chariot-wheels. Nevertheless, the ascent (and much more the descent)
must have been a perilous undertaking, unless the teams were better
broken than the various accounts of chariot-races furnished by the
poets would indicate. Entering beneath the great gate, a little
distance forward to the left may readily be found the site of the
colossal bronze statue of the warrior-goddess in complete armor,
formed by Phidias out of the spoils taken at Marathon. The square
base, partly sunk in the uneven rock, is as perfect as if just put in
readiness to receive the pedestal of that famous work. A road bending
to the right and slightly hollowed out of the rock leads to the
Parthenon. The outer platform which sustains this celebrated temple
is partly cut from the rock of the hill and partly built up of common
limestone. The inner one of three courses, as well as the whole
superstructure, is formed of Pentelic marble of a compact crystalline
structure and of dazzling whiteness. Long exposure has not availed to
destroy its lustre, but only to soften its tone. The visitor, planting
himself at the western front, is in a position to gain some adequate
idea of the perfection of the noble building. The interior and central
parts suffered the principal injury from the explosion of the Turkish
powder magazine in 1687. The western front remains nearly entire.
It has been despoiled, indeed, of its movable ornaments. The statues
which filled the pediment are gone, with the exception of a fragment
or two. The sculptured slabs have been removed from the spaces between
the triglyphs, and the gilded shields which hung beneath have been
taken down. Of the magnificent frieze, representing the procession
of the great quadrennial festival, only the portion surrounding the
western vestibule is still in place.[B]

[Footnote A: The latter contains, among other relics of a balustrade
which protected and adorned the platform of the temple, the