希罗德·阿提库斯剧场

 

希罗德•阿提库斯剧场

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

 

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希腊阿提库斯露天剧场（希腊语：Ωδείο Ηρώδου του Αττικού）建于公元161年，由罗马大帝时代的哲学家Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes为纪念他的妻子而建造，为世界上最古老的剧场也是同时期最杰出的建筑物之一。主要提供古希腊悲剧作家如索福克勒斯（Sophocles）及欧里庇得斯（Euripides）演出他们的作品。索佛克里斯的重要剧作有《俄狄浦斯王》（Oedipus the king）及《安提戈涅》（Antigone），欧里庇得斯有《美狄亚》 （Medea）及《特洛伊妇女》（Trojan Women）。

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三层楼的建筑外观，共有32排座位可容纳多达6000名观众，半圆型的露天剧场，直径38米，在场内任何一点都能清楚听到舞台上的表演。舞台背景为罗马式的窗型高墙，壁龛处以雕像作为装饰。直到公元267年受到外来的入侵，剧场历经无数兴衰及灾难，最后遭遇一场大火将原有的西洋杉屋顶烧毁。在后代的古迹修复中，并没有再修复此被烧毁的屋顶。1950年代时，剧场得到修缮。现在剧场是雅典音乐节的会场。

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阿提库斯

 

T.P.Atticus，古罗马人，著名学者和大藏书家， 又译为提•庞•雅典库斯，创办了古罗马第一家正规的抄本出版社。因为当时没有版权，任何人都可以抄书出手，粗制滥造的图书充斥市场。阿提库斯接受他的好友－罗马执政官西塞罗（公元前106—前43年）的建议创办一个出版社来出版高质量的图书。他自身是个学者和大藏书家，具有经营管理才能和献身事业的精神，家中又非常富有，所以自信能把出版社办好。他聘请历史学家科内波斯（C.Nepos)和语法学家蒂拉尼昂（Tyrannion)等一批学识渊博的学者当编辑，并培训大批有文化的奴隶来担任抄书员和校对员。这个出版社再罗马和外地还开田园风格也设有汇添富亚会有反弹销售机构。

 

维基百科中的阿提库斯和阿提库斯剧场

Herodes Atticus

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Herodes Atticus bust, from his villa at Kephissia. mid-2nd century

 

Herodes Atticus (Greek: Ἡρῴδης ὁἈττικός, Hērōidēs ho Attikos; AD 101–177), or Atticus Herodes, was a distinguished and rich Greek aristocrat and sophist who served as a Roman senator. Appointed consul at Rome in 143, he was the first Greek to hold the rank of consul ordinarius, as opposed to consul suffectus. In Latin, his full name was given as Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes (Greek: Λεύκιος Βιβούλλιος Ἵππαρχος Τιβέριος Κλαύδιος Ἀττικὸς Ἡρῴδης). According to Philostratus, Herodes Atticus was a notable proponent of the Second Sophistic. M.I. Finley described Herodes Atticus as "patron of the arts and letters (and himself a writer and scholar of importance), public benefactor on an imperial scale, not only in Athens but elsewhere in Greece and Asia Minor, holder of many important posts, friend and kinsman of emperors."

 

Ancestry and family

Herodes Atticus was a Greek of Athenian descent. His ancestry could be traced to the Athenian noblewoman Elpinice, a half-sister of the statesman Cimon and daughter of Miltiades. He claimed lineage from a series of mythic Greek kings: Theseus, Cecrops, and Aeacus, as well as the god Zeus. He had an ancestor four generations removed from him called Polycharmus, who may have been the Archon of Athens of that name from 9/8 BC–22/23. His family bore the Roman family name Claudius. There is a possibility that a paternal ancestor of his received Roman citizenship from an unknown member of the Claudian gens.

Herodes Atticus was born to a distinguished and very rich family of consular rank. His parents were a Roman Senator of Greek descent, Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, and the wealthy heiress Vibullia Alcia Agrippina. He had a brother named Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodianus and a sister named Claudia Tisamenis. His maternal grandparents were Claudia Alcia and Lucius Vibullius Rufus, while his paternal grandfather was Hipparchus.

His parents were related as uncle and niece. His maternal grandmother and his father were sister and brother. His maternal uncle Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus was an Archon of Athens in the years 99–100 and his maternal cousin, Publius Aelius Vibullius Rufus, was an Archon of Athens between 143–144.

 

Life

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Bust of Polydeukes – Altes Museum, Berlin

 

Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon, Greece, and spent his childhood years between Greece and Italy. According to Juvenal, Satire III, he received an education in rhetoric and philosophy from many of the best teachers from both Greek and Roman culture. Throughout his life, however, Herodes Atticus remained entirely Greek in his cultural outlook.

The Emperor Hadrian in 125 appointed him Prefect of the free cities in the Roman province of Asia. He later returned to Athens, where he became famous as a teacher. In the year 140, Herodes Atticus was elected and served as an Archon of Athens. Later in 140, the Emperor Antoninus Pius invited him to Rome from Athens to educate his two adopted sons, the future Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Sometime after, he was betrothed to Aspasia Annia Regilla, a wealthy aristocrat, who was related to the wife of Antoninus Pius, Faustina the Elder. When Regilla and Herodes Atticus married, she was 14 years old and he was 40. As Herodes Atticus was in favor with the Emperor, as a mark of his friendship Antoninus Pius appointed him Consul in 143.

Herodes Atticus and Regilla controlled a large tract around the Third Mile of the Appian Way outside Rome, which was known as the "Triopio" (from Triopas, King of Thessaly). For his remaining years he travelled between Greece and Italy.

