Epidaurus theatre - Book Report/Review Example

Epidauros was from a very early time associated with the worship of Asclepius, son of Apollo and god of healing, who was said to have been born there. From at least the sixth century B.C., the sanctuary at Epidauros was renowned throughout the ancient world for its healing powers. The area’s identification with healing was said to extend far into the dim and distant past. “Ever since archaic times and for a millennium thereafter, Epidaurus was the most important shrine and spa of the ancient world devoted to the healing arts (physical and mental)” (Izenour 119).

offered a means for communicating with the Gods. “The re-enactment of the tragedy purified, centred, and appeased the spectators, and in a world where disorders were always understood to be psychosomatic, it is not surprising to find that the tragedy was deemed to have powerful healing effects, as demonstrated by the presence of the great theatre of Epidaurus in the sanctuary of Asclepius the healer” (Perez-Gomez & Parcell, 14). The theater at Epidaurus came to define this uniquely Greek concept as a symbol of beauty and mystery throughout the Hellenistic world, one the Greeks, Romans and countless subsequent civilizations revered for its pristine design and structural beauty, an unparalleled accomplishment in architectural design.

The theater of Epidauros was designed by the architect Polykleitos the Younger some time during the mid-fourth century B.C., during the period in which the Macedonian dynasty under Philip II and, later, his son Alexander the Great, was coming into its own. The town of Epidauros is located in the northern Peloponnese, on the Argolid peninsula, which defines the southern side of the Saronic Gulf, not far from Delphi, site of the most famous oracle in the ancient world. As with other Greek amphitheaters, the theater at Epidaurus is built into a hillside and offers a spectacular view of verdant