Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Athens)

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

 

Description of Odeon of Herodes Atticus or Theatre of Herodes Atticus

Odeon of Herodes Atticus or Theatre of Herodes Atticus is a magnificent theatre that stands below ancient Athenian Acropolis.  Odeon of Herodes Atticus or Theatre of Herodes Atticus was constructed during period of the Roman rule in 161- 174 AD. It was sponsored by money granted by Roman consul Herodes Atticus who also named the theatre after himself. It could seat up to 5000 spectators. Despite its size it was fairly easy to construct. Roman and Greek engineers simply used the natural curvature of  the walls of the hill on which Acropolis stands to support the seats for the people. Colonnades that are visible behind the centre stage once contained statues of nine Muses, deities that protect and inspire all artists. Today they are gone. Odeon of Herodes Atticus was partially restored in 1955. Today it houses concerts and other cultural performances. The main difference between current restoration and the way it looked in the ancient times is lack of wooden roof  that was probably made of cedar. This would protect the audience against sun as well as unexpected rain. Additionally it provide a better acoustics so that all spectators could hear the words of the play.

 

Foundation

It was built at a rapid pace at the expense of Herod of Atticus during the 2nd century AD, in honor of Aspasia's wife Annias Rigillis, who died in 160 AD. The purpose of the building was primarily for musical events and for this reason it was called the Conservatory. The need for its construction arose after the collapse of the Odeum that had been built in the center of the ancient market of Athens by the general of Augustus, Agrippa, around 15 BC, and that to replace the even older Odeum of Pericles, which had been set on fire by Sulla in 85 BC.

The public space had 32 rows of marble bleachers and had a capacity of around 5000 spectators. As in the theaters of the Roman era, the orchestra had a semicircular shape. The stage building was elevated at the back of the stage and had three floors, two of which are preserved to this day at a height of 28 meters. The conservatory was roofed with a wooden roof made of cedar wood.

From various indications, it appears that the Conservatory in question only operated for 105 years, given that in the 3rd century, i.e. 267 AD, many buildings in Athens, like this one, were destroyed by the Aerul raiders. Also during this period, from the various findings of the excavations, such as skulls of people and bulls, it is possible that the area was also used for duels and bullfights. However, it seems that the walls of the building were later used as a fortification, joining the wall that surrounded the base of the Acropolis hill. In addition to the ruins of houses found inside the Conservatory, ruins of a small church were also found. In the middle of the stage and directly opposite the so-called "King's Gate" a basement was discovered that extends the entire length of the stage.

The embankments that came in the following centuries almost obliterated it, with the only visible point being the high wall of the tent, with the whole structure looking more like a bridge.

 

Middle Ages

During Medieval times those who visited the ruins of the Conservatory were unable to identify which building it was. Others described it as the palace of Leonidas and Miltiades, others as the "Tutorship of Aristotle", while in 1575 the Nafplion scholar Theodosios Zygomalas considered it as the "Academy of Aristotle". The first to argue that it was the Conservatory of Herod Atticus was the English archaeologist Richard Chandler in 1764, at a time when the interior of the building in question was sown with barley.

During Ottoman rule, the remaining building was incorporated together with the Stoa Eumenouis in the Haseki Wall (1778), forming a fortification project, the so-called "Serpetze". It is noted that from the arches of the Odeon, the Philhellenic French general Favieros managed to enter the Acropolis, in December 1826, when it was besieged by the Turks, in order to help the besieged Greeks.

Excavation and restoration
The first test excavation was carried out in 1848 in the presence of King Othon by Kyriakos Pittakis and Alexandros Ragavis. The evacuation of the Odeon from the embankments that had accumulated on the roof ruins and reached a height of 15 m, was started by Pittakis in 1857. Finally, the serious restoration began in parts after the Second World War in the 1950s under Vasileos Pavlos with plans of the Directorate of the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs, which was mainly written by the professor and academic Anastasios Orlandos immediately after he left the service, with the help of the then restoration inspector Efstathios Stikkas.

With the gradual and partial restoration, it became possible to reveal the whole of this ancient building and to find its former destination. The seats of the spectators were lined with Pentelian marble and the orchestra with slabs of Ymittos marble. Since the end of the same decade, the Conservatory has been used, mainly during the summer months, for cultural events and since then a multitude of Greek and foreign artists have appeared in this space, including the Greek opera diva Maria Callas in 1957, for a recital .