Some time after his consulship, he returned to Greece permanently with his wife and their children.

Herodes Atticus was the teacher of three notable students: Achilles, Memnon and Polydeuces (Polydeukes). "The aged Herodes Atticus in a public paroxysm of despair at the death of his perhaps eromenos, Polydeukes, commissioned games, inscriptions and sculptures on a lavish scale and then died, inconsolable, shortly afterwards."

Herodes Atticus had a distinguished reputation for his literary work, most of which is now lost, and was a philanthropist and patron of public works. He funded a number of building projects, including:

A Stadium – Athens

Odeon – Athens

A theater at Corinth

A stadium at Delphi

The baths at Thermopylae

An aqueduct at Canusium in Italy

An aqueduct at Alexandria Troas

A nymphaeum (monumental fountain) with his wife at Olympia

various benefactions to the peoples of Thessaly, Epirus Euboea, Boeotia and Peloponnesus

Throughout his life, Herodes Atticus had a stormy relationship with the citizens of Athens, but before he died he was reconciled with them. When he died, the citizens of Athens gave him an honored burial, his funeral taking place in the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, which he had commissioned.

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Memnon, foster child of Herodes Atticus; marble bust (showing sub-Saharanfacial features), c. 170 AD, from the villa of Herodes Atticus at Eva, Peloponnesus.

 

Children

Regilla bore Herodes Atticus six children, of whom three survived to adulthood. Their children were:

Son, Claudius – born and died in 141

Daughter, Elpinice – born as Appia Annia Claudia Atilia Regilla Elpinice Agrippina Atria Polla, 142–165

Daughter, Athenais – born as Marcia Annia Claudia Alcia Athenais Gavidia Latiaria, 143–161

Son, Atticus Bradua – born in 145 as Tiberius Claudius Marcus Appius Atilius Bradua Regillus Atticus

Son, Regillus – born as Tiberius Claudius Herodes Lucius Vibullius Regillus, 150–155

Unnamed child who died with Regilla or died even perhaps three months later in 160

After Regilla died in 160, Herodes Atticus never married again. When he died in 177, his son Atticus Bradua and his grandchildren survived him. Sometime after his wife's death, he adopted his cousin's first grandson Lucius Vibullius Claudius Herodes as his son.

 

Legacy

Herodes Atticus and Regilla, from the 2nd century until the present, have been considered great benefactors in Greece, in particular in Athens. The couple are commemorated in Herodou Attikou Street and Rigillis Street and Square, in downtown Athens. In Rome, their names are also recorded on modern streets, in the Quarto Miglio suburb close to the area of the Triopio. During his life, he built a theater called the Odeon of Herodes Atticus to honor Regilla after her death in 160 AD.

 

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

 

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The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. The building was completed in 161 AD and then renovated in 1950.

 

Ancient times

It was built in 161 AD by the Athenian magnate Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped theater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. It was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000. It lasted intact until it was destroyed and left in ruins by the Heruli in 267 AD.

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Historical image of Odeon of Herodes Atticus (ca. 1880)

 

Modern events

The audience stands and the orchestra (stage) were restored using pentelic marble in the 1950s. Since then it has been the main venue of the Athens Festival, which runs from May through October each year, featuring a variety of acclaimed Greek as well as International performances.

In 1957 Maria Callas performed at the Odeon as part of the Athens Festival and in the same year Edith Hamilton was pronounced an honorary citizen of Athens at ninety years of age. In May 1962 Frank Sinatra gave two Benefit concerts for the city of Athens. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus was the venue for the Miss Universe 1973 pageant. Another memorable performance at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus was given by the Greek singer Nana Mouskouri in 1984; after 20 years of absence she returned to her country. Luciano Pavarotti performed at the Odeon twice, in 1991 and in 2004. Vangelis' Mythodeapremiered at Odeon of Herodes Atticus in July 1993 and the venue hosted Yanni's Live at the Acropolis performance in September 1993. Sting performed at the venue during his Mercury Falling Tour on May 17, 1996. In June 2018 he returned for two more concerts.Mario Frangoulis has performed at the historic theatre with Yannis Markopoulos' Orpheus in 1996 and also played the role of Erotokritos in his work based on Vitsentzos Kornaros' Erotokritos. He also performed 'Axion Esti' poem by Odysseus Elytis music by Mikis Theodorakis and conducted by the composer himself in May 1998 to benefit Elpida foundation for children suffering from cancer. Elton John performed two concerts at the venue during his Medusa Tour in 2000. In June 2008 Sylvie Guillem performed Boléro in company with the Tokyo Ballet as part of the Athens Festival. In September 2010, tenor Andrea Bocelli held a concert at the Odeon to raise funds for Cancer research. In the Year 2012 Mario Frangoulis performed the leading role in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at the Herodes Atticus theater.

Other artists who have performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus include Plácido Domingo, JoséCarreras, Montserrat Caballé, Alicia de Larrocha, the Bolshoi Ballets, Calexico, Maurice Béjart, Joaquín Cortés, Paco de Lucía, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Goran Bregovic, Jean Michel Jarre, Ennio Morricone, Jethro Tull, Karolos Koun, Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hatzidakis, Nikos Koundouros, Patti Smith, Sivert Hoyem, Spiros Evangelatos, Fairuz, Yannis Markopoulos, George Dalaras, Haris Alexiou, Marinella, Foo Fighters, Yann Tiersen, Dionysis Savopoulos, Leonidas Kavakos,Kathryn Morgan and many other important artists and artistic organizations.

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Herbert von Karajan and the Orchestra of the Athens Conservatory (later to become the Athens State Orchestra) at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (1939)

 

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View of the theatre from the Acropolis