Odeon of Agrippa

Last updated
The remains of the Odeon in the Agora of Athens The Odeon of Agrippa on February 2, 2022.jpg
The remains of the Odeon in the Agora of Athens

The Odeon of Agrippa was a large odeon located in the centre of the ancient Agora of Athens. It was built about 15 BC, occupying what had previously been open space in the centre of the Agora. It was a gift to the people of Athens by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a Roman statesman and general. [1]

Contents

Floor plan of the original Odeon of Agrippa OdeonofagrippaAthensSitePlan.png
Floor plan of the original Odeon of Agrippa

History

The two-story auditorium seated around 1,000 spectators and was equipped with a raised stage and marble-paved orchestra. On three sides it was surrounded by a subterranean cryptoporticus with stoae above. The building was decorated externally with Corinthian pilasters. The main entrance for spectators was originally on the south side of the building, with access from the terrace of the Middle Stoa. The north facade only had a small portico to give access to the stage. [1]

Unfortunately, the 25 m (82 ft) span of the auditorium eventually caused the roof to collapse in around 150 AD. The Odeon was rebuilt as a smaller lecture hall, seating only 500, and a more elaborate facade was added to the north side. Its massive pillars were carved in the form of 'giants' (snake tails) and 'tritons' (fish tails). [1]

The Odeon was finally destroyed in 267 AD by the Herulians. A sprawling palace was built on the site in the early 5th century AD with the pillars of the northern facade being used to create a monumental entrance. [1]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Agora Monument Odeion". American School of Classical Studies at Athens Digital Collections. Retrieved 2020-04-16.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Agora of Athens</span> Square of ancient Athens

The ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios Kolonos, also called Market Hill. The Agora's initial use was for a commercial, assembly, or residential gathering place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Dionysus</span> Ancient Greek theatre near the Athens Acropolis, Greece

The Theatre of Dionysus is an ancient Greek theatre in Athens. It is built on the south slope of the Acropolis hill, originally part of the sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus. The first orchestra terrace was constructed on the site around the mid- to late-sixth century BC, where it hosted the City Dionysia. The theatre reached its fullest extent in the fourth century BC under the epistates of Lycurgus when it would have had a capacity of up to 25,000, and was in continuous use down to the Roman period. The theatre then fell into decay in the Byzantine era and was not identified, excavated and restored to its current condition until the nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoa of Attalos</span> Ancient covered walkway in Athens, Greece

The Stoa of Attalos was a stoa in the Agora of Athens, Greece. It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon, who ruled between 159 BC and 138 BC. The building was reconstructed from 1952 to 1956 by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and currently houses the Museum of the Ancient Agora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoa Poikile</span> "Painted Porch" in ancient Athens

The Stoa Poikile or Painted Portico was a Doric stoa erected around 460 BC on the north side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. It was one of the most famous sites in ancient Athens, owing its fame to the paintings and war-booty displayed within it and to its association with ancient Greek philosophy, especially Stoicism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoa Basileios</span> Ancient stoa in Athens

Stoa Basileios, meaning Royal Stoa, was a Doric stoa in the northwestern corner of the Athenian Agora, which was built in the 6th century BC, substantially altered in the 5th century BC, and then carefully preserved until the mid-second century AD. It is among the smallest known Greek stoas, but had great symbolic significance as the seat of the Athenian King Archon, repository of Athens' laws, and site of "the stone" on which incoming magistrates swore their oath of office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Stoa I (Athens)</span>

The South Stoa I of Athens was a two-aisled stoa located on the south side of the Agora, in Athens, Greece, between the Aiakeion and the Southeast Fountain House. It probably served as the headquarters and dining rooms for various boards of Athenian officials. It was built at the end of the 5th century BC and remained in use until the mid-second century BC, when it was replaced by South Stoa II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple of Ares</span>

The Temple of Ares was a Doric hexastyle peripteral temple dedicated to Ares, located in the northern part of the Ancient Agora of Athens. Fragments from the temple found throughout the Agora enable a full, if tentative, reconstruction of the temple's appearance and sculptural programme. The temple had a large altar to the east and was surrounded by statues. A terrace to the north looked down on the Panathenaic Way. The northwest corner of the temple overlays one of the best-preserved Mycenaean tombs in the Agora, which was in use from ca. 1450-1000 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classical Athens</span> City-state in ancient Greece

The city of Athens during the classical period of ancient Greece was the major urban centre of the notable polis (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions, it remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC. The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altar of the Twelve Gods</span> Ancient altar in Athens, Greece

The Altar of the Twelve Gods, was an important altar and sanctuary at Athens, located in the northwest corner of the Classical Agora. The Altar was set up by Pisistratus the Younger, during his archonship, in 522/1 BC. It marked the central point from which distances from Athens were measured and was a place of supplication and refuge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanctuary of Aphrodite Urania</span> Temple in the Ancient Agora of Athens

