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our destination today is the embodiment of perfect classical proportions applied to
the performance arts it is a masterpiece of acoustic science inspiring or in spectators
performers and academics it is also the best preserved of all ancient greek theaters
this is the great theater of epidurals in the southwest of greece a massive open-air
venue that could host more than fourteen thousand spectators epidoris was the site
of two theaters a little theater which could seat about 2000 as well as the great theater
if you search for the theater epiduras you may find results relating to both locations but
it's the large theater that deserves the headlines this was an integral part of the shrine and rites
dedicated to escapist the greek god of medicine whose worship was vital to the city of epidoris
the city of epidoris was located on the argelit plain of the east peloponnese region in greece it
was inhabited since neolithic times although it first flourished in the 12th century bc
thanks to a thriving harbour the site was blessed with a mild climate and natural springs features
which linked the city to the attributes of health and recovery that's why locals always
preferred to worship deities with healing powers first maliatis then apollo and finally
his son asclepius god of medicine believed to be born on the nearby mount tithian asclepius was
the undisputed patron of epiduras from the 5th century bc to the 4th century a.d
worshipers of his cult founded a sanctuary the asclepian which was visited by patients from
all over greece and the mediterranean patients sought relief from their many ailments including
mental health conditions healing practices took a variety of forms initially patients expected
divine intervention through the mediation of the resident priests in later times priests
developed more advanced medical skills and were able to develop medicines by using herbs sometimes
they even extracted small quantities of venom from snakes because of this the snake is often depicted
next to asclepius the skulls of asleep has received a massive boost after 430 bc the
first year of the plague of athens which was present from 430 to 426 bc it was an epidemic
outbreak which killed a quarter of athenians all while they were besieged by sparta during the
peloponnesian war wesh was flocked to the shrine filling its coffers with their donations the
sleepins were able to expand operations erecting an impressive complex of buildings sponsoring art
projects and organizing a festival held every four years to celebrate sports and performing arts the
theater was certainly used as a venue for poetry and musical competitions of the festival but
its use may predate such festivities the theater was probably first used to host some of the rights
to esclepius including communal prayers songs or even sacrifices eventually it began to be
used directly by patients to praise the gods it was a common practice to thank sclepius by
composing odes to him or by organizing literary competitions both to be performed at the theater
a physician named galen of pergamon wrote in the second century a.d the disclepius or rather his
priests often prescribe for patience to write compose and perform as a path to recovery
during the hellenistic period 323 bc to 31 bc and especially after the roman occupation the
sanctuary of asclepius became a sort of spa town offering leisure activities in addition to prayer
and medicine gradually the theater enlarged its repertoire to include tragedies and comedies to
entertain patients and visitors alike in syringe in 95 a.d the sanctuary was the backdrop to
a real-life tragedy when it was sacked and destroyed by the goths some 30 years later
emperor theodosius ii definitively closed the site along with other pagan sanctuaries ancient
epiduras survived for another century until the population abandoned the city
following two earthquakes in 522 and 551 a.d this is likely the time when the theater
was buried under layers of earth and silt long intermission before its return to the limelight
the theater was located about half a kilometer to the southeast of the main sanctuary of asclepius
it was built between 360 bc and 330 bc on the west side of mount kinateo as part of a general
reconstruction of the shrine according to greek traveler and chronicler palsanius its architect
was the famous sculptor polyclitos but this artist actually lived in the second half of
the 5th century bc so paulsanius may have been referring to a descendant the theater presents the
three main features common to all classical greek auditoria the orchestra a circular space used as
the main stage in classic times the skeen or stage building a one or two-story building initially
used as a backdrop and later as a main stage in the hellenistic and roman periods and finally
the cavea or auditorium usually semi-circular in shape with ascending rows of seats the orchestra
is a perfect circle about 20 meters in diameter its foundation was made of beaten earth and was
surrounded in white limestone at the center of the orchestra is a white circular stone
which may have had a practical use as we'll see later alternatively it may have been a ceremonial
altar used to honor dionysus after all everybody does love wine the orchestra also had a drainage
channel which prevented rainwater from the caviar flooding the performance area at the back of the
orchestra there stood the scheme unfortunately only the foundations of the original structure
survive today the scheme was probably supported by pillars fitted with groves so that painted scenery
panels could be slid into place by stagehands this suggests a use of the scheme as a backdrop
to the main action during the hellenistic period a second level was added to the scheme along with
ramps on each side both editions suggest that in this period the structure was used more frequently
as a stage itself rather than just the scenery to the orchestra a two-story scheme was used
to stage conventional comedies and tragedies which were in vogue in athens so this edition
may imply the shift in repertoire that i mentioned earlier the purpose of the theater changing from
honoring asclepius to performing standard plays for ailing patients these eager spectators would
have crowded the third architectural element the caveat the caveat epiduras is nestled into the
northern slope of mount conortio and it follows a slightly elliptical ground plan 118 meters
in diameter which envelops part of the orchestra the hug of the auditorium is not a sufficient one
though the first rows of seats are slightly pushed back so as to leave a corridor for spectators to
leave more quickly and efficiently the seating area consists of two sections separated by a
semi-circular aisle the lower section has 34 rows of benches while the upper tier has a further 21.
