Τα νέα ευρήματα πεσσών στην Αθήνα και το Ωδείο του Αγρίππα

Abstract

At the site of Hadrian’s Library in Athens three, almost intact, pier shafts have been traced among numerous architectural blocks and identified as parts of the same architectural composition based on their material, craftsmanship and mostly on their identical form and equal dimensions. Moreover, a pier capital, also stored in the Library, can be attributed to the same structure with dimension criteria; the feature most probably crowned the piers. The new finds increase the small number of known piers in the Athenian architecture up to date. This study aims at the determination of the original synthesis, which will reveal not only its dating at the time of Augustus, but also the theatrical character of the building from which they originated. These features reduce the number of possible buildings, of which the most possible is the Odeion of Agrippa in the Ancient Agora of Athens. Τhe graphic reconstruction of these piers along the balcony of the building, which Travlos and Thompson had hypothetically restored with piers, contributes in better understanding of the Odeion's design altogether, as well as in redefining the impact of its exterior arrangement in the middle of the Agora.