Before you rises the stage wall of a Roman theatre that is still in use. It was built by Herodes Atticus, a fabulously wealthy Athenian, Roman senator and patron of half of Greece, in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla, who died around AD 160. Work was completed around AD 161.
1A suspicious death
Regilla died while pregnant, in murky circumstances. Her brother accused Herodes in Rome of having had her beaten by a freedman. Ancient writers say he was acquitted and that, perhaps to silence the rumours, he multiplied the public honours to his wife. This odeon, an auditorium for music, is the most spectacular of them all.
2A cedar roof and marble seats
According to Pausanias, the odeon had a roof of cedarwood, something extraordinary for a building of this size, and it held around five thousand people. It was devastated during the Herulian invasion of AD 267. Its seating was restored in marble in the 1950s, and since then it has been the main stage of the Athens Festival. Maria Callas sang here in 1957.
The same arches Herodes saw now frame concerts and operas on summer nights.
3What to look for
- The three tiers of arches on the façade, typically Roman.
- The beam holes high up on the wall, where the structure was supported.
- Philopappos Hill opposite, with the funerary monument on its summit.
Documented
Herodes Atticus built the odeon around AD 161 in memory of Regilla; it was destroyed in the Herulian invasion of 267 and restored in the 20th century.
Sources and credits
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, entry on the Odeon of Herodes Atticus; Pausanias, Description of Greece, VII, 20; Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists, II, 1; Athens Epidaurus Festival (official website).
Photos:
- Arched stone façade of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus: Jebulon, CC0.
- Inside the Odeon of Herodes Atticus with its marble seating: Thodorisv, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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