An Odeion, from the ancient Greek (literally "building for musical competitions", from the Greek = "I sing", as "ode" and "aoidos") is a name for ancient Greek and Roman amphitheatrical spaces, mainly covered with roofs, that hosted musical contests and hearings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions. During the Roman period the architectural form of such constructions was already standardized. They looked just like theatres with a skene, an orchestra, tiers and parodoi.

6. ODEUM/ODEONThe Odeion of Pericles, 5th century BC, on the south Slope of Acropolis next to the Theater of Dionysus, Athens

. , Athens/1st Grade, 2009-2010

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Odeum, from the Greek word (Odeion), which derives from the verb = "I sing", as the words "ode () and "aoidos (), is the term for the ancient Greek and Roman amphitheatrical space, mostly covered with a roof (theatrum tectum), that hosted musical competitions and hearings, music performances, rhetoric displays or philosophical lectures and poetry competitions.

Publius Papinius Statius, epic poet of the 1st century AD, refers to this structure: geminam molem nudi tectique the atri: the twin huge theaters, the open one and the roofed one (Silvae 3.5.91)

Theater of Dionysus and Odeion of Pericles in Athens in the Roman era

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During the Roman period the architectural form of such constructions was already standardized. The Odea looked like theaters, usually smaller and roofed, luxuriously decorated; they made use of complicated structures and techniques.

The roman odeum has all the architectural characteristics of the open theater: cavea (the audiences place), semicircular orchestra ( chorus place), Two or three storey scaena (actors, musicians).

The tiers and the gangway of the Odeion of Herodes Atticus. Part of the orchestra is also visible in the photo.

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There have already been odea in Greece by the end of the archaic period (in Thasos, Argos, Delphi etc). The most famous of them was the Odeion of Pericles in Athens next to the theatre of Dionysus on the south slope of Acropolis. The odea were also widely spread in Greece especially during the Roman period (Athens, Argos, Patra, Corinth, Thessaloniki, Epidaurus, Gortuna, Kos, Rhodes, Nicopolis).The most ancient odeum in Italy is the odeum in Pompeii, which was built after the foundation of the colonia (80 BC). Odea are found all over the roman world, in Asia Minor (Ephesus, Smyrna, Patara), in Africa (Carthago), in Jordan (Philadelphia/ Amman), even in Arabia (Canatha)The odea were addressed to a more refined audience and their construction was usually sponsored by wealthy civilians.

Roman Odeum of Nicopolis, 1st cent. AD

Odea

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The theater and the odeum of Philadelphia, 2nd century AD (Amman, Jordan)Odea and theatres usually coexist in the same city, one next to the other. Both of them dominated in the urban space as they were close to the Agora or the roman forum.

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The odeion despite its main destination as a building for music performances had a multifuctional character, which confirms the relationship between politics, religion and poetry in Greek and Roman antiquity.

In Athens there are three of the biggest odeia of the ancient world representing their three-fold architectural development. The ancient Greek odeion of Pericles, the Odeion of Agrippa representing the type of odeum whose auditorium is enclosed in a rectangular structure (a theatrum tectum) 1st cent. BC, and the Odeion of Herodes Atticus, a typical roman odeum which adapts the monumental structure of the roman theater (2nd cent. AD).

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Vitruvius, De Architectura 5.3.1-2Cum forum constitutum fuerit, tum deorum inmortalium diebus festis ludorum spectationibus eligendus est locus theatro quam saluberrimus, uti in primo libro de salubritatibus in moenium conlocationibus est scriptum. per ludos enim cum coniugibus et liberis persedentes delectationibus detinentur et corpora propter voluptatem inmota patentes habent venas, in quas insidunt aurarum flatus, qui, si a regionibus palustribus aut aliis regionibus vitiosis advenient, nocentes spiritus corporibus infundent. itaque si curiosius eligetur locus theatro, vitabuntur vitia. Etiamque providendum est, ne impetus habeat a meridie. sol enim cum implet eius rotunditatem, aer conclusus curvatura neque habens potestatem vagandi versando confervescit et candens adurit excoquitque et inminuit e corporibus umores. ideo maxime vitandae sunt his rebus vitiosae regiones et eligendae salubres.

