Herodes Atticus Dedicated Odeon at Acropolis ca. 161 CE to Murdered Wife

Summary: Wealthy Athenian Greek Herodes Atticus dedicated the Odeon at the Athenian Acropolis ca. 161 CE to his murdered, eight months pregnant wife, Regilla.

Herodes Atticus, a wealthy Athenian Greek with Roman citizenship, built his Odeon at the foot of the southwestern slope of the Athenian Acropolis ca. 161 CE in memory of his murdered wife, wealthy Roman patrician Regilla; 1985 image of Odeon of Herodes Atticus: Nathan Hughes Hamilton (nathanh100), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Wealthy Athenian Greek Herodes Atticus dedicated the Odeon at the Acropolis of Athens ca. 161 CE to wealthy patrician Roman philanthropist Regilla, his murdered, eight months pregnant wife.

Herodes Atticus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρώδης ὁ Ἀττικός; Roman name: Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes; 101-177 CE), a wealthy Athenian Greek philanthropist, rhetorician and statesman with Roman citizenship, was charged with and acquitted of the murder of his younger, eight months pregnant wife, Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla (125-160 CE), known as Regilla. After her murder, Herodes Atticus expressed his overwhelming grief, which some say was genuine and others say was fake, via projects dedicated to her memory in Greece and in Italy.

Today's Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Greek: Ωδείο Ηρώδου του Αττικού), also called Herodeion or Herodion (Greek: Ηρώδειο), Regillum or Odeum of Regilla, numbers among the widower's monumental memorials to Regilla, according to his biographer, Roman Imperial period Greek sophist Philostratus (Ancient Greek: Φιλόστρατος Philostratos; ca. 170-245/250 CE) in The Lives of the Sophists (Greek: Βίοι σοϕιστῶν; Latin: Vitae Sophistarum), published circa 230 to 238. "Herodes also dedicated to the Athenians the theatre in memory of Regilla, and he made its roof of cedar wood, though this wood is considered costly even for making statues" (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation, 1922; Book II.551, pages 148-149).

Herodes Atticus sited his Odeon at the foot of the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens (Ancient Greek: ἡ Ἀκρόπολις τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, hē Akrópolis tôn Athēnôn; Modern Greek: Ακρόπολη Αθηνών, Akrópoli Athinón). The Odeon of Patras (Greek: Ωδείο της Πάτρας) on the Peloponnese peninsula (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos), also built in the second century CE, was esteemed as ". . . in every way the finest in Greece, except, of course, the one at Athens" by Greek geographer and writer Pausanias (Greek: Παυσανίας; ca. 110-ca. 180 CE) in his 10-volume cultural geography, Description of Greece (Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάδος Περιήγησις, Hellados Periegesis). The Odeon of Herodes Atticus ". . . is unrivalled in size and magnificence, and was built by Herodes, an Athenian, in memory of his dead wife. The reason why I omitted to mention this Music Hall in my history of Attica is that my account of the Athenians was finished before Herodes began the building" (William Henry Samuel Jones translation, 1933, Book VII, Chapter XX, Section 6).

Regilla's Odeon was designed with the cavea, the tiered semicircular audience seating space, measuring 81 meters in width and the stage requiring a width of 21.4 meters, according to Welsh author, graphic artist and photographer David John in "The Odeion of Herodes Atticus Part 1" on his online travel guide, My Favourite Planet. The three-story skene (Ancient Greek: σκηνή, skēnḗ), the structure behind the stage, rose to a height of 28 meters. The skene was fashioned from massive limestone blocks, with statues in arched niches. Today, the skene functions as the Odeon's façade.

Regilla's Odeon underwent restoration between 1950 and 1961. Marble quarried from Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon (Greek: Πεντέλη, Πεντελικόν or Πεντελικό Όρος), located northeast of Athens, was used to reconstruct the Odeon's seating.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus serves as one of the venues for the Athens-Epidaurus Festival. Founded in 1955, the arts festival of cultural performances, including concerts and plays, is held annually from May or June through October.

On Thursday, Sep. 22, 2022, Asaf Avidan (Hebrew: אסף אבידן; born March 23, 1980), a singer-songwriter from Israel, performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. "The Reckoning Song" numbered among the songs performed during the program.

Asaf Avidan & the Mojos released "The Reckoning Song" in 2008 through Telmavar Records, an Indie record label and publishing company based in Paris and Tel Aviv. "The Reckoning Song" appeared as track number five on the band's 15-track album, The Reckoning.

