The zenith of Attic drama had passed by, entirely for tragedy and almost so for comedy, before the remains of theaters outside of Athens become frequent.[208] Nevertheless, these sometimes aid materially in reconstructing or interpreting the Athenian theater, and it will be necessary to dwell briefly upon a few of them. Perhaps the earliest and most primitive is found at Thoricus in southern Attica (Figs. 70 f.). This was built in the fifth or fourth century B.C. and was subsequently enlarged somewhat. The orchestra is oblong rather than circular, being bounded at one side by a temple, at the other side by a greenroom or storage chamber, and at the rear by a retaining wall. There is no reason to believe that a permanent scene-building was ever erected behind the orchestra. It is apparent that this structure has several points of resemblance to the Athenian theater of the period between _ca._ 499 B.C. and _ca._ 465 B.C. (see pp. 65 f., above). The most symmetrical of all the Greek theaters and one of the best preserved is that at Epidaurus (Figs. 46-52 and 72, 2).[209] Its architect was the younger Polyclitus, and it was built toward the close of the fourth century B.C. If we are right in believing that the proscenium was not used as a stage, then the Epidaurus theater never had a stage. At any rate, it was not rebuilt and provided with one in Roman times. In the center of the orchestra stands a block of stone with a circular cavity, doubtless the foundation of the thymele. There is not only space for the full circle of the orchestra (in the narrowest sense; see p. 83, n. 2) but the bounding stones are actually continued for the full distance. The stone proscenium, containing half-columns (Fig. 72, 2) of the Ionic order and once eleven feet seven inches or about twelve Roman feet in height, was erected in the second or third century B.C. and replaced a wooden proscenium. The parascenia were rebuilt at the same time and seem originally to have been broader and to have projected farther from the scene-building. In either parodus stood a handsome double gateway (Figs. 49 and 51 f.), one door of which led into the orchestra and the other opened upon a ramp, somewhat sharply inclined, which debouched on the top of the proscenium. Ramps are found also in the Sicyon theater. THE THEATER AT EPIDAURUS See p. 104, n. 1 [Illustration: FIG. 47.—The Auditorium from the North] [Illustration: FIG. 48.—Orchestra and Scene-Building from the South] [Illustration: FIG. 49.—The West Parodus] [Illustration: FIG. 50.—The East Parodus] [Illustration: FIG. 51.—The Gateway in the West Parodus] [Illustration: FIG. 52.—Looking through the West Parodus] [Illustration: FIG. 53.—Ground Plan of the Theater at Eretria in Euboea See p. 104, n. 2] [Illustration: FIG. 54.—Cross-Section of the Theater at Eretria See p. 104, n. 2]