odeon

plural odea · plural odeons · alternative odeion · alternative odeum

1. An ancient Greek or Roman building used for performances of music and poetry.

   The other building type similar to theatres, although smaller and generally roofed, was the odeon. Unlike theatres and amphitheatres, odea were not built in all of the larger Roman towns, although they became more common in the second century ad.

   1986, John H. Humphrey, Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 3

   2 more examples

   However, the significance of this transformation should not be overstated: it was not converted in to a church until the 6th c., and political meetings are attested in the nearby odeon, from late acclamations. Sagalassos is in fact the only eastern bouleuterion to show decay in the 5th c. Other examples are known that are generically dated to Late Antiquity: from Aizanoi and Ptolemais, both with bouleuteria-odea converted to aquatic spectacles, from Selge, where the building was converted into a church, and from Seleuceia-Lyrbe, where the building seems to have been transformed into a row of shops.

   2021, Luke Lavan, Public Space in the Late Antique City, Brill, →ISBN, page 310

   Based on its small size, the excavators have suggested it may have been an odeon with a seating capacity of between 150 and 200 people; see Uziel, Lieberman, and Solomon (2019, 245–48). Odea were, initially at least, designed for small-scale concerts and recitals; but this distinction blurred over time and varied depending upon the size and resources of individual cities.

   2023, Courtney J. P. Friesen, Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the Early Common Era, Routledge, →ISBN, page 30

2. A theatre or concert hall.

1. The Odeon of Pericles, an ancient odeon in Athens, Greece, built by Pericles in the 5th century. BCE.

plural Odeons

1. Alternative letter-case form of odeon
2. UKA cinema of the Odeon Cinemas chain.