On the Ancient Hecatompedon which occupied the site of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens

Abstract

Amongst the many interesting discoveries made in the excavations carried on chiefly during the year 1889 between the Parthenon and the citadel wall were two inscriptions which were put together by Herr Lolling and published in the Athena for 1890. These show that a temple named the Hecatompedon existed at Athens previous to the Persian invasion. It is the object of this article to show that this Hecatompedon occupied the same site as the present Parthenon.Previous to the discovery by Dr. Dörpfeld of the site of the great archaic temple between the Erechtheum and the Parthenon, and the views which he has propounded with respect to its theoretical restoration, every archaeologist was disposed to agree with Col. Leake that an earlier Parthenon had existed—and must have supposed that the sub-basement on the south side of the Parthenon and the entablatures which are so well known to visitors to Athens, which have been built into the north wall of the Acropolis, originally belonged to each other; and I propose in the first instance to endeavour to show what a high probability there is for the correctness of this view, and afterwards to discuss the newer theory both in its bearings on the substructure of the Parthenon and on such of the extant remains as undoubtedly belonged to the archaic temple itself.