In the beginning the gods agreed to divide the earth by lot in a friendly
manner, and when they had made the allotment they settled their several
countries, and were the shepherds or rather the pilots of mankind, whom
they guided by persuasion, and not by force. Hephaestus and Athena,
brother and sister deities, in mind and art united, obtained as their lot
the land of Attica, a land suited to the growth of virtue and wisdom; and
there they settled a brave race of children of the soil, and taught them
how to order the state. Some of their names, such as Cecrops, Erechtheus,
Erichthonius, and Erysichthon, were preserved and adopted in later times,
but the memory of their deeds has passed away; for there have since been
many deluges, and the remnant who survived in the mountains were ignorant
of the art of writing, and during many generations were wholly devoted to
acquiring the means of life...And the armed image of the goddess which was
dedicated by the ancient Athenians is an evidence to other ages that men
and women had in those days, as they ought always to have, common virtues
and pursuits. There were various classes of citizens, including
handicraftsmen and husbandmen and a superior class of warriors who dwelt
apart, and were educated, and had all things in common, like our guardians.
Attica in those days extended southwards to the Isthmus, and inland to the
heights of Parnes and Cithaeron, and between them and the sea included the
district of Oropus. The country was then, as what remains of it still is,
the most fertile in the world, and abounded in rich plains and pastures.
But in the course of ages much of the soil was washed away and disappeared
in the deep sea. And the inhabitants of this fair land were endowed with
intelligence and the love of beauty.

The Acropolis of the ancient Athens extended to the Ilissus and Eridanus,
and included the Pnyx, and the Lycabettus on the opposite side to the Pnyx,
having a level surface and deep soil. The side of the hill was inhabited