Reviews

The Propylaia to the Athenian Akropolis, vol. I, The Predecessors

William B. Dinsmoor, Jr. (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1980) 69 pp + xviii, 24 pls., 1 fold-out drawing; $25

The Propylaia to the Athenian Akropolis, vol. II, The Classical Building

William B. Dinsmoor and William B. Dinsmoor, Jr.; ed. Anastasia Norre Dinsmoor (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2004) 486 pp, 211 figs., 9 b/w pls., 11 fold-out drawings; $125

Of all the things we make, architecture is arguably the most durable. We still marvel over the Pantheon, Great Zimbabwe and the Borobudur Temple, to choose just a few examples. These buildings seem to immerse us in the past—to convey, with a palpable immediacy, something of what the ancients experienced, possibly even what they thought and believed.

One such building is the gateway to the Athenian Acropolis: the Propylaia. This magnificent structure epitomizes the spirit of the classical age as conceived during the height of Athenian power and dominance over the Greek world.