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1.AFTER the forum has been arranged, next, for the purpose of seeing plays or festivals of the immortal gods, a site as healthy as possible should be selected for the theatre, in accordance with what has been written in the first book, on the principles of healthfulness in the sites of cities. For when plays are given, the spectators, with their wives and children, sit through them spellbound, and their bodies, motionless from enjoyment, have the pores open, into which blowing winds find their way. If these winds come from marshy districts or from other unwholesome quarters, they will introduce noxious exhalations into the system. Hence, such faults will be avoided if the site of the theatre is somewhat carefully selected.2. We must also beware that it has not a southern exposure. When the sun shines full upon the rounded part of it, the air, being shut up in the curved enclosure and unable to circulate, stays there and becomes heated; and getting glowing hot it burns up, dries out, and impairs the fluids of the human body. For these reasons, sites which are unwholesome in such respects are to be avoided, and healthy sites selected.

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Etiam diligenter est animadvertendum, ne sit locus surdus, sed ut in eo vox quam clarissime vagari possit. hoc vero fieri ita poterit, si locus electus fuerit, ubi non inpediatur resonantia.Vox autem est spiritus fluens aeris, e tactu sensibilis auditu. ea movetur circulorum rotundationibus infinitis, uti si in stantem aquam lapide inmisso nascantur innumerabiles undarum circuli crescentes a centro, quam latissime possint, et vagantes, nisi angustia loci interpellaverit aut aliqua offensio, quae non patitur designationes earum undarum ad exitus pervenire. itaque cum interpellentur offensionibus, primae redundantes insequentium disturbant designationes.

Vitruvius Pollio. On Architecture. F. Krohn. Lipsiae. B.G. Teubner. 1912Vitruvius, De architectura 4.3. 5-6

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Particular pains must also be taken that the site be not a deaf one, but one through which the voice can range with the greatest clearness. This can be brought about if a site is selected where there is no obstruction due to echo.Voice is a flowing breath of air, perceptible to the hearing by contact. It moves in an endless number of circular rounds, like the innumerably increasing circular waves which appear when a stone is thrown into smooth water, and which keep on spreading indefinitely from the centre unless interrupted by narrow limits, or by some obstruction which prevents such waves from reaching their end in due formation. When they are interrupted by obstructions, the first waves, flowing back, break up the formation of those which follow.

Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture. Transl. Morris Hicky Morgan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. London: Humphrey Milford. Oxford University Press. 1914.

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Odeion of PericlesPericles' Odeon was a hypostyle rectangular hall with nine rows of ten columns, and, along the whole length of the walls, wooden benches. To cover it there was a pyramid-shaped roof, with (probably) a central dormer flap to let in daylight and fresh air. The Odeion was burned down during Sullas siege of Athens in the First Mithradatic War, 87-86 BC, but it was restored in the second half of the 1st cent. BC.

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The early form of the roman odeum, the cavea inscribed in a rectangular structure is modeled after the hellenistic architectural form of the Greek Bouleuterion (especially of the Asia Minor Bouleuteria). In the photos (on the left and in the middle) you can see the ground plan and the reconstruction of the Bouleuterion of Miletos (M), Asia Minor. On the right you see the ground plan of the Odeum of Pompeii (by Rowney).

Early architectural form of the Roman odeum

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Odeion of Agrippa in the Athenian Agora, 1st century BC (reconstruction)

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The Roman odeion in Patra, 2nd century AD, built shortly before the Odeion of Herodes Atticus in Athens

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The evolution of the ancient Greek theater and its structureThe ancient Greek theater is always constructed on hill slopes where the (cavea) lies and it is attached to a sanctuary.

It is consisted by three architecturally independent parts: the , the circular (also elliptical or rectangular, in some cases) (orchestra) and the later on added (scaena).

