athens Summary and Overview

the capital of Attica, the most celebrated city of the ancient world, the seat of Greek literature and art during the golden period of Grecian history. Its inhabitants were fond of novelty (Acts 17:21), and were remarkable for their zeal in the worship of the gods. It was a sarcastic saying of the Roman satirist that it was "easier to find a god at Athens than a man." On his second missionary journey Paul visited this city (Acts 17:15; compare 1 Thess. 3:1), and delivered in the Areopagus his famous speech (17:22-31). The altar of which Paul there speaks as dedicated "to the [properly "an"] unknown God" (23) was probably one of several which bore the same inscription. It is supposed that they originated in the practice of letting loose a flock of sheep and goats in the streets of Athens on the occasion of a plague, and of offering them up in sacrifice, at the spot where they lay down, "to the god concerned."

(city of Athene), the capital of Attica, and the chief seat of Grecian learning and civilization during the golden period of the history of Greece. Description--Athens is situated about three miles from the seacoast, in the central plain of Attica. In this plain rise several eminences Of these the most prominent is a lofty insulated mountain with a conical peaked Summit, now called the Hill of St. George, and which bore in ancient times the name of Lycabettus. This mountain, which was not included within the ancient walls, lies to the northeast of Athens, and forms the most striking feature in the environs of the city. It is to Athens what Vesuvius is to Naples, or Arthur's Seat to Edinburgh Southwest of Lycabettua there are four hills of moderate height, all of which formed part of the city. Of these the nearest to Lycabettus and at the distance of a mile from the latter, was the Aeropolis, or citadel of Athens, a square craggy rock rising abruptly about 150 feet, with a flat summit of about 1000 feet long from east to west, by 500 feet broad from north to south. Immediately west of the Aeropolis is a second hill of irregular form, the Areopagus (Mars' Hill). To the southwest there rises a third hill, the Pnyx, on which the assemblies of the citizens were held. South of the city was seen the Saronic Gulf, with the harbors of Athens. History.--Athens is said to have derived its name from the prominence given to the worship of the goddess Athena (Minerva) by its king, Erechtheus. The inhabitants were previously called Cecropidae, from Cecrops, who, according to tradition, was the original founder of the city. This at first occupied only the hill or rock which afterwards became the Acropolis; but gradually the buildings spread over the ground at the southern foot of this hill. It was not till the time of Pisistratus and his sons (B.C. 560-514) that the city began to assume any degree of splendor. The most remarkable building of these despots was the gigantic temple of the Olympian Zeus or Jupiter. Under Themistocles the Acropolis began to form the centre of the city, round which the new walls described an irregular circle of about 60 stadia or 7 1/4 miles in circumference. Themistocles transferred the naval station of the Athenians to the peninsula of Piraeus, which is distant about 4 1/2 miles from Athens, and contains three natural harbors. It was not till the administration of Pericles that the walls were built which connected Athens with her ports. Buildings.--Under the administration of Pericles, Athens was adorned with numerous public buildings, which existed in all their glory when St. Paul visited the city. The Acropolis was the centre of the architectural splendor of Athens. It was covered with the temples of gods and heroes; and thus its platform presented not only a sanctuary, but a museum containing the finest productions of the architect and the sculptor, in which the whiteness of the marble was relieved by brilliant colors, and rendered still more dazzling by the transparent clearness of the Athenian atmosphere. The chief building was the Parthenon (i.e. House of the Virgin), the most perfect production of Grecian architecture. It derived its name from its being the temple of Athena Parthenos, or Athena the Virgin, the invincible goddess of war. It stood on the highest part of the Acropolis, near its centre. It was entirely of Pentelic marble, on a rustic basement of ordinary limestone, and its architecture, which was of the Doric order, was of the purest kind. It was adorned with the most exquisite sculptures, executed by various artists under the direction of Phidias. But the chief wonder of the Parthenon was the colossal statue of the virgin goddess executed by Phidias himself: The Acropolis was adorned with another colossal figure of Athena, in bronze, also the work of Phidias. It stood in the open air, nearly opposite the Propylaea. With its pedestal it must have been about 70 feet high, and consequently towered above the roof of the Parthenon, so that the point of its spear and the crest of its helmet were visible off the promontory of Sunium to ships approaching Athens. The Areopagus, or Hill of Ares (Mars), is described elsewhere. [MARS' HILL] The Pnyx, or place for holding the public assemblies of the Athenians, stood on the side of a low rocky hill, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile from the Areopagus. Between the Pnyx on the west) the Areopagus on the north and the Acropolis on the east, and closely adjoining the base of these hills, stood the Agora or "Market," where St. Paul disputed daily. Through it ran the road to the gymnasium and gardens of the Academy, which were situated about a mile from the walls. The Academy was the place where Plato and his disciples taught. East of the city, and outside the walls was the Lyceum, a gymnasium dedicated to Apollo Lyceus, and celebrated as the place in which Aristotle taught. Character.--The remark of the sacred historian respecting the inquisitive character of the Athenians #Ac 17:21| is attested by the unanimous voice of antiquity. Their natural liveliness was partly owing to the purity and clearness of the atmosphere of Attica, which also allowed them to pass much of their time in the open air. The Athenian carefulness in religion is confirmed by the ancient writers. Of the Christian church, founded by St. Paul at Athens, according to ecclesiastical tradition, Dionysius the Areopagite was the first bishop. [DIONYSIUS] Present condition.-- (The population of Athens in 1871 was 48,000. Its university has 52 professors and 1200 students. Educational institutions are very numerous. A railway connects the Pirzeus or port with the city and its terminus stands in the midst of what was once the Agora.--ED.)

