You can see the Plaka beneath you， the ruins of the giant Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Olympic stadiumstadium n.露天大型运动场 nestled in a pine covered hill， an island of green in a sea of concrete. To the left of the stadium is the Zappion building and the National Gardens. To the right of the stadium you can see another large patch of green which is the First Cemetery. The Acropolis is a great place to get your bearings and get an understanding of the layout of the city. In fact the more you know Athens the more interesting it is to come up here and see familiar landmarks.
Below the Acropolis is the rock of Areopagos or what we called in high school “Blow Hill”. (Don，t ask). The steps are very slipperyslippery adj.滑的， 光滑的 so be careful as you climb them， but once you do you won，t want to come down (unless it is 100 degrees). You have a great view of the Agora， the Plaka， Monastiraki， Omonia and much of Athens. Great place to watch the sunsetsunset n.日落， 晚年. Or come up at night with a bottle of wine and your true love， and watch the lights of the city. This is where Saint Paul spoke to the people of Athens in 51 A.D. and the tablet imbedded in the stone contains his words. There is a cleft in the rock at the bottom of the hill that is a shrine to the Furies. Afterwards， continue back around the Acropolis and down the hill into the Ancient Agora below. Part of it is free and you can go through it to get back to Adrianou Street， or you can pay the entrance fee and walk the streets of ancient Athens. If you decide to hang out a while in the ancient Agora， take a look at the rebuilt Stoa of Attalos， now a museum which features many of the everyday items found in the area.
The Theatre of Dionysos狄奥尼索斯剧场
卫城南侧有两个半圆形的剧场，由门廊相连，充分体现了古希腊人对艺术的热爱。西侧的Odium of Herodes Attius剧场现在仍然作为夏季露天音乐会和戏剧表演的场所，东侧的酒神剧场作为景点向游客开放。该剧场建于公元前5世纪，最早是向酒神祈祷的地方。
狄奥尼索斯剧场建于公元前6世纪，是最古老的露天剧场。在这足以容纳17 000人的剧场里曾经上演过无数场埃斯库罗斯、索福克勒斯和欧里庇得斯的悲剧作品及阿里斯托芬的喜剧作品。剧场依山坡而建，大得惊人。 由于希腊戏剧都是在白天演出，所以从观众席上能看到乡村的壮丽景象，但戏剧本身的波荡起伏使观众的注意力无法离开主题而转向背景。因为希腊人认为看戏意味着某种激情般的快乐。
在2500多年后的今日，剧场上座位和舞台还大致完整，古剧的演出和雅典艺术界的颁奖依然在这里举行。
Cut into the southern cliff face of the Acropolis， the Theatre of Dionysos is the birthplacebirthplace n.诞生地 of Greek tragedytragedy n.悲剧， 惨案， 悲惨， 灾难 and was the first theatre built of stone. Aeschylus， Sophocles， Euripides and Aristophanes all had their plays performed here， during the dramatic contests of the annual City Dionysia festival， when it was little more than a humblehumble adj.卑下的， 微贱的， 谦逊的， 粗陋的 vt.使……卑下， 挫， 贬抑 woodandearth affair.
This theater of Dionysos was built in the 4th century B.C. to replace and enlarge the earlier theater in which the plays of the great Athenian dramatistsdramatist n.剧作家 were first performed. The new theater seated some 17，000 spectators in 64 rows of seats， 20 of which survive. Most spectators sat on limestone seats - and probably envied the 67 grandeesgrandee n.贵族， 大公， 显贵者 who got to sit in the handsome Pentelic marble thronelike seats in the front row. The most elegant throne belonged to the priest of Dionysos， the god of wine， revels， and theater； appropriately， carved satyrs and bunches of grapes ornamentornament n.装饰物， 教堂用品 vt.装饰， 修饰 the priest，s throne.
The Odeumodeum n.(古希腊、古罗马的）奏乐堂， 音乐厅， 剧场 (Music Hall) was one of an astonishingastonishing adj.可惊异的 number of monuments built in Greece by the wealthy 2ndcentury A.D. philhellene Herodes Atticus. If you think it looks suspiciously well preserved， you，re right： it was reconstructed in the 19th century. Although your entrance ticket for the Theater of Dionysos in theory allows you entrance to the Odeum， this is misleadingmisleading adj.易误解的， 令人误解的， as the Odeum is usually closed， and open only for performances - when，
obviously， you can not wander around. The best way to see the Odeum is either looking down from the Acropolis or， better yet， by attending one of the performances staged here during the Athens Festival each summer. If you come to an event here， bring a cushioncushion n.垫子，靠垫，软垫，衬垫 v.加衬垫： marble seats are as hard as you，d expect， and the cushions provided are lousy.
The theatre was rebuilt in stone by the Athenian statesmanstatesman n.政治家 Lykourgos between 342~326 B.C.， but the ruins that can be seen today are in part those of a much bigger structure， built by the Romans in 4th cent B.C. to replace and enlarge the earlier theater. The new theater seated 17，000 in 64 rows of seats， 20 of which survive. Limestone seats. 67 Pentalic marble thronelike seats in the first row. Most elegant throne belonged to the priest of Dionysos， carved with bunches of grapes， and satyrs. The Romans used it as a gladiatorialgladiatorial adj.斗剑者的， 争论的 arena， and added a marble balustradebalustrade n.栏杆 with metal railings to protect spectators. In the 1st century A.D.， the Emperor Nero added the marble mosaic flooring depicting Dionysos，s life， and the front row of thrones reserved for dignitariesdignitary n.权贵， 高官， 高僧， (尤指教会中)显要人物， still in situ.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus宙斯神庙
从奥林匹亚体育场去卫城的路上，会经过一片废墟，这就是当年古希腊境内最大的宙斯神庙的遗迹，当时是古代世界上最庞大的建筑之一。神庙始建于公元前510年，前后经过了多位建筑师的设计，历时约700年，直到公元前86年，罗马指挥官苏拉(Sulla)攻占雅典，破坏了尚未完成的建筑，将一部分石柱和其他建材拆下来之后，运到罗马。直到今天，在罗马市中心的古罗马广场遗址上，还能看见它们。宙斯神庙是按照伊奥尼亚风格的建筑，后来改用了科林斯式石柱风格，而且一概使用大理石。整个建筑坐落在一块205米长，130米宽的地基上，神庙本身长107.75米，宽41米，共有104根科林斯柱。每根石柱高达17.25米，顶端直径达1.3米，约计用大理石1.55万吨。和众多的古希腊神庙一样，宙斯神庙也遭受严重的破坏，104根柱子中仅存13根。
The Temple of Olympian Zeus， also known as the Olympeion is an ancient temple， now in ruinsruin v.(使)破产， (使)堕落， 毁灭 n.毁灭， 崩溃， 废墟， 遗迹， in the centre of Athens. Although begun in the 6th century B.C.， it was not completed until the reign of the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century A.D.. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods it was the largest temple in Greece.
The temple is located about 500m southeast of the Acropolis， and about 700m south of the centre of modern Athens， Syntagma Square. Its foundations were laid on the site of an earlier temple by the tyrant Pisistratus in 515 B.C.， but the work was abandonedabandoned adj.被抛弃的， 自甘堕落的， 没有约束的， 放荡的 when Pisistratus，s son， Hippias， was overthrown in 510 B.C..
