Temple Apollo at Didyma

Located approximately 11 miles south of the ancient port city of Miletus on the western coast of modern-day Turkey, the temple  and ruins of Apollo at Didyma was the fourth largest temple in the ancient Greek world. The temple’s oracle played a significant role in the religious and political life of both Miletus and the greater Mediterranean world; many rulers, from  Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) to the Roman emperor Diocletian (244-313 CE) visited or sent delegations to this oracle seeking the guidance and favour of Apollo. The oracle played a significant role in initiating the “Great Persecution” of Christians under Diocletian and the temple was later converted into a church during the 5th or 6th century CE.

In the early years of the second century B.C., a stadium was erected to the south of the temple to accommodate games associated with the festival of Apollo Didymeus. That the temple itself was never completed is reported by Pausanias (Paus. 7.5.4), and is apparent from a number of unfinished columns at the site. The Emperor Gaius Caligula intended to complete the temple (Suet. Gaius 21). Certain elements of the temple, such as Ionic capital fragments, architrave fragments, corner capitals with busts of deities, and the frieze with Medusa heads, date to the second century A.D., and are witness to the intermittent periods of construction at the temple over the centuries. In A.D. 262/3 the temple was besieged by Goths, who failed to capture it. Later, the eastern part of the temple was converted into a fort. In 1493, an earthquake caused the collapse of all but three of the structure's columns.

As far as the date of the design of the temple, if the Paionios of Ephesus mentioned by Vitruvius is the same architect who worked on the Artemision at Ephesus, he will have been free to design the Didymeion after completing the fourth-century Artemision (in ca. 330 B.C.?) Building inscriptions from ca. 299/98 B.C. refer to Seleucid funding of the construction of the temple, and indicate that work had begun; there are no building accounts from the period before 300 B.C. The dates and careers of Paionios and Daphnis are uncertain, and it is unclear how much time intervened between the planning of the temple and its actual construction. Inscribed building accounts suggest that the temple was substantially complete by ca. 250 B.C., when oracular pronouncements were made; certainly work continued at the Didymeion over the centuries, as attested by the style of carving of various elements. The adyton pilaster capitals and intervening frieze of griffins and lyres are dated to the early second century B.C. (Voigtländer 1975a, 112-121). The frieze of Medusa heads and foliage from the exterior of the temple is dated stylistically to the Hadrianic period, as are the corner capitals with figural decoration from the peripteros Pülz 1989, 47-64.

SOURCES

·       Hammond, N. G. L. (1998). "The Branchidae at Didyma and in Sogdiana". The Classical Quarterly. 48 (2): 339. doi:10.1093/cq/48.2.339. JSTOR 639826. Note 2.

·       Jump up^ Clement Alexandrinus. Protrepticus, 3.45.2-3.

·       Robert Parker, reviewing Fontenrose 1988 in The Classical Review New Series 39.2 (1989), p 270

The Theater of Priene

  The Theater of Priene

Centered View From Second Seating Tier

The horseshoe-shaped theater at Priene represents one of the best-preserved and earliest forms of Hellenistic theaters built in Turkey. Ten kilometers north of Miletus, the ancient site of Priene sits on the northern edge of the Meander River just outside the small city of Gullubahçe, Turkey.

Far Right View Towards Center

The city of Priene is estimated to have been established around 350 BC, and the theater is believed to be constructed soon after, 332-330 BC. The project is accredited to the architect Pytheos, the same designer of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Although time, weather and varying political control has altered the ruins, they still retain many of features associated with the Hellenistic theaters. Since the Hellenistic Age formerly begins after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC the theater at Priene can be seen as a forefront design scheme that most likely greatly contributed to the Hellenistic age amphitheater archetype. The arching seating area excavated into the slope of a hill behind, while a two-story structure creating both a backdrop for the actors and chorus as the stage was placed directly at the base. It is also likely that the structure may have been used by the performers to enhance the experience of the theater as a sort of backdrop, backstage or as a set itself. The theater was relatively small in scale compared to later versions to come elsewhere, it could accommodate over 6000 people in its 47 rows of seating. Remarkably, the theater was in use for over five-hundred years.
It is also likely since Vitruvius mentions this technology that it was implemented in the Priene theater as well, that the theater hosted many large vessels filled with a certain volume of water and mathematically placed throughout the theatron (seating area) in order to assist the actor’s voices to resonate further.

The theatron supports forty-seven rows of seats. There are 25 in the lower division and 22 in the upper seating area, the pathway dividing the two areas is termed the diazoma and it navigates the length of the semicircular seating. The upper area is divided once more by were divided by 23 staircases vertically, klimakes. Archeologists suggest that square holes in the marble seating are in fact post-holes to suspend a shading canopy. The lower 22 rows of seating is divided by 13 klimakes, and these seats were most likely reserved for more distinguished guests; however, the lowest row of seating,nearest the stage, was assuredly reserved for important guests, patrons, public officials, etc.. This area is termed as the prohedria and many of the seats here were elegantly carved throne-like chairs.

It is also believed by many archeologists that the theater was also a host to political speeches and debates as the theater hosts a water timer that was commonly used for such events.




It is interesting to note how successful these early Hellenistic theaters are, that their design strategies are still in prolific use today in a vast variety of different scales as well. Pictured to the left is the Hollywood Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater constructed in the early twentieth century as a clear tribute to the Hellenistic Theaters, such as the Theater of Priene, to which it owes its design. 

Works Cited:Valière, Jean-Christophe, Bénédicte Palazzo-Bertholon, Jean-Dominique Polack, and Pauline Carvalho. "Acoustic Pots in Ancient and Medieval Buildings: Literary Analysis of Ancient Texts and Comparison with Recent Observations in French Churches." Acta Acustica United with Acustica99.1 (2013): 70-81. Web.
Heffernan, Amanda. "Priene.Theatre." Priene.Theatre. Whitman College, 2003. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986. Print.