DOI chapter:
Division C: The road immediately east and south of the Acropolis, from the street of Tripods to the shrine of Demeter Chloe
DOI chapter:Section XII
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61302#0435
SEC. XII
OF ANCIENT A THE NS
263
orchestra, it will be sufficient if we consider this present orchestra as
the level down to which Andokides-passed. In placing the Odeion
it is necessary, then, to choose a spot east of the theatre and above
the level of the present orchestra ; this is all that can be asserted.
The Odeion must have been a large building, as Xenophon27
relates that on one occasion a number of horsemen with their
horses passed the night within it.
In order to preserve the narrative of Pausanias from inter-
ruption as much as possible, it will be simplest to note in this
connection two buildings not described by him :—
(1) The Odeion of Herodes Atticus.
(2) The “Stoa of Eumenes.”
Of the Odeion of Herodes Atticus there are still impressive
remains ; but as it has no mythological interest, a few words must
suffice. It was built by Herodes in memory of his wife Regilla, to
whose memory also, it will be remembered, he dedicated the Exedra
at Olympia. Pausanias of course could not describe this Odeion, as
it was not built when he made his tour through Athens, but else-
where he apologises for the omission. He says in his description
of the city of Patrae in Arcadia 28—“ And next to the market-place
is the Odeion ; and this Odeion is more beautifully adorned than
any other in Greece, except that of Athens. The one at Athens
surpasses this one both in its magnitude and all its arrangements,
and was built by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, who had
died. I omitted to mention the Odeion in my description of Attica,
because I had written that portion before Herodes began to build it.”
The Odeion naturally served the Turks as a fortress. Stuart
mistook it for the great Dionysiac theatre. It was not cleared out
till 1858. From the immense quantity of shells of the purple fish
found when it was excavated, it seems certain that the Byzantines
must have used it as a manufactory for purple dye.
It has been much discussed whether the “ Stoa of Eumenes ”
is rightly so called. It consists of a portico running from the
Dionysiac theatre to the Odeion of Herodes Atticus, and from its
close connection with this last building some authorities have
thought that the portico also was built by Herodes. By a careful
examination of the material and technique of the stoa Dr. Dorpfeld29
has set the question at rest, and the stoa may henceforth bear the
name of Eumenes in peace. The matter briefly stood thus :—
Dr. Kohler and those who followed him desired to show that the
OF ANCIENT A THE NS
263
orchestra, it will be sufficient if we consider this present orchestra as
the level down to which Andokides-passed. In placing the Odeion
it is necessary, then, to choose a spot east of the theatre and above
the level of the present orchestra ; this is all that can be asserted.
The Odeion must have been a large building, as Xenophon27
relates that on one occasion a number of horsemen with their
horses passed the night within it.
In order to preserve the narrative of Pausanias from inter-
ruption as much as possible, it will be simplest to note in this
connection two buildings not described by him :—
(1) The Odeion of Herodes Atticus.
(2) The “Stoa of Eumenes.”
Of the Odeion of Herodes Atticus there are still impressive
remains ; but as it has no mythological interest, a few words must
suffice. It was built by Herodes in memory of his wife Regilla, to
whose memory also, it will be remembered, he dedicated the Exedra
at Olympia. Pausanias of course could not describe this Odeion, as
it was not built when he made his tour through Athens, but else-
where he apologises for the omission. He says in his description
of the city of Patrae in Arcadia 28—“ And next to the market-place
is the Odeion ; and this Odeion is more beautifully adorned than
any other in Greece, except that of Athens. The one at Athens
surpasses this one both in its magnitude and all its arrangements,
and was built by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, who had
died. I omitted to mention the Odeion in my description of Attica,
because I had written that portion before Herodes began to build it.”
The Odeion naturally served the Turks as a fortress. Stuart
mistook it for the great Dionysiac theatre. It was not cleared out
till 1858. From the immense quantity of shells of the purple fish
found when it was excavated, it seems certain that the Byzantines
must have used it as a manufactory for purple dye.
It has been much discussed whether the “ Stoa of Eumenes ”
is rightly so called. It consists of a portico running from the
Dionysiac theatre to the Odeion of Herodes Atticus, and from its
close connection with this last building some authorities have
thought that the portico also was built by Herodes. By a careful
examination of the material and technique of the stoa Dr. Dorpfeld29
has set the question at rest, and the stoa may henceforth bear the
name of Eumenes in peace. The matter briefly stood thus :—
Dr. Kohler and those who followed him desired to show that the