of tawny rock, scattered afar, to adapt the words of Homer, "like
shields laid on the face of the glancing deep."

[*]The peculiar blueness of the water near Attica is probably caused
by the clear rocky bottom of the sea, as well as by the intensity
of the sunlight.

Above the sea spread the noble arch of the heavens,--the atmosphere
often dazzlingly bright, and carrying its glamour and sparkle almost
into the hearts of men. The Athenians were proud of the air about
their land. Their poets gladly sung its praises, as, for example,
Euripides[*], when he tells how his fellow countrymen enjoy being--


Ever through air clear shining brightly
As on wings uplifted, pacing lightly.


[*]Medea:829.


5. The Mountains of Attica.--The third great element, besides the
sea and the atmosphere of Athens, was the mountains. One after
another the bold hills reared themselves, cutting short all the
plainlands and making the farmsteads often a matter of slopes and
terraces. Against the radiant heavens these mountains stood out
boldly, clearly; revealing all the little gashes and seams left from
that long-forgotten day when they were flung forth from the bowels
of the earth. None of these mountains was very high: Hymettus,
the greatest, was only about 3500 feet; but rising as they often