crowds are lessening. People are beginning to stream homeward.
It lacks a little of noon according to the "time-staff" (gnomon),
a simple sun dial which stands near one of the porticoes, and we
will now follow some Athenian gentleman towards his dwelling.





Chapter IV. The Athenian House and its Furnishings.




21. Following an Athenian Gentleman Homeward.--Leaving the Agora
and reentering the streets the second impression of the residence
districts becomes more favorable. There are a few bay trees planted
from block to block; and ever and anon the monotonous house walls
recede, giving space to display some temple, like the Fane of
Hephestos[*] near the Market Place, its columns and pediment flashing
not merely with white marble, but with the green, scarlet, and gold
wherewith the Greeks did not hesitate to decorate their statuary.

[*]Wrongly called the "Theseum" in modern Athens.

At street corners and opposite important mansions a Hermes-bust
like those in the plaza rises, and a very few houses have a couple
of pillars at their entrances and some outward suggestion of hidden
elegance.