Take a good look at the space ahead-here stood the Odeon of Pericles, once the lively musical heart of Athens. Imagine the year is 435 BC. Pericles, the superstar statesman with a knack for both politics and party-planning, decides Athens needs a top-tier concert hall. With the Acropolis looming above, he erects this enormous odeon-spanning 4,000 square meters. That’s about two-thirds of a football field, but instead of touchdowns, Athenians got toe-tapping tunes and dramatic choruses.
Now, forget the round shapes you might expect from an ancient Greek theater. This odeon stood out because it was square, more pyramid-shaped tent than Roman rotunda, and its roof was legendary. Why? The timber beams came from Persian ships captured at the famous Battle of Salamis. Talk about musical chairs-these timbers went from ships to a stage! Picture the square building, its roof propped up by 90 pillars in neat rows, as crowds sat beneath, waiting for dazzling choruses or sheltering from a stray Athenian rain cloud. There was no fancy changing scenery here; the back wall was permanently adorned with paintings, giving musicians and choruses a dramatic backdrop.
Underneath the music and celebration, there were spaces for storing glittering costumes and vases that played their own role in grand religious processions. But trouble struck when the Roman general Sulla besieged Athens. The odeon’s timber roof was so tempting it had to be burned-either to prevent Sulla from building his own staircases or by Sulla himself to smoke out defenders. Later, King Ariobarzanes II of Cappadocia ordered its reconstruction. In the 2nd century, travelers like Pausanias called it the “most magnificent of all Greek buildings.” So, as you stand here, picture this: an epicenter for music, politics, and a bit of ancient recycling-Persian ships turned into a concert hall fit for legends!