The Sanctuary of Aphrodite Urania was located north-west of the Ancient Agora of Athens and dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite under her epithet Urania. It has been identified with a sanctuary found in this area in the 1980s. This sanctuary initially consisted of a marble altar that was built around 500 BC and was gradually buried as the ground level rose. Another structure, perhaps a fountainhouse, was built to the west ca. 100 BC. In the early 1st century AD, an Ionic tetrastyle prostyle temple closely modelled on the Erechtheion's north porch, that was built to the north of the altar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple of Apollo Patroos</span> Ruined temple in the Ancient Agora of Athens

The Temple of Apollo Patroos is a small ruined temple on the west side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. The original temple was an apsidal structure, built in the mid-sixth century BC and destroyed in 480/79 BC. The area probably remained sacred to Apollo. A new hexastyle ionic temple was built ca. 306-300 BC, which has an unusual L-shaped floor plan. Some fragments from the sculptural decoration of this structure survive. The colossal cult statue, by Euphranor, has also been recovered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Holy Apostles, Athens</span>

The Church of the Holy Apostles, also known as Holy Apostles of Solaki, is located in the Ancient Agora of Athens, Greece, next to the Stoa of Attalos, and can be dated to around the late 10th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoa of Eumenes</span> Hellenistic colonnade at Acropolis of Athens

The Stoa of Eumenes was a Hellenistic colonnade built on the South slope of the Acropolis, Athens and which lay between the Theater of Dionysus and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus The gallery was donated to the city of Athens by the king of Pergamon, Eumenes II, around 160 BC. Vitruvius makes reference to the building when speaking about the purpose of stoai erected near theatres that served as a refuge for the spectators in inclement weather conditions or as stores for theatre props.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odeon (building)</span> Ancient concert hall for performances and competitions

Odeon or Odeum is the name for several ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for musical activities such as singing, musical shows, and poetry competitions. Odeons were smaller than Greek and Roman theatres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propylaia (Acropolis of Athens)</span> The gate of the Acropolis of Athens

The Propylaia is the classical Greek Doric building complex that functioned as the monumental ceremonial gateway to the Acropolis of Athens. Built between 437 and 432 BC as a part of the Periklean Building Program, it was the last in a series of gatehouses built on the citadel. Its architect was Mnesikles, his only known building. It is evident from traces left on the extant building that the plan for the Propylaia evolved considerably during its construction, and that the project was ultimately abandoned in an unfinished state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Library of Pantainos</span> Building in ancient Athens

The Library of Pantainos was a building in ancient Athens. It was located at the southeast end of the Agora of Athens, south of the Stoa of Attalus, on the left side of Panathenaion Street. It was built by the Athenian philosopher Titus Flavius Pantainos between 98 and 102 AD, during the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan. The library building was dedicated to Athena Archegetis, with Trajan himself and the people of Athens, according to an inscription on the lintel of the main entrance, which is preserved embedded in the late Roman wall,.

Antipater of Phlya was a leading statesman at Athens during the reign of Augustus, serving as Hoplite General an unprecedented seven times. He appears to have been the main force in the establishment of the Imperial cult of Augustus at Athens. He is known exclusively from inscriptions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Temple</span>

The Southwest Temple is the modern name for a tetrastyle prostyle Doric temple located in the southwest part of the Ancient Agora of Athens. Fragments from the temple found throughout the Agora enable a full, if tentative, reconstruction of the temple's appearance. These fragments originally belonged to several Hellenistic structures and a fifth-century BC stoa at Thorikos in southeastern Attica, but they were spoliated to build the temple in the Agora in the age of Augustus. It is unknown which god or hero the temple was dedicated to. It was spoliated to build the post-Herulian fortification wall after the Herulian sack of Athens in 267 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast Temple</span>

The Southeast Temple is the modern name for an Ionic octastyle prostyle temple located in the southeast corner of the Ancient Agora of Athens. Architectural fragments from the temple enable a full, if tentative, reconstruction of its appearance.These fragments originally belonged to the Temple of Athena at Sounion at the southern tip of Attica, but they were spoliated to build the temple in the Agora in the first half of the second century AD. It was thus the last of several "itinerant temples," relocated from the Attic countryside to the Athenian Agora in the Imperial period. It is unknown which god or hero it was dedicated to. It was heavily damaged during the Herulian Sack of Athens in 267 AD and then spoliated to build the post-Herulian fortification wall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Stoa II (Athens)</span>

South Stoa II was a stoa on the south side of the Agora in ancient Athens. It formed the south side of an enclosed complex called the South Square, which was built in the mid-second century BC and may have been intended for use as lawcourts.

References

37°58′30″N23°43′24″E / 37.9751°N 23.7232°E / 37.9751; 23.7232