Chasing The Odyssey- Day 2, The Sanctuary Of Asclepius At Epidauros

Wow, The Santuary of Asclepios at Epidauros….that’s quite a mouthful for my brain.  What does it mean and why did we visit this ancient wonder?  Read through my post and check out my pictures to understand where we were and what we saw.

We had flown into Greece the afternoon before, woke up and boarded our bus out of Athens.  After a brief stop to check out the world famous Corinth Canal, we boarded again….bound to travel through time and history as we toured the Peloponnese.  Because the schedule was fluid and I just had not bothered to pin down our tour director or adult leader, I really didn’t know where we were going next or its significance throughout history.  Why is it important now?  Why was it important then?  These are the questions I always have when I check out ancient sites.  Come along with me as I take you through time….to Epidauros.

Our bus took off from the Corinth Canal and immediately came off the main highway to find itself on smaller, two lane roads heading through mountains and fields.  Kudos to the driver….cause he drove it like he stole it.  Needless to say, he had done this drive before with a bus full of EF kids and a few parents, we made it with. no problems.

The Sanctuary Of Asclepius At Epidauros

When folks think of Ancient Greece they often seen images of the Lion Gate, Delphi or the theatre at Epidouros.  One of the best preserved and largest theaters in the entire ancient Hellenistic world, the theatre is just one small part of the site at Asclepius.  This particular site is very, very large but apparently we were only there to see the theatre, most of the group wasn’t even aware of the slew of other important buildings and ruins on the site.  I’m bummed we didn’t get to go see those places, as they’re really the reason the site was important in ancient times.

In the map below, you will see temples and sites dedicated to Asclepius, God of Medicine.  This ancient site is one of the first and most important sites in the ancient world of the development of incubation periods, ritualistic healing, holistic medicine, rest periods and the advent of pharmacology.  Even today there are ongoing explorations below existing sites here in the area for even older evidence of ongoing medical and healing mediums, meaning this place was very, very important in the ancient times.  Anyone of any class was welcomed here (as long as they could pay or had appropriate offerings) to rest, relax and receive care.  Check out this graphic that shows you where we went and all other sites close by:

On this site, there are buildings and places for rest, baths, sport, theatre, and hospital.  This site is credited as the “cradle of modern medicine”.  Experts strongly argue that the luminaries who inhabited this sanctuary ushered the Greek world along as there was a slow transition from the belief in divine healing through to a new vision of medicine as a science.  And…this site was important then as it’s widely believed or thought to have been the best hospital in Greece/the ancient world for quite some time.

The Theatre at Epidauros, perhaps the most perfect theatre in the ancient world.

Off the bus we went, to be joined by an expert tour guide who would stay with us the rest of the day, explaining the site at Epidauros and then the next site of ancient Mycenae.  Slowly the group wound its way up the walkway, to stop briefly at the ticket booth and then stand a bit while most of us used the potty.  By now we were hooked to our electronic ear devices that picked up the guide talking (and everything else) but it means the guides don’t have to yell at you anymore.  From here, we climbed the slight hill to come out in front of the theatre, which is quite a shock to see for the first time.

Sitting on the slope of Mount Kynortion, this site is the best preserved ancient theatre in Greece.  There were apparently two building periods in which the theatre was originally built and then enhanced, during the late 4th and then mid-second century BC.  The original design of the theatre could seat approximately 6,200 spectators….after the mid-second century work was done, the seating capacity was increased to over 12,000 spectators who could all be seated.  Another of my sources says that 14,000 could be seated here at once?  What’s the right number?  They don’t allow that many today.  YEP, this theatre still puts on plays and performances and you can still sit right on the hard ass rock where some ancient Greek sat to watch a play all about the “Age of Heroes”….much like I watched the movie by Christopher Nolan about the Odyssey several weeks ago.

The different stages of work can be seen from above, if you look at my pictures you can see the original theatre and the addition above it.

But what about hearing the show if you were a spectator in the cheap seats….like right at the top.  That’s the majic of this design, the acoustics and the geometry from below to above are nearly perfect….we tried it.  We stood at the bottom of the theatre (on the grass but not on the altar) and slowly raised our voices from a whisper to a louder voice.  The kids at the very top of the theatre could hear us….but perhaps not perfectly because there were other tourists there, doing the same thing.  I am told the ancient Greeks were very, very strict about audience noise levels so everyone could hear and enjoy.  Below the seating, the grass area (where the altars are set) was the orchestra area and acting area (which was a covered building) with backrooms for set and costume changes.  This building is gone but it’s columns and foundations are still there to verify it’s existence.

Check out my pictures:

After our 1/2 hour or so of checking out the theatre and taking pictures, we were herded back to the bus, off to another ancient site…and this was only Day 2.

This trip did take some work to get going.  We went with an EF group from our local community and we did the logistics to get a family of four to Greece (with a group).  We’ve done a lot of traveling but this was still a long trip with headaches, complaints and real life everything to deal with, as we immersed ourselves in ancient history in the Peloponnese.

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I list sources for my research and information when I have used info from multiple books and websites like I have for this post.  Even though I was personally was on the trip and went to this site, I missed much of the info presented by the guide just due to distraction and the feeling of overwhelming history, so I do my own research to help write some posts.  For this post, I used the following websites and books for my research:

-www.Wikipedia.Ancient_Theatre_At_Epidauros

-www.whc.Unesco.org

“The Greeks, An Illustrated History” by Diane Harris Cline

“Corinth-Mycenae, the monuments then and now” with Elisavet Spathari as Scientific Editor

Wanna read other posts I’ve written about this trip, check them out below:

Overview: Chasing The Odyssey, An American Family Visits Greece

Chasing The Odyssey- Day 1, Getting On The Ground In Greece

Chasing The Odyssey- Day 2, The Corinth Canal