LXXXI. Panopeus.—The space enclosed by the fortification walls and by the rocky crests shows but few signs of habitation. On the highest point of the hill, among some holly-oaks, are the scanty tumble-down ruins of a mediaeval tower, built in the usual way of small stones with bricks and mortar in the chinks. A little lower down, and farther to the east, is a small chapel with remains of faded paintings on the walls. Scattered about the hill, especially round the chapel, is a good deal of broken pottery. A fine grove of beautiful holly-oaks now shades part of the summit, growing on a grassy slope amid low plants and shrubs. It is pleasant in the heat of the day to rest in the shade of these trees, to smell the wild thyme which grows abundantly on the hill, and to enjoy the distant prospects. To the north, across the broad Chaeronean plain, we look straight into the defile through which the Cephisus flows from Phocis into Boeotia; at the northern end of the defile the low hill is visible on which are the scanty ruins of Parapotamii. To the west Parnassus lifts his mighty head at no great distance from us, his middle slopes darkened by pine-forests that look like the shadows of clouds resting on the mountain-side.
Studies in Greek Scenery, Legend and History / Selected from His Commentary on Pausanias' 'Description of Greece,'
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About This Book
This collection of concise sketches, drawn from the author's commentary on the ancient traveler Pausanias, offers on-the-spot descriptions of Greek landscape, ruins, sanctuaries, and local legends. Each chapter focuses on a particular site or region, combining topographical observation, architectural and artistic description, and summaries of associated myths and historical tradition. The author interweaves antiquarian detail with personal travel impressions, discussing temples, cult practices, notable monuments, and the surviving traces of classical antiquity, and provides contextual notes that guide readers through how landscape, legend, and history intersect across the Greek world.