A PUNCH AND JUDY
SHOW.]

"What odd-looking costumes those men wear. They look like ballet girls
arrayed for the stage," said one of the ladies in our carriage, pointing
to a group on the sidewalk. The men wore tights, low shoes with pompons
on the toes, black garters with tassels, blue jackets ornamented with
many brass buttons, red skull caps with large black tassels, and very
full skirts. The guide said that these men were soldiers of the king's
guard and though their uniforms might appear peculiar to our eyes they
did not seem more strange than the tartans of Scotch Highlanders were to
the Greeks. The king's guard, he told us, is composed of men from the
mountain regions of Greece, who dress in the ancient military costume of
that section. The uniforms of the regular Greek soldiers are very
similar to those worn by the soldiers of our own country. The officers
we met were handsome men and especially well uniformed. The well-to-do
and middle class Athenian people whom we saw on the streets were dressed
in modern English style.

[Illustration: BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY, A MAJESTIC BUILDING.]

The National Archaeological Museum has a valuable collection of
antiquities that would require much time for examination. Perhaps the
most interesting to us were the old tombs from Mycenae with their
resurrected contents of skeletons, gold masques, ornaments, and weapons;
the reduced copy of the gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos; the
marble figure of a man in stooping position lately found in the sea; the
statue of the god Hermes; and the large and beautiful vases recovered
from the excavations. On the vases scenes of ancient Greek life or
legend were represented.

"It was a pastoral scene of love-making carved on a Grecian vase that
inspired the poet Keats to write his noted poem, 'Ode on a Grecian
Urn,'" said one of our friends. "Let me tell you my favorite stanza,"
and, with an eloquence that brought out their meaning, she repeated the
beautiful lines:

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal--yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
Forever