Wednesday, February 26, 2014

EPIDAUROS

The theater at Epidauros is one of the most impressive structures we saw, because its acoustics completely carry sound from the orchestra to even the highest seats.  It was amazing to sit on the stone seats (so comfortable!) while different groups of students climbed up and down, yelled to each other, and the whole time sitting in the audience I had a beautiful view of the mountains in the background.  Not too shabby!
We then toured the site of Epidauros that includes a Temple of Asclepius, the Asklepieion of Epidauros (where the ill could come sleep, connect with the gods and be healed), a Temple of Artemis, the Abaton Dormitory, a hestiatorion (place for ritual dining large enough to fit masses of people), and a Roman Odeion (enclosed performance hall with a rounded audience).  The site was a large field of ruins, large blocks and a few surviving columns here and there.  One of my pictures shows a rounded structure, which was a sort of tholos (meaning round…like the tholos tombs at Mycenae) temple with Corinthian column capitals and an intricate foundation that suggests the possibility that there once was a labyrinth of snakes below the temple.  The professors who accompanied us and guided us around the site assured us there was no evidence to support this myth, but it would have been cool!
The last picture is a Mycenaean bridge that we saw just as a quick pitstop along the present-day highway.  Those stone blocks are not small!

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