ATHENS, the name of several towns in the United States of America, the chief of which are the following:— (1.) The capital of a county of the same name in the S.E. of the state of Ohio, finely situated on the Hocking River. It is the seat of the Ohio university, which was founded in 1804. Population of county, 23,768. (2.) The capital of Clarke county, Georgia, on the W. bank of the Oconee River. It is the seat of the Georgia university, which was founded in 1801, and the central town of a large cotton-growing district. Population in 1870, 4251, of whom 1967 were coloured.