ODEUM (Gr. Odeion)  , the name given to a concert hall in ancient Greece.- In a general way its construction was similar to that of a theatre, but it was only a quarter of the size and was provided with a roof for acoustic purposes, a characteristic difference . The oldest known Odeum in Greece was the Skias at Sparta, so called from its resemblance to the top of a parasol, said to have been erected by Theodorus of Samos (600 B.c.); in Athens an Odeum near the spring Enneacrunus on the Ilissus was referred to the age of Peisistratus, and appears to have been rebuilt or restored by Lycurgus (c . 330-B.c.) . This is probably the building which, according to Aristophanes (Wasps, 1109), was used for judicial purposes, for the distribution of corn, and even for the billeting of soldiers . The building which served as a model for later similar constructions was the Odeum of Pericles (completed c . 445) on the south-eastern slope of the rock of the Acropolis, whose conical roof, a supposed imitation of the tent of Xerxes, was made of the masts of captured Persian ships . It was destroyed by Aristion, the so-called tyrant of Athens, at the time of the rising against Sulla (87), and rebuilt by Ariobarzanes II., king of Cappadocia (Appian, Mithrid . 38) . The most magnificent example of its kind, however, was the Odeum built on the south-west cliff of the Acropolis at Athens about A.D . 16o by the wealthy sophist and rhetorician Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, considerable remains of which are still to be seen . It had accommodation for 8000 persons, and the ceiling was constructed of beautifully carved beams of cedar wood, probably with an open space in the centre to admit the light . It vas also profusely decorated with pictures and other works of art .

Similar buildings also existed in other parts of Greece; at

Corinth, also the gift of Herodes Atticus; at Patrae, where there was a famous statue of Apollo; at Smyrna, Tralles, and other towns in Asia Minor . The first Odeum in Rome was built by Domitian, a second by Trajan .