Amphiareion

The Amphiareion at Oropos is an idyllically located sanctuary in honor of the legendary king of Argos, Amphiaraos. This king, who had prophetic gifts, was compelled to participate in the “doomed” attack on Thebes by  “The Seven” who had bribed his wife with a beautiful necklace. When the attack of “The Seven” had failed, Amphiaraos turned his chariot and fled in vain … Zeus let the earth split open in front of his chariot, and he disappeared in the hole complete with horse and chariot and his faithful charioteer.

Being now underground, Amphiaraos became immortal and was revered as a god because of his prophetic gifts. The sick took refuge in his sanctuary, and (after sacrificing a ram and throwing money into the holy well), they slept in the enkoimeterion, wrapped in the skin of the ram they had sacrificed themselves. Amphiaraos then appeared to the patient in a dream and healed him, or gave directions on how to restore the patient to health.
The sanctuary houses the temple to Amphiaraos himself, a long line of pedestals for holy gifts, the elongated colonnade of the enkoimeterion, and a beautiful little theater with decorated chairs for the priests.

An interesting inscription (bottom left) is dedicated to Brutus, murderer of Caesar and by the Senate appointed commander in chief over the troops of Greece, Macedonia and Illyria in the fight against Caesar’s supporters. In this inscription he is honored as “savior” (σώτηρ), for his part in Caesar’s murder. Brutus was thus able to claim the role of tyrant killer, similar to the Athenians Harmodios and Aristogeiton, who killed the Athenian tyrant Hipparchos, and may have been honored here for that reason. The fact that Brutus and Cassius dealt ruthlessly with those who opposed them, may also have been a factor. The inscription reads:

[ὁ δῆμος Ὠρωπίων]      The people of Oropos (depicts)
Κόïντον Καιπίωνα Κοΐν [του] Quintus Caepio the son of Quintus,
υἱὸν Βροῦτον τὸν ἑατο [ῦ]      Brutus, (being) his
σωτῆρα καὶ εὐεργέτην       the savior and benefactor
Ἀμφιαράωι       to Amphiaraos.

As was often the case, the Oropians reused an older statue, removing the original inscription. This fact is shown, because they forgot (or just didn’t bother) to remove the original sculptor’s name: Θοινίας Τεισικράτου Σικυώνιος ἐποίησεν (Thoinias, the son of Teisikrates, made this number 5 on the map). A base of a statue of Thoinias’ father (flor. 320-284 BC) was reused in Roman times to bear a statue of the Roman dictator Sulla. From later times we find a pedestal for a statue for Marcus Agrippa (number 3 on the map), the support and refuge of Emperor Augustus, also reused, given that the pedestal bears the name of the sculptor Metiochos, who lived more than 300 years before Agrippa. Source: les Pierres qui parlent.