserve
a careful examination; for, although carefully prepared casts of the
Caryatides may be seen in some of the large museums, no cast can be a
perfect representation of the original. One of these figures, as you may
easily see, is only a copy, the original having been carried away to
England by Lord Elgin and given to the British Museum. The marble
columns on the other side of the Erechtheum are considered the best
examples in existence of the Ionic style of architecture."

[Illustration: ACROSS THE SUMMIT OF THE ACROPOLIS, TRAMPLING OVER
FRAGMENTS OF DECORATIONS.]

Near the Erechtheum we passed the foundation on which had stood a
colossal bronze figure of Athena, sixty feet in height, holding in her
hand a spear tipped with gold, the point of which could be seen by the
ancient mariners far out at sea. Making our way across the summit of the
Acropolis around pieces of broken columns, trampling