this upper deer was probably added in the second development phase during the hellenistic period
this addition coincided with the building of the two-storied scheme an interesting feature of the
upper rows is that they do not follow the same incline as the lower ones angled at 26 degrees
with respect to the orchestra the upper seats are inclined at a steeper angle
a clever measure which allows the audience in the last row to have a full view of the stage
not blocked by the heads of other spectators so tall people in the audience i guess some things
never change another clever touch was applied to the individual seats or rather benches they are
hollowed beneath the edge so that they present a wedge-like section this allowed spectators to find
more comfortable seating positions and tuck their feet under the seats to let other people walk by
in total the caviar could seat between 14 000 and 14 500 spectators the farthest of which would be
sitting 60 meters from the orchestra now speaking of measurements analysis published in the american
journal of archaeology in 1926 by andrew fossen highlights how certain numbers recur within the
measurements and architectural features of the theater he noted for example that the measurements
of key architectural features all appear to be multiples of 35 centimeters which is the radius
of the large circular stone placed in the center of the orchestra folsom speculates
that 35 centimeters may have been the equivalent of the standard foot or standard unit of measure
in use at epiduras hence the architect placed the circular stone at the center of the orchestra as a
constant point of reference there doesn't appear to be an occult or esoteric reason behind the
use of these recurring numbers it simply makes good architectural sense this practice ensures
proportion harmony and symmetry are preserved throughout this large building but that doesn't
necessarily mean that polyclitus or whoever built the theater did not have otherworldly
considerations in mind author george pantaziz at the national technical university of athens has
analyzed the astronomical orientation of the theater of ebedaurus in relation to topography and
greek mythology he found that the main axis of the theater meets the sagittarius constellation in the
period from june the 22nd to july the 21st this is when the main festival of escapist was celebrated
panthersis goes on to explain that the sagittarius constellation represents the centaur chiron
according to mythology the centaur learned medicine from apollo and artemis and later
taught it to asclepius during other times of the year the theatre's axis also coincides
with the constellation of officius which is said to represent the holy snake of a sleepiness the
researcher points out that the architect of the theater considered earthly considerations as well
for example the main axis avoided an east-west orientation so that audiences would not get the
sun straight in their eyes neither at dawn nor at sunset and finally the caveat was placed so
that the audience could enjoy the spectacular views of the surrounding countryside the theater
continued to be used for decades even after the romans extended their dominion over the area but
inevitably it fell into disuse as rome hit its twilight and the caviar and orchestra were buried
under layers of earth and silt the skein instead was left exposed and it succumbed to weathering
the monument was brought back to light only in 1881 by the excavations of archaeologist pangiatus
cabardius restoration work was carried out in 1907 and from 1954 to 1963 to the delight of scholars
the earth and silt had almost perfectly preserved the structures of this ancient marvel today
the theater at epiduras is considered the best preserved theatre in all of greece now just before
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since 1954 the theater has started to welcome drama and musical performances again
some of these are penned by contemporary authors but most are a revival of ancient repertoires
as we heard earlier the use of the theater of epdorus was linked to celebrations and rights
in honor of the god asclepius so performances in ancient times evolved from religious ceremonies
this is a pattern common to all theaters in classical greece which may have evolved
from the lyrical performances of epic poetry or from rituals celebrating the god dionysus
one of these ceremonies involving masks songs and the sacrifice of goats was called the
tragedia the origin of the word tragedy when the theater at epdora started hosting non-religious
performances in the hellenistic period spectators could expect two types of plays either tragedies
or comedies tragedies were almost always inspired by greek mythology and plots involved the
resolution of complex moral dilemmas or the lack thereof very often these dilemmas were unwinnable
for tragic heroes and the plays ended in violence lots of violence actually which was actually not
allowed on stage the death of a character was usually heard off stage or announced by another
character for example in euripides medea the title character poisoned her rivals gloucester
and creon but their demise is never seen only announced by a messenger early tragedies relied on
