GRGR(12) - The Odeon

[David Morris]

Go to this site to see a 360 degree panning image of a Roman Odeon.

http://www.sailturkey.com/panoramas/ephesus/odeon2.html

The Odeon was used for poetry-readings, small concerts and prize-giving 
ceremonies. In Hellenistic times, theatres and odeons were as important as 
temples in the Fife of the people. Enjoyment for the Romans meant food, 
games and spectacles. The cry of the decadent people for 'Bread and 
Circuses' is witness to the countless mad spectacles that were provided.

Built into the slope of the hill, it could seat 2,200 people. The upper 
closed part of the building was entered by two side doors. The twenty-three 
rows of seats were divided by a diazoma into two sections, thirteen below 
and ten above. The lower seats seem to have been wider than those above. The 
highest part of the theater was decorated with Corinthian columns made of 
red granite.

The stage was not in fact very high but gave the impression of being richly 
ornamented with inscriptions and carving. The Odeon was built during the 
second century by Publius Vedius Antonius and his wife Flavia Papiana.

Celebrations in the Odeon formed a large part of the festivals of Artemis.

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