Mark spots where heroes fell-Richfield Reaper July 16,1914

The Lion of Chaeronea

One of the illustrations shows the lion of Chaeronea which guards the graves of patriots who fell on Mt Parnassus Greece 338 b.c.

A few years ago one traveled past this spot and saw only massive pieces of marble evidently parts of a lion.The head lay with its muzzle upward other fragments lay scattered about.There was never any doubt among intelligent Greeks that these were remains of a lion set up over the Thebans who fell in the battle on or near this spot,when the Thebans and Athenians made a last heroic struggle for the liberty of Greece 338 b.c.All who honor a lost cause will bring their offerings to this sacred spot.The heroes,who fought here did not propose to submit untill they had done their utmost to save Greece from Macedonian Philip.The battle was fiercely contested especially by the Thebans,who formed the right wing thrown out into the plain resting on the Kepbisos and facing west,while the Athenians at the other endof the line rested on the hills,one of which appears just behind the lion.The Macedonians were commanded by the veteran Antipater with the youthful Alexander by his side.

When after a stubborn fight,the Thebans were beaten,the Athenians were isolated and rolled up a loss of over a thousand slain,Demosthenes the soul of the enterprise fought in the ranks.In the enclosure where the lion now stands 254skeletons were found and carried to the Athenian museum.The lion is a funeral monument not only to the Theban dead,but to dead Greece.Greece remained a power by it's art and literature,but the Macedonian and then the Roman were it's rulers.

here is a closer look: