EXCAVATIONS AT OLYMPIA.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3179, 28 April 1879, Page 3

EXCAVATIONS AT OLYMPIA.

On Saturday afternoon Professor Curtius, the Greek scholar, gave a lecture in the large hall of tho " Singakademio," at Berlin, on the "Scientific Results of the Excavations at Olympia," which at intervals for two years past have been carried on at the expense of the German Government. After some preliminary remarks, tho Professor said that it was on that very spot that many years ago he had spoken of the buried treasures of Olympia. His words had fallen on fruitful soil, and now, after three short periods of labour, inestimable treasures had been brought to light, of which a portion had been collected together in the apartments of Campo Santo. The people of ancient Greece, like their country, were split up into numerous sections, both as regards their customs and their language. Of these we possessed but imperfect remains, which had been handed down in the compilations of the Alexandrine writers. The inscriptions found in Olympia accordingly form a new foundation for science to build upon. Numerous inscriptions which had been discovered were in the dialect of the Eleans—a dialect which was thus established on incontestable authority. Nor was this the only dialect of which we had now obtained new illustrations ; for since the feniflns wrote in the lonic dialect, the Argives in that of Argos, and bo on, our knowledge of the popular style of writing had been extended in all directions. The inscriptions which had been found in bronze were of the greatest importance. They were chiefly on thin metallic plates, fastened on to the walls of buildings, or on metal tablets erected with ornamental additions by the way side. The stone inscriptions on the pedestals of stations, consisting of the Dames of the artistes or of the dedicators, were, however in a better state of preserTation. Along with these were others, which assigned in a poetical form the motives that led to the erection of the various works of art. These formed rich materials for* the history of the artists, and a source of instruction respecting the way in which the Greeks set up their monuments. Among the most important results of the excavations was the new light they threw upon Greek architecture. Beside the Temple of Zens, large portions bad been preserved of two temples surrounded by columns—viz., the Heraion and the Metroon. The remains of buildings, of which only the bare names had come down to us, have been brought to light—as, for instance, the Prytaneion (the town-ball, with dining saloon, and apartment, with hearth), the Gymnasium, with wrestling place and dwelling rooms, treasure .houses, colonnades, and entrancehalli. From Roman times also there was a splendid structure, with water basin and series of statues in architectonic arrange-, ment. Bnt what was most important was that the Beparate parts formed one great whole—a piece of the Hellenic world which had risen up out of the depths of the earth; and it was precisely that which the imagination must reproduce, if we would understand the " Odes of Victory," sung by Pindar. A characteristic feature of everything the Greeks had created was its comparative smallness in dimensions. Thus the Altis, that celebrated scene of Hellenic festivals, had teen pictured in our imaginations as much grander and more extensive than was now found to be the fact. Neither its splendour nor its extent is calculated to astonish us, but what did fill us with wonder was its abundance in significant monuments, which extend through all the periods of Hellenic life—from its glorious commencement, when the Greeks showed their heroism in the Persian wars, down to the late centuries when Romans and barbarians desired to share in the honors of Olympia. Hitherto we had judged Greek art too much by Athenian models which dated from the grandest period— that of Pericles; The discoveries in Olympia would form a most important supplement to our knowledge of the history of Greek art before the days of Phidias. As regards bronze work, Olympia was the richest museum in the old world. Most of these treasures were, lost, but there were numberless figures of animals cast in bronze preserved, which bore witness how the poor in those ancient days were devoted to the gods. One particular piece of bronze work in relief which had been found was a treasure of the first order, as it showed most distinctly traces of the decorative style of Assyrian art. After mentioning and criticising in detail many of the most important relic?, Professor Curtius said that they had sought and found, and yet the most precious of all that had been discovered was that which had been unsought. He referred to the Hermes of Praxiteles, undoubtedly the original work of that master and no mere copy, which alone was worth all the labor and outlay which the representatives of the German Empire had expended upon these excavations.