Odeon of Herodes Atticus - is a Roman theater located at the southern slope of Acropolis of Athens. But I think before to write about the Odeon it would be pertinent to say a few words about the Herodes and his family.
Herodes Atticus was a Greek orator, philosopher and the strong upholder of the revival of the classical Greek culture which at the beginning of the second century began to fade.
He was born in the Marathon (small city near the Athens where Greeks won one of the most prominent of their battles) in the very rich family. His grandfather was a richest man in the Greece. Emperor Domitian confiscated his state but he managed to hide part of it and in the future his son (Herodes’s father) reestablished the family’s fortune by using “hidden treasure”.
Also it’s worth mentioning that Herodes asserted that his family descended from the Theseus (I suppose you know this hero from the legend about the Minotaur).
In 125 Emperor Hadrian assigned the Herodes to the prefect position in the Asia Minor. It was very important post in the Roman Empire and I don’t have any doubts that Herodes enhanced his states.
When he came back into Athens he took important post in the city. Hadrian and Herodes were the friends. In 127 when emperor visited the Athens he lived in the Herodes home.
In 140 Herodes went to the Rome and became the Marcus Aurelius teacher.
Herodes Atticus built the Odeon in 161 in the honor of his wife who died in a few years earlier.
The building combined the features of the Greek and Roman theaters: its outline reminds the theaters of the Greece but adorned by the sculptures façade immanent to the Roman theaters.
Odeon could host up to 5000 spectators. For the ancient time it’s very impressive number. As we know only the citizens could visit the theaters then and only the men could get the citizenship.
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus was used until the gerul’s attack to the Athens in the 267. In the middle ages the theater was used as part of the Acropolis fortifications and was refurbished in the 1848-1858.
Today the Odeon has good conditions. Almost all its parts (except the statues) were carefully restored and now Odeon even hosts the concerts of the jazz and the classical music. In the ordinary days the Odeon is closed. To get in you need to buy the ticket to the concert.