only one actor a limitation later expanded to a maximum of three they were strictly male and would
impersonate several characters including deities with the use of costumes platform shoes and masks
as we'll see later these devices were also helpful in projecting their voice to the final rose the
actors interacted with the corophius or leader of the chorus this was a group of up to 15 performers
also all male the chorus did not act or speak in the modern sense but they did dance and sing
to provide commentary to the action according to stage director and choral expert jacques lecock
greek choruses took on different formations the circle the triangle or the rectangle the latter
was probably the most popular as it allowed for more internal fluidity or the capability of the
chorus members to split into smaller groups who acted as opposing factions before merging
again to address the audience the evolution of the chorus and stagecraft in general was driven by the
most successful and influential playwrights most notably aeschylus sophocles and euripides escalus
was the one to add a second actor and introduced the concept of sequels with his trilogy oedipus
sophocles introduced the third actor and the use of painted scenery europadies popularized
the habit of breaking the fourth wall by posing thought-provoking questions to the audience and
increased the number of choristers to 15. if you found yourself attending comedy at epiduras you
would enjoy the performance of as many as 24 chorus performers the first part of the show
was the parados this is when the chorus erupted into the orchestra performing song
and dance routines the performers usually wore excessive and ridiculous costumes bees with
huge stingers flying roosters with giant phalluses or even kitchen utensils the second act was the
agon a witty humorous dialogue amongst the main characters which drove the plot
this led to the parabases in which the chorus directly addressed the audience choristers would
then launch into the exodus a grand finale featuring another song and dance number like
any other genre greek comedy had its star writers and innovators the best known is aristophanes who
used his work to satirize contemporary events and personalities including powerful politicians
and fellow artists the baton of comedy genius was picked up by menander who introduced staple
characters and plot elements which were picked up by roman theater and are still in use today the
romantic lead the cunning servant mistaken identities a twist at the end of the story
that's all menander now if you're not a fan of theatre in general or greek theatre in particular
there is one aspect of these performances which may leave even the most blase of modern audience
members in all and that was the incredible skill of actors to project their voices over
long distances while maintaining comprehension and intelligibility of speech that's a feat that
especially in epidoris worked hand-in-hand with the admirable acoustics of the venue
archaeologists theater scholars and performers have all remarked upon the qualities such as
clarity of speech at ebadoras claiming it is near pristine even when the caviar is filled with 14
500 people the great soprano maria callus was a great fan of performing at epiduras
for this reason a 1989 guidebook reports that the acoustics are extraordinary even on the back row
at a distance of 59 meters for the center of the orchestra where the tour guide whispers tears a
piece of paper lights a match drops a coin all sounds are clearly audible extraordinary indeed
so what could be the secret of such acoustic qualities in the first century
bc author marcus vitruvius poglio believed clever architectural design to be the key in his treatise
d architectura he wrote therefore the ancient architects following nature's footsteps traced the
voice as it rose and carried out the ascent of the theatre seats by the rules of mathematics and the
method of music they sought to make the voices from the stage rise more clearly and sweetly
to the spectator's ears in other words the concave shape of the api theater could carry sound from
the orchestra up to the last rose there is some debate over why this is some argue that the
orientation of the main axis of the theater allows for the wind to blow mostly from the orchestra
towards the cavea gently ferrying the voices of actors to the spectators but other scholars point
out that the sound is just as crisp when the wind blows the other way others dismiss architecture
and location altogether some believe the costume department should get a pay raise since greek
actors would have worn masks which projected and focused their speech via special mouthpieces
and perhaps as much as anything else the sound is the result of the actors and playwright's
hard work the classical works performed at the festivals nepaduras had a distinctive rhythm
of speech highly intelligible for even the back row spectators all these factors certainly help
but how about musical performances or contemporary productions neither make use of masks nor ancient
rhythms of speech in the 1990s stage designer george eisenhorn returned to a structural theory
the acoustics of epidoris are so good because of the clear path between the speaker and the
audience so well case closed right far from it in the 21st century the world of academia has sought
