Temple of Olympian Jupiter, and the River Ilissus - Illustration from Edward Dodwell's Views of Greece

Temple of Olympian Jupiter and the River Ilissus is an illustration from the collection Views in Greece from Drawings published by Edward Dodwell in 1821.

The gigantic and majestic Temple of Olympian Jupiter stands on the banks of the Ilissus River. Its imposing, partially collapsed columns bear witness to the ancient Greeks' ambition to honor their gods with grandiose monuments, set amidst a bucolic landscape.

The literal transcription of the notice accompanying this plate is reproduced below:

This view is taken from the south-eastern bank of the Ilissus, in the vicinity of the Enneakrounos or Callirhoe fountain, the site of which, however, is hidden by the water and does not appear in this view.

The river Ilissus, which forms such a remarkable part of this board, is absolutely dry for the greater part of the year; and it is only after violent and continuous rains that it descends impetuously from Mount Hymettus. At this time it is impassable; but this rarely happens more than once a year, and the event is so extraordinary that the Athenians then flock to the river, in order to enjoy this spectacle. It is largely to preserve the memory of so infrequent an occasion that this view was made. A violent storm broke out early in the morning of September 16, 1805, on Mount Hymettus. In the space of a few hours, this dry bed had become a raging torrent. The storm lasted twenty-six hours. On the 18th, the current was already considerably diminished, and on the 20th, it had ceased.

The magnificent Corinthian temple, north of the Ilissus, was begun by Pisistratus and completed by Hadrian, who dedicated it to Olympian Jupiter. It was not until seven hundred years after its foundation that it was brought to perfection, and became one of the most magnificent temples in the world. Even today, in its dilapidated, degraded, and crumbling state, and although of the one hundred and twenty-four columns that originally adorned it, only sixteen remain standing, it is still one of the most beautiful ruins in Greece. This venerable edifice is of Pentelic marble; its columns, including the capitals, appear to be fifty-five feet high: but as no ladder high enough to reach the capitals has ever been found in Athens, it has been impossible to measure them accurately.

Between the columns we can see the top of the arch or gate of Hadrian; but the bottom is hidden by the elevation of the ground.

At the same time, we see the eastern end of the Acropolis and its southern flank, surmounted by the magnificent columns of the Parthenon. No object in the picture can rival this one in beauty and interest. Further down, we discover the Choragic monument of Thrasyllus, the columns which formerly supported tripods, the site of the Theatre of Bacchus, and the less useful remains of that of Herodes Atticus. On the left of the view is the hill of Museum, crowned by the monument of Philopappos.

Mount Anchesme also presents a striking feature of this view, but it only embraces a small part of Mount Parnae and Pentelicus. These objects, as well as several others more distant, were sacrificed by taking the view from a background, in order to bring out more the waterfalls of the Ilissus and the front planes of the terrain.