The market is thinning after a busy day; the swarms of
farmer-hucksters with their weary asses are trudging homeward; the
schoolrooms are emptying; the dicasteries or the
Ecclesia, as the case
may be, have adjourned. Even the slave artisans in the factories are
allowed to slacken work. The sun, a ball of glowing fire, is slowly
sinking to westward over the slopes of Ægaleos; the rock of the
Acropolis is glowing as if in flame; intense purple tints are creeping
over all the landscape. The day is waning, and all Athenians who can
possibly find leisure are heading towards the suburbs for a walk, a
talk, and refreshment of soul and body at the several Gymnasia.
Besides various establishments and small "wrestling
schools" for the boys, there are three great public Gymnasia at
Athens,—the Lyceum to the east of the town; the Cynosarges[1]
to the southward; and last, but at all least, the Academy. This is the
handsomest, the most famous, the most characteristic. We shall do well
to visit it.
William Davis, A Day in Old Athens
