odeion

O1D2E1I1O1N1

A form of odeon — An ancient Greek or Roman building used for performances of music and poetry.

Scrabble 7

Meanings

nounodeion (plural odeia or odeions)

plural odeia · plural odeions

  1. alternativeAlternative form of odeon.

    Correspondingly, statues of Apollo and the Muses are placed in theatres and odeions.

    2011, Th[eodosia] Stefanidou-Tiveriou, “Art in the Roman Period, 168 bc–337 ad”, in Robin J[ames] Lane Fox, editor, Brill’s Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 bc–300 ad, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 575
    5 more examples

    Though poverty lurked in tenements and alleys, joviality flourished in taverns, foodstalls, bawdyhouses, odeions, the homes of the well-to-do.

    1987, Poul Anderson, Karen Anderson, The King of Ys, volume 1 (Roma Mater; Gallicenae), Garden City, N.Y.: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., page 401

    As we have seen, Roman sponsorship of chairs of rhetoric and cultural buildings—such as theatres, odeions, and libraries—is well documented from the Republic through the reign of Hadrian, revealing sustained support for rhetoric and literary studies throughout the Empire.

    1995, Richard Leo Enos, Roman Rhetoric: Revolution and the Greek Influence, Waveland Press, →ISBN, page 94

    The idea that the building was originally for declamation (Spawforth (2012), 63–4) does not account convincingly for the colossal and the life-size statues of Dionysus probably in the stage area (Thompson (1950), 69,78–80, plates 51–2; Paus. 1.14.1; the architectural form of odeia is perfectly suited to theatrical performance or performance related to drama).

    2013, G[regory] O[wen] Hutchinson, Greek to Latin: Frameworks and Contexts for Intertextuality, Oxford, Oxon: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 88

    The position of all bouleuteria and many odeia is determined by the location of other associated public facilities, especially agoras and other peristyle courtyards.

    2016, John McK[esson] Camp II, “Bouleuteria and Odeia”, in Margaret Melanie Miles, editor, A Companion to Greek Architecture, Wiley Blackwell, →ISBN, part III (Civic Space), page 351

    In addition, only a small number of cities (and almost no small cities) present evidence for the repair or adaptation of public buildings (i.e. agorai, theatres, odeia, stadions, aqueducts, and baths) during the Early Roman Imperial period.

    2023, Dean Peeters, Shaping Regionality in Socio-Economic Systems: Late Hellenistic – Late Roman Ceramic Production, Circulation, and Consumption in Boeotia, Central Greece (c. 150 BC–AD 700) (Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean Pottery; 18), Oxford, Oxon: Archaeopress, →ISBN, pages 58–59

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekᾠδεῖον
  2. Englishodeion

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ᾠδεῖον (ōideîon).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

odeion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/odeion

MLA

“odeion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/odeion. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “odeion,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/odeion.

Source: odeion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.