Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 159, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1919 — MASTERPIECES OF ART LOST [ARTICLE]

MASTERPIECES OF ART LOST

Glorious Buildings of Selinus Among Those of Which Hardly a Trace Is Left. The crumbling ruins of Selinus He scattered over a hill of western Sicily, where once they towered in titanic glory. The Greek colonies of the fifth century B. C. all had their artists and sculptors, and Selinus boasted seven masterpieces of Greek art erected to the honor of its favorite divinities. The broken columns and walls of the most majestic temples of Sicily lie half buried in the dust of their crushed stones and ground into the earth as if hurled down by a mighty force. Hercules, to whom one of the temples was built, might have torn them in anger and flung the columns about and crushed the massive stone to powder with a blow of his fist. Looking out upon the chaotic ruin from the brow of the hill one can imagine the shattered columns shaking off the dust and gathering themselves together to stand erect again above the broad stairs. The walls seem to grow firm and square and graceful figures adorn the entrances. The picture fades quickly, and the fallen stones seem more desolate in contrast. The buildings were not yet finished when Hannibal marched upon the proud city of Selinus and,laid siege to its stronghold. Nine days the Greek colony held out, then Hannibal entered in triumph and massacre and destruction followed. The temples survived, only to fall later In more complete ruin than the Carthaginian army could have accomplished. An earthquake was the cause of the overthrow. Thq.temples were then old, battered perhaps, but apparently good for some centuries, but the first trembling of the earth shook the very foundations and the temples fell.