In the photo you can see the Theater of Dionysus in the early 5th cent. BC (above). In the middle, the same theater in the second half of the 5th cent. Below, the theater in the 4th cent. BC. - (2001)

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Reconstruction of the theater of Dionysus in the 4th cent. BC. In this reconstruction the theater has two gangways. According to other reconstruction it has only one gangway, the upper one. The roofed building next to it is the Odeion of Pericles.- (2001)

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The Greek Theater in the Hellenistic Period (cavea) (retaining wall) (tiers) (gangway) (stairs). (stage building)6. (stage)7. (paintings)8. (doors)C. (orchestra)9. (entrances for the audience and the actors) (seats of distinguished people) (altar of Dionysos)

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The Roman theaterCavea (auditorium)1.Ambulacrum (alley, covered passage)2. Supportive structures for the vaulted radial walls)3. Fornices (arches of the faade) 4. Ima cavea (lower auditorium)5.Media cavea (middle auditorium)6. Summa cavea (upper auditorium)7.Praecinctio (gangway)8. Balteus (= praecinctio)9. Cuneus (wedge shaped division of the cavea)10. Scalaria (stairs)11. Porticus in summa cavea (colonnade on the upper auditorium)12. Vomitorium (exit)

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13-14. Proedria - Tribunal (seats for distinguished people and magistrates)15. Aditus maximus (main passage)16. Velarium (tent for sunlight or rain)

B. Scaena (stage building)17. Pulpitum (stage)18. Frons pulpiti (faade of the stages podium)19. Aulaeum (stage curtain)20. Scaenae frons (wall behind the stage)21. Valva regia (main door)22. Valvae hospitales (secondary doors)23. Aulae (reception halls)24. Postscaenium (rooms behind the scaenae frons used by actors for dressing etc)

C. Orchestra

Pappalardo (2007)

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Roman theater : useful vocabulary Dupont, 20072

On the left: Theater of Pompeius, Rome (reconstruction), 1st cent. BC. On the right: the exterior semicircular construction which supports the cavea of the Theater of Marcellus in Rome, 1st BC.

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Ground plan and cross section of the frons scaenae of the Theater of Carthago Nova in Spain, on the left. On the right, part of the cavea, orchestra and scaenae frons of the roman theater in Bosra (Nova Trajana Bostra), Syria.

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The roman theater is not depended on hillsides, since its an absolutely independent building. The Romans combined the acting areas with the seating areas in a single building. They built with concrete, a technique which revolutionized the construction of theaters as well the cities themselves and the urban life. Concrete allows to build larger and more lavishly. The construction of larger buildings led to greater architectural emphasis on the buildings' interiors.

The scaenae frons, the back wall of the stage front supported by columns, was as high as the stands and was attached to them at both sides to form an enclosed building. The cavea required structural support and solid retaining walls. The auditorium was not roofed. Awnings (velaria) could be pulled overhead to provide shelter from rain or sunlight.The orchestra in the Roman theater for the most part became a seating area.

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The Greek (on the left) and the Roman theater (on the right) according to Vitruvius.Greek Theater: A-B: (scene), C-D: (proscaenium) E-F: orchestras diameter, H,K: edge of (cavea)Roman Theater: A-B: scaenae frons, D-E: frons pulpiti, O-M: valva regia, L,N: valvae hospitalesDupont, 20072

Cavea of the Gerasa South theater (1st century AD), Jordan. Cunei, scalaria, vomitoria and praecinctio

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Aditus, stairs that lead to the cavea, part of the cavea and scalaria, part of the orchestra, frons pulpiti and pulpitum of the Philadelphia odeum (Amman, Jordan)

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In Greece, there are very few roman theaters, in Corinth, which was destroyed and rebuilt by the Romans, and in Nicopolis, which was founded as a colonia romana. In the other cities the hellenistic form of the greek theater was remodeled regarding its stage building -since the roman stage was a much more monumental constructure in comparison to the greek one- and its orchestra. Romans added trapdoors, underground passages, and facilities for flooding the orchestra in order to stage aquatic games and sea battles.

Theater of Dionysus in Athens as remodeled in the 1st century ADRoman Theaters in Greece

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Roman odeion of Kos, 1st-2nd century ADSophia Kaisaridi, Vasso Frangou, Irini Sofikitou, Dora Sialda, students/Alexandra Melista, teacher

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