During his performance of "The Reckoning Song" at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Asaf Avidan appealingly explained its inspiration. The song may represent "a hopeful song" or "carpe diem, sieze the day" for some listeners, and that interpretation is "allowed" because "this is just as much your song as my song." Yet, for Asaf Avidan, the song concerns "loss," for he said words that he realized that "there's no amount of sorry that can take these words back." He has no regrets "except for one . . . except for you."

The refrain for "The Reckoning Song" warns that "one day, baby, we'll be old . . . and think about the stories that we could have told."

Regilla never saw the Odeon, as her murder inspired its creation. Also, murdered in her thirties, she was not allowed to grow old. And what about the stories that she could have told?

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Herodes Atticus, a wealthy Athenian Greek with Roman citizenship, built his Odeon at the foot of the southwestern slope of the Athenian Acropolis ca. 161 CE in memory of his murdered wife, wealthy Roman patrician Regilla; 1985 image of Odeon of Herodes Atticus: Nathan Hughes Hamilton (nathanh100), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nat507/8673211499/

Asaf Avidan. "Asaf Avidan -- Reckoning Song (Live At The Acropolis 2022)." YouTube. Jan. 15, 2023.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y60gybrG1jE

Asaf Avidan. "Asaf Avidan / Reckoning Song (One Day)." YouTube. Aug. 16, 2012.
Available via YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A16VcQdTL80

For further information:

Asaf Avidan. "Asaf Avidan -- Reckoning Song (Live At The Acropolis 2022)." YouTube. Jan. 15, 2023.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y60gybrG1jE

Asaf Avidan. "Asaf Avidan / Reckoning Song (One Day)." YouTube. Aug. 16, 2012.
Available via YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A16VcQdTL80

John, David. "Herodes Atticus." My Favourite Planet > English > People.
Available @ http://www.my-favourite-planet.de/english/people/h1/herodes-atticus.html

John, David. "The Odeion of Herodes Atticus part 1." My Favourite Planet > English > Europe > Greece > Attica > Athens > Galleries > Acropolis.
Available @ http://www.my-favourite-planet.de/english/europe/greece/attica/athens/acropolis/acropolis-photos-01-032.html

John, David. "The Odeion of Herodes Atticus part 2 and the Stoa of Eumenes (below)." My Favourite Planet > English > Europe > Greece > Attica > Athens > Galleries > Acropolis.
Available @ http://www.my-favourite-planet.de/english/europe/greece/attica/athens/acropolis/acropolis-photos-01-033.html#odeion-facade-tuckermann

John, David. "Pausanias." My Favourite Planet > English > People > Pausanias.
Available @ http://www.my-favourite-planet.de/english/people/p1/pausanias.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Did Herodes Atticus Genuinely or Fakely Grieve for His Murdered Wife?" Earth and Space News. May 18, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/did-herodes-atticus-genuinely-or-fakely.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Did Herodes Atticus Have Eight Months Pregnant Wife, Regilla, Killed?" Earth and Space News. May 11, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/did-herodes-atticus-have-eight-months.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Herodes Atticus Dedicated Odeon at Acropolis in 161 CE to Murdered Wife." Earth and Space News. Thursday, July 6, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/07/herodes-atticus-dedicated-odeon-at.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Herodes Atticus's Wife's Ancestral Estate Was Near Quintilii's Villa." Earth and Space News. Thursday, May 4, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/herodes-atticuss-wifes-ancestral-estate.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Herodes Built Empty Tomb of Regilla at Triopion as Memorial, Not Tomb." Earth and Space News. Thursday, June 29, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/06/herodes-built-empty-tomb-of-regilla-at.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Marcus Aurelius Liking Trojan Quintilii Brothers Upset Herodes Atticus." Earth and Space News. Thursday, April 27, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/04/marcus-aurelius-liking-trojan-quintilii.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Within Five Years of His Wife's Murder, Herodes Grieved His Daughters." Earth and Space News. Thursday, May 25, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/within-five-years-of-his-wifes-murder.html

Pomeroy, Sarah B. The Murder of Regilla: A Case of Domestic Violence in Antiquity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Available via Google Books @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Murder_of_Regilla/UsUJS9g6qHgC

Wright, [Emily] Wilmer Cave [France]. "Herodes also dedicated to the Athenians the theatre in memory of Regilla, and he made its roof of cedar wood, though this wood is ocnsidered costly even for making statues." Pages 164-167. Philostratus and Eunapius: The Lives of the Sophists, Book II.1.551, pages 148-149. The Loeb Classical Library. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, MCMXXII [1922].
Available via Google Books Read Free of Charge @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Philostratus_and_Eunapius/NeYNAQAAIAAJ
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/philostratuseuna00phil/page/149/mode/1up