Moving from the Ekklesiastirion and next to the Asclepieion we find other buildings: the Propylon, the Assembly Hall and the Archive House. The neighbourhood of these buildings shows that religious ceremonies, political decisions and theatre, all shaped the political education of the active citizen. Imagine that on top of that, all these deliberations took place under the glance of the mythical statues of Damophon. These statues accentuated the legendary past of the city's heroes and deities and created an admirable combination of elements: myth, rituals, theatre, and politics.
The Propylon dates back to the end of the 3rd century beginning of 2nd century BCE. Excavations confirm this by fragments still discovered: the ten-figured complex of Apollo and the Nine Muses; the complex of Hercules, the personification of the city of Thebes and Epaminondas, the liberator of Messene; Fortune the goddess, as well as the statue of goddess Artemis Phosphorus (light-bearing).
Pausanias provides information that there is a complex of three statues at the entrance: Asclepius with his two sons, Machaon and Podalirius. They are also found in Homer as warriors in the Trojan War and disciples of the Centaur physician and philosopher, Chiron. Machaon is also a physician, a surgeon and a warrior, he heals wounds and injuries, but also afflicts them. Athanasios of Stageira informs us that Podalirius is a physician that takes care of the diet and the nutrition of the Greeks in Troy, but also of internal ailments.
