A tour in Greece, 1880 . lord, having already let the place once over for thenight, intends to do a sort of Box-and-Cox business, andsecure double rent. Considering, however, that there areother houses in the place, we firmly but respectfully declineto be intruded upon by two perfect strangers, who, as wesubsequently learned, had no difficulty in procuring accommo-dation Next morning, a slight deviation from the road to Argos brings us to Xemea, a very pretty spot. To celebrate thetriumph of Heracles over the dreaded lion, a festival wasinstituted which took rank among the fou
A tour in Greece, 1880 . lord, having already let the place once over for thenight, intends to do a sort of Box-and-Cox business, andsecure double rent. Considering, however, that there areother houses in the place, we firmly but respectfully declineto be intruded upon by two perfect strangers, who, as wesubsequently learned, had no difficulty in procuring accommo-dation Next morning, a slight deviation from the road to Argos brings us to Xemea, a very pretty spot. To celebrate thetriumph of Heracles over the dreaded lion, a festival wasinstituted which took rank among the four great pan-Hellenicassemblies. Xo town grew up at this place; it was simplya hicron containing a sacred gi-ove, temple, and whole stood in a little smiling valley, watered by awinding brook, enjoying perpetual solitude, except when gaymultitudes from Cleome assembled to witness the prowessof the athletes and to celebrate the victories of Heracles—in plain language, those coiKiuests of human skill over nut-. THE ARGOLID. 135 ural evil by which alone mans life has been rendered endur-able. The racecourse is remarkably wide for its length, cut rightinto the hill. Nothing. can be stronger than the contrastbetween this stadium and that other at Delphi where weso lately stood. There the surroundings are snowy peaks,sheer precipices, pine-forests, and sea; here, all are gentle asin an English landscape—a narrow prospect of low grassyhills bounding a fertile plain covered with grass, corn, andaromatic shrubs. Of the temple, three pillars are erect and a small part of thecella walls. These columns exhibit Doric architecture at itslightest, as those of Corinth show it at its heaviest develop-ment. So graceful are they as to suggest an Ionic edifice, andit is almost a surprise to discover on a nearer approach thesimple, unornamented capitals. Following the course of a considerable stream, we pursueour way along the remains of what Pausanias calls the Tp-qri]oSos, or road
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublisheredinb, bookyear1882
