Hydraulic Characteristics of the Drainage Systems of Ancient Hellenic Theatres: Case Study of the Theatre of Dionysus and Its Implications
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 11
Abstract
The content of this article provides interesting history, facts, and information about the drainage systems of ancient theaters in mainland Greece and Asia Minor from prehistoric times until the Hellenistic period. This study comprises representative examples of drainage systems in theaters at Knossos, Phaistos, Dionysus in Athens, Arcadian Orchomenos, Ephesus, and Delos. Moreover, the aim is to demonstrate that these drainage systems represent evolutionary techniques and principles that can still be used today to avoid wasting water resources. Moreover, these techniques may prove attractive for the development of sustainable strategies to counter mounting problems, especially those of a socioeconomic nature. In addition, the article presents evidence for the conception that adaptations to individual environmental and hydraulic characteristics of specific locations were considered in relation to drainage systems of ancient theaters. Thus, through a case study of the carrying capacity of drainage channels at Dionysus’s theater in Athens, the sustainable nature of this construction is demonstrated, including its capacity for the management of stormwater.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Adams, W. M. (2006). “The future of sustainability: Re-thinking environment and development in the twenty-first century.” IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meeting, World Conservation Union (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland.
Angelakis, A. N., Koutsoyiannis, D., and Tchobanoglous, D. (2005). “Urban wastewater and storm water technologies in ancient Greece.” Water Res., 39(1), 210–220.
Angelakis, A. N., and Yun, Z. X. (2013). “Editorial: Probing the past and facing the future.” Water Sci. Technol. Water Supply, 13(3), 561–563.
ANSAmed. (2012). “Greece: Ancient theater of Delos to be restored.” 〈http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2012/03/15/visualizza_new.html_132802909.html?idPhoto=1〉 (Sep. 12, 2013).
Antoniou, G. P. (2014). “The ancient theater of Dodona: New observations on the architecture of the cavea.” Proc., Architecture of the Ancient Greek Theater Conf., R. Frederiksen, ed., Danish Institute at Athens, Athens, Greece.
Apel, M. A. (2004). Technology of ancient Greece, Rosen Publishing Group, New York.
Arturton, R. K. (2005). “The carbonate coasts of eastern Africa.” Coastal fluxes in the anthropocene, C. J. Crossland, H. H. Kremer, H. J. Lindeboom, J. I. Marshall Crossland, and M. D. A. Le Tissier, eds., Springer, Brisbane, Australia.
Broneer, O. (1936). “The OXETOS in the Greek theater.” Classical studies, Edward Capps, Princeton, NJ, 29–41.
Buchenrieder, G., and Göltenboth, A. R. (2003). “Sustainable freshwater resource management in the Tropics: The myth of effective indicators.” Reshaping Agriculture’s Contributions to Society: Proc., 25th Int. Conf. of Agricultural Economics, D. Colman and N. Vink, eds., Wiley, New York.
Chow, V. T. (1959). Open-channel hydraulics, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Curtius, E., and Kaupert, J. A. (1878). Atlas von Athen, Dietrich Beimer, Berlin.
Döperfeld, W., and Reisch, E. (1896). Das griechische theater, Bart & Von Hirst, Athens, Greece.
Driessen, J., and Schoep, I. (1995). “The architect and the scribe: Political implications of architectural and administrative changes on MM II-LM IIIA Crete.” Politeia: Society and State in the Aegean Bronze Age: Proc., Int. Aegean Conf. in Heidelberg, 10/13-IV-1994. Histoire de l’art et archéologie de la Grèce antique, R. Laffineur and W. D. Niemeier, eds., Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Fiechter, E. (1935). Das Dionysos theater in Athen, Am J Archaeol, 42(4), 596–601.
Fraisse, P., and Moretti, J. C. (2007). Le Theâtre, Vols. I, II. Exploration Archéologique De Délos XLII, EFA, Paris.
Frazer, J. G. (1913). Pausanias—Periegesis, I, XX, 3—I, XXI, 3—Le complexe de Dionysos à Athènes, Macmillan, London.
Frederiksen, R. (2002). “The Greek theater. A typical building in the urban centre of the polis?” Even more studies in the ancient Greek polis, T. H. Nielsen, ed., Steiner, Stuttgart, Germany.
Jones, H. L. (1960). Geographica, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Kalligas, P. G. (2011). “The Panathenaic Stadium: A new interpretation.” Archaeology & Arts, 113, 86–95 (in Greek).
Kolobova, К. М. (1961). The Ancient city of Athens and its monuments, Publishing House of Leningrad Univ., Leningrad, Soviet Union (in Greek).
Koutsoyiannis, D. (1993). Design of urban sewers (Ed. 3.1, 1999), NTUA, Athens, Greece.
Koutsoyiannis, D. (2011). Design of urban sewers, 4th Ed., NTUA, Athens, Greece.
Krasilnikoff, J. A. (2013). “Innovation in ancient Greek agriculture: Some remarks on climate and irrigation in classical Attica.” Classica et Mediaevalia, 64, 95–116.
Lélé, S. M. (1991). “Sustainable development: A critical review.” World Develop., 19(6), 607–621.
Liddell, H. G., Scott, R., Jones, H. S., and McKenzie, R. (1996). A Greek–English lexicon, 9th Ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.
Mays, L. W. (2004). Hydraulic design handbook, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Mays, L. W. (2008). “A very brief history of hydraulic technology antiquity.” Environ. Fluid Mech., 8(5–6), 471–484.
Meredith, C. P. (2001). “Grapevine genetics: Probing the past and facing the future.” Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, 66(1), 21–25.
Morgan, M. H. (1914). De Architectura libri decem [The ten books on architecture], Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (in Latin).
Ortloff, C. R., and Crouch, D. P. (2001) “The urban water supply and distribution system of the Ionian City of Ephesos in the roman imperial period.” J. Archaeolog. Sci., 28, 843–860.
Panagiotopoulos, D., and Günkel-Maschek, U. (2012). Minoan realities–Approaches to images, architecture, and society in the Aegean bronze age, Presses Universitaires de Louvain, Louvain, Belgium.
Papastamati-von Moock, C. (2011). “The theater of Dionysos Eleuthereus in Athens: New data and observations on its ‘Lycurgan’ phase.” Death of Drama or Birth of an Industry? The Greek Theater in the Fourth Century BC Conf. Proc., P. Wilson, et al., eds., Centre for Classical and Near Eastern Studies of Australia, Univ. of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Papastamati-von Moock, C. (2014). “The wooden theater of Dionysos in Athens: Old issue, new research.” Proc., Architecture of the Ancient Greek Theater Conf., R. Frederiksen, ed., Danish Institute at Athens, Athens, Greece.
Pendlebury, J. D. S. (1963). Archaeology of Crete, an introduction, Biblo and Tannen, New York.
Petropoulos, M., Karapanagiotou, A. B., Argyropoulou, E., and Karavia, E. (2008). Theater of Orhomenos: Past-present-future, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Dept. of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Tripolis, Greece.
Pitt, R. (2011). “Athens-Makrigianni (Notice 2116).” 〈http://chronique.efa.gr/index.php/fiches/voir/2116/〉 (May 17, 2014).
Travlos, J. (1971). Pictorial dictionary of ancient Athens, Thames and Hudson, London.
United Nations. (1987). Report of the world commission on environment and development: Our common future, New York.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 6, 2014
Accepted: Feb 18, 2015
Published online: Apr 3, 2015
Discussion open until: Sep 3, 2015
Published in print: Nov 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.