ATH'ENS the name of several places, but chiefly of the capital of Greece, the metropolis of ancient philosophy and art; named from the goddess Minerva or Athene. For sketch map see Corinth. Erechtheum. Parthenon. Turkish Tower. Modern City. Temple of Theseus. South-western part of Modern City. Athens. (After a sketch.) Situation. -- It was situated about 5 miles north-east of the Saronic Gulf, in the plain of Attica, the south-eastern portion of the Grecian peninsula, between the little rivers Cephissus and Ilissus. The port, Piraeus, is five miles off, and now connected with the city by a railroad. About the plain, on the northwest, the north-east, the south-east, and south-west, were four noted mounts. Within the city were four more noted hills -- the Acropolis, Areopagus or Mars' Hill, the Pnyx, and the Museum. The Acropolis is about 150 feet high, with a flat top about 1100 feet long by 450 feet wide, having a steep ascent on all sides. West of the Acropolis is Mars' Hill, of irregular form, and on which public assemblies and the chief courts were held. Upon this hill Paul preached. Acts 17:19, Josh 11:22. Beneath it are the Caves of the Furies. History. -- Athens was first settled by some chieftain, perhaps Cecrops, b.c. 1556, who is said to have been succeeded by sixteen legendary kings and twelve archons. Draco made laws for it, b.c. 624. Solon, its noted ''lawgiver," founded a democracy, b.c. 594. The city was taken by Xerxes, b.c. 480; but soon after his defeat it reached its highest prosperity, with a population of from 120,000 to 180,000. Under the brilliant rule of Pericles, b.c. 444 to 429, some of the greatest masters in philosophy, poetry, and oratory flourished, and noted buildings and temples, as that of Zeus, the Odeum, the Parthenon, the Propylaea, were projected or completed. His rule was followed by the Spartan, the Theban, and the Macedonian supremacy, the age of Demosthenes, Philip, and Alexander the Great. In b.c. 140, Athens with Achaia became a Roman province, and so continued through apostolic times. Since then it has been subject to the Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, and Turks, as well as at times independent. Under the misrule of the Turks it sunk down to a miserable village, and in 1832 there was scarcely a house standing. But it arose with the new kingdom of Greece, and is now again a beautiful capital, adorned by new streets and buildings, prominent among which are the royal palace, the Greek cathedral, the Russian chapel, the University, the Library, and the Museum. At the time of Paul's visit Athens was a "free city," under the Roman rule. It was given to idolatry, having 30,000 idols. Petronius said, "It was easier to find a god in Athens than to find a man." Paul calls them "very religious," Acts 17:22, not "too superstitious," as our version inaccurately reads. But Athens never took a prominent place in church history.

Capital of Attica, the center of Grecian refinement and philosophy. Paul visited it in journeying from Macedonia, and stayed sometime (Acts 17:14, etc.; FOUR-DRACHM OF ATHENS. 1 Thessalonians 3:1). Four hills are within it, the Acropolis, N.E., a square rock 150 feet high; W. of it is the Areopagus. (See AREOPAGUS.) S.W. is the Pnyx, or Assembly Hill. S. of this is the Museum Hill. The Agora where Paul disputed was in the valley between the four. The newsmongering taste of the people (Acts 17:21) is noticed by their great orator Demosthenes, "Ye go about the marketplace asking, Is there any news?" Their pure atmosphere, open air life, and liberal institutions, stimulated liveliness of thought. Pausanias (1:24, sec. 3) confirms Paul's remark on their religiousness even to superstition: "the zeal devoted by the Athenians to the rites of the gods exceeds that of all others." (See ALTAR; AREOPAGUS.) Dionysius the Areopagite convert of Paul was, according to tradition, the first bishop of an Athenian church. Theseus' temple is the most perfect of the remaining monuments. The Parthenon or temple of Minerva, built of Penrelic marble, 228 feet long, 102 broad, 66 high, with 8 Doric columns on each front and 17 on each side, was the masterpiece of Athenian architecture. The colossal statue of Minerva Promachus, Phidias' workmanship, was 70 feet high, so as to be seen towering above the Parthenon by the mariner in doubling Cape Suniurn. Lord Elgin deposited in the British Museum several of the finest sculptures.