[Illustration: THE PARTHENON.]

Still, as these were strictly decorations, and wholly subordinate to
the organic parts of the structure, their presence, while it would
doubtless greatly enhance the effect of the whole, is not felt to be
essential to its completeness. The whole Doric columns still bear
the massive entablature sheltered by the covering roof. The simple
greatness of the conception, the just proportion of the several parts,
together with the elaborate finishing of the whole work, invest it
with a charm such as the works of man seldom possess--the pure and
lasting pleasure which flows from apparent perfection Entering the
principal apartment of the building, traces are seen of the stucco and
pictures with which the walls were covered when it was fitted up as
a Christian church in the Byzantine period. Near the centre of the
marble pavement is a rectangular space laid with dark stone from the
Peirseus or from Eleusis. It marks the probable site of the colossal
precious statue of the goddess in gold and ivory--one of the most
celebrated works of Phidias. The smaller apartment beyond, accessible
only from the opposite front of the temple, was used by the state as
a place of deposit and safekeeping for bullion and other valuables in
the care of the state treasurer.

[Illustration: BAS RELIEF OF THE GODS (FRIEZE OF THE PARTHENON).]

Having examined the great temple, and tested the curvature of
its seemingly horizontal lines by sighting along the unencumbered
platform, and having stopped at several points of the grand portico
to admire the fine views of the city and surrounding country, the
traveler picks his way northward, across a thick layer of fragments
of columns, statues and blocks of marble, toward the low-placed,
irregular but elegant Erechtheum, the temple of the most ancient
worship and statue of the patron-goddess of the city. This building
sits close by the northern as the Parthenon does by the southern wall
of the enclosure. It has suffered equally with the other from the
ravages of time, and its ruins, though less grand, are more beautiful.
Most of the graceful Ionic columns are still standing, but large
portions of the roof and entablature have fallen. Fragments of
decorated cornice strew the ground, some of them of considerable
length, and afford a near view of that delicate ornamentation and
exquisite finish so rare outside the limits of Greece. The elevated
porch of the Caryatides, lately re