Maria Mikedaki
Maria Mikedaki is Assistant Professor at the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of the Peloponnese, where she has been teaching ancient theatre since 2009. She graduated from the Faculty of History and Archaeology of the University of Athens. She holds a Master’s degree and a PhD from the University of Vienna. As an archaeologist, she participated in various excavations in Greece and Cyprus and worked in the Hellenic Ministry of Culture (Directorate of Byzantine and Postbyzantine Monuments, Epigraphic Museum) and in the Archaeological Society at Athens.
She also participated in research programmes, supervised by the Academy of Athens, the Archaeological Society at Athens and the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Athens. She has taught at the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Patras and at the Department of Mediterranean Studies of the University of the Aegean. Her books and articles focus on the archaeology of the ancient theatre and on Greece under Roman rule. She is a member of the Archaeological Society at Athens.
LECTURE DESCRIPTION
Drama therapy at the Sanctuary of Asclepios in Epidaurus
Ancient Greeks believed that songs, music and dramatic poetry had healing qualities that helped the catharsis of the soul and restored mental health. As a result, ancient sanatoriums adopted a more holistic approach to hospitalisation and treatment, combining medical practice with the improvement of patients’ psychological state. Theatres were included in sanatorium complexes for their educational, recreational and healing functions. This lecture focuses on the most famous therapeutic centre of the ancient world, the Sanctuary of Asclepios in Epidaurus. The use of the adjacent theatre in the context of the healing god’s worship will be examined, discussing the musical, dramatic and possibly medical competitions that were held in the space.