to unlock the secret of sound quality at hebdorus the first investigation we're going to review
today is the study by nico de klerk and cindy decasa at the georgia institute of technology
in a study published in january of 2007 they applied extensive diffraction theory to explain
the conundrum diffraction describes the process taking place when waves such as light or sound
bend around an obstacle they reach the conclusion that the zeros of the theater play an essential
role at least when the auditorium is not fully filled with spectators according to them
seats constitute a corrugated surface which acts as a sort of giant acoustic filter when sound
is emanating from the stage it passes undisturbed through the rows of seats landing crisp and clear
to the ears of the audience at the very back but the acoustic filter blocks out all the annoying
surrounding noises which inevitably harm the theatrical experience the odd cough shuffling
of feet or your friend who started snoring at the start of act two de klerk and decaisa have also
proved that the arrangement of seats in the cavia can amplify the high frequencies typical of the
human voice thus blocking out the low frequencies of background noise in 2011 a duo of acoustic
consultants from athens partially corrected the seat theory of 2007. sartorius paras and mercurius
contours have demonstrated that actually the presence of a full house does not affect the high
intelligibility values recorded at the theater what does harm performance quality is plastics
the duo found that the use of plastic seating mats introduced in recent performances reduces speech
intelligibility these studies confirm that the structural layout of the theater appears to be
specifically designed to convey clarity of speech but they have not proven those claims made by the
1989 guidebook so it's time to introduce the next academic team led by professor constantine hack
and researcher remy gwen makers of eindhoven university of technology the team brought to
epidurals 20 microphones placing each one at 12 different locations around the theater they then
placed two loudspeakers in the orchestra and had them play sounds recorded in a laboratory a coin
dropping a torn piece of paper a whisper a match being struck in total they made 2 400 recordings
a sizeable data set to calculate sound levels at different points of the caveat their findings
proved that the sound of the coin and paper could be noticed above the background noise across the
whole of the theater but only halfway up the caviar could the sounds be correctly identified
as per the match and the whisper they could only be perceived in the front seats the eindhoven team
also performed tests on the intelligibility of human voice they revealed that speech was
intelligible to the back rows only when the actors spoke up quite loudly the 2017 research made the
headlines in europe it seemed like hack and team had debunked the myth of the perfect acoustics at
epiduras for sure they certainly angered some tour guides but the final verdict has not been signed
off on yet in 2018 the island of crete hosted the 11th euro noise which sounds like an edgier
version of eurovision but no it's a congress on noise control engineering one of the studies
presented there was wave-based acoustic modeling of the epidoris theater conducted by a team at the
university of patras greece the study confirmed the conclusions from de klerk and decatur
diffraction as a result of the seating position plays a major role in the theater's acoustics
assisting in carrying clear sounds especially at the distant positions the research then
evaluated among other variables the sti or speech transmission index again a measure of how clearly
human speech can travel from the orchestra to the last member of the audience the patras researchers
found that sti was excellent for a person speaking 70 decibels of volume and acceptable
even at 60 decibels for reference 60 decibels is the noise level of standard conversation this is a
pretty impressive sound projection and a partial refutation of the eindhoven paper but academic
research on the theater of hordurus is far from over contemporary studies can only evaluate the
quality of the sound today but they cannot tell us how the acoustics were back in the heyday
of the festival of asclepius according to armand anger professor of classics at the
university of oxford there are many more variables to consider which may have influenced propagation
of sound for example ancient greeks may have used amplifying devices placed at strategic
locations now before you picture aristophanes shredding on his lyre in front of a wall of
martial amplifiers let me clarify these devices were probably hollow containers or vessels placed
at strategic locations within the caveat i guess the only way to conclude this diatribe
is that the acoustics of the theatre can only be evaluated in person we were only able to
visit epiduras in the most cost-effective manner our imagination but if you've had
the chance to see the theater or even better to attend a performance let us know in the comments
and as always i do hope you enjoyed today's video if you did please do hit
that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe and thank you for watching