Note 136 — Chapter II
Reading edition
Thus we read in Homer (Od. VII. 84-87):
῞Ὡστε γὰρ ἠελίου αἴγλη πέλεν ἠὲ σελήνης, Δῶμα καθ᾽ ὑψερεφὲς μεγαλήτορος ᾿Αλκινόοιο, Χάλκεοι μὲν γὰρ τοῖχοι ἐρηρέδατ᾿ ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα, ᾽Ες μυχὸν ἐξ οὐδοῦ· περὶ δὲ θριγκὸς κυάνοιο.
"Like the sun or the moon beam in bright splendour, so beamed the high palace of the magnanimous Alcinoüs; for the brazen walls extended from the threshold of the gate to the innermost part of the building; their entablature was of blue steel."
Further the palaces of the immortal gods on Olympus must have been thought to be also ornamented with brazen plates, because Homer says (Iliad, I. 426): Διὸς ποτὶ χαλκοβατὲς δῶ, "To the brazen house of Jove."
We also read in Pausanias (II. 23):
῎Αλλα δέ ἐστιν ᾽Αργείοις θέας ἄξια · κατάγαιον οἰκοδόμημα, ἐπ᾽ αὺτο δὲ ἦν ὁ χαλκοῦς θάλαμος, ὃν ᾽Ακρίσιός ποτε φρουρὰν τῆς θυγατρὸς ἐποίησεν. Περίλαος δὲ καθεῖλεν αὐτὸν τυραννήσας · τοῦτό τε οὖν τὸ οἰκοδόμημά ἐστι. "In Argos there are still other remarkable objects: a subterranean vault, over which was the brazen chamber which Acrisius made for his daughter (Danaë's) prison; it was destroyed under the dominion of Perilaüs, but the building still exists."
Further in Horace (Carm. III. 16):
"Inclusam Danaën turris ahenea Robustæque fores et vigilum canum Tristes excubiæ munierant satis Nocturnis ab adulteris."
"A bronze tower, solid doors, and the severe watch of the dogs, had been for the imprisoned Danaë a sufficiently strong protection against nocturnal lovers."
Another case is the temple of Athena Chalciœcus at Sparta, where King Pausanias was put to death. The name of this sanctuary can of course refer to nothing else than to the brazen plates with which the walls were decorated.
My esteemed friend, Mr. Chas. T. Newton, of the British Museum, calls my attention to Colonel Mure's article in the Rheinisches Museum, VIII. 272, in which the author states that General Gordon told him he had in his collection in Scotland fragments not only of the bronze nails, but also of the brazen plates of the Treasury of Atreus. At the same time Colonel Mure quotes the passage of Sophocles (Antigone, 944-947):
ἔτλα καὶ Δανάας οὐράνιον φῶς ἀλλάξαι δέμας ἐν χαλκοδέτοις αὐλαῖς· κρυπτομένα δ' ἐν τυμβήρει θαλάμω κατεζεύχθη.
("The body also of Danaë endured to exchange the heavenly light against the darkness in the halls covered with brazen plates; hidden in a sepulchral chamber, she was fettered").