ATHENS - FESTIVALS Flashcards
FESTIVALS
How many days were given over to festivals in Athens?
140 days per year
How many days were given over to festivals in Rome?
159 days per year
What was the Great Panathenaia?
- A festival only for Athenians and resident foreigners in Athens.
- The Panathenaia was a celebration of Athena’s birthday.
- From 566 BC the festival was expanded to the Great Panathenaia for 8 days and included athletic and literary competitions.
Athens festivals
In the Great Panathenaia, what were the Rhapsodes?
Verse recitals and musical contests.
A. Recitals from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey from memory.
B. Four music competitions from
1. singers and aulos (oboe-like)
2. soloists and aulos
3. singers and kithara (harp like)
4. soloists and kithara
Athens
In the Great Panathenaia what were the main sporting events?
Over three days: no women nor foreign residents.
Winners received a Panathenaia amphora filled with olive oil.
The events took place in the stadion.
Wrestling
* oil covered bodies,
* three ‘falls’ onto the back was a win.
* No punching, biting, kicking.
Boxing -
* hands covered in leather strips for protection,
* knock the opponent out.
Penkration
* wrestling/boxing mix -
* only rules were no eye gouging or biting.
Pentathalon -
* discus, javelin, long jump, stadion (short foot race), and wrestling.
* If one athelete won the first three, the stadion and wrestling were cancelled
Equestrian events -
* chariot race
* javeling throwing from horse back
* the apobates in which fully armoured charioteer dismounted, ran alongside the racing chariot, and then remounted.
Tribal contests -
* only for Athenian citizens:
* strength trials,
* boat race at Piraeus,
* war dance competition to the aulos pipes.
Greece
In the Panathenaic what took place for the all night celebration?
In the evening, a torch race from the Dipylon Gate to the Acropolis - winner’s torch lit the sacrificial flame the next day.
This was followed by singing and dancing involving maidens and young men.
Greece
In the Great Panathenaia, what was the giving of the peplos?
6th day,
* Athena was presented with a peplos,
* a woven dress of purple and saffron thread - the threaded saffron were stitched into a picture of a battle between the gods and giants.
* In the mid 5th C BC, two peploi were made - one for a wooden statue of Athena at the Erechtheion and the larger, the size of a sail, for the Athena statue at the Parthenon.
Where did the Panathenaiac procession go from to?
Started at the Dipylon gate,
Through the city on the Panathenaic way
Ended at the foot of the Acropolis
Larger Peplos used as a sail for a ceremonial boat that was pushed it was then removed and taken into the Acropolis.
The procession ended at the altar to Athena Polias that was situated between the Parthenon and the Erechtheion.
Panathenaic procession Parthenon
Depicted on the Ionic frieze of the Parthenon.
Procession starts on wesert end with cavalry mounting and riding. Then follows two routes, northern and southern
Panathenaic sacrifice
After the procession
After Athena is given her portion, priestess of Athena and other high ranking Athenians eat first
Then the rest eat.
Greece
What was the origins of the City or Great Dionysia?
- In the 6thC BC there was an alliance between the Eleutherae and Athens.
- The Eleutherae wanted to join with Athens because of their distrust/hatred of the Thebans.
- From Eleutherian’s plain, a statue of Dionysius was offered to Athens, but the Athenians rejected it. There followed a terrible genital disease in the men, so the Athenians changed their mind and brought the statue into Athens and gave honour to Dionysus - their disease was thus cured.
- As Dionysus is associated with rebirth, the Great Dionysia took place in spring over five days - most of it centered around the sanctuary of Dionysus.
Greece
Where was the sanctuary of Dionysus?
South side of the Acropolis.
Relatively small, but built with familiar style - surrounded by a short wall, altar in the centre of a large open area.
Greece
What took place in the City or Great Dionysia?
Dedications-
In the rural form of the procession, at Eleuthereus, people would carry various objects, such as baskets (kanephoroi), loaves of bread (obeliaphoroi), jars of water (hydriaphoroi) and wine (askophoroi), and ‘phalloi’ (phallaphoroi). A reenactment of the rural procession was known to take place as part of the City Dionysia.
The processions travelled through Athens, out to a temple on the road to Eleuthereus where it was briefly ‘dedicated,’ and was then escorted back to Athenian temple. This act sought to honour the original transference of the Dionysian statue from Eleuthereus.
Greece
What were the sacrificial rituals of the Great Dionysia?
Sacrifice-
- At the temple on the road to Eleuthereus a sacrifice was offered in accordance with honouring the statue’s original home
- probably at the start of the procession.
- Bulls were sacrificed at the temple in the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens at the end of the procession.
Athens
Which officials were involved in the Great Dionysia and why were the roles important?
eponymous archon
- elected official
- head of state for a year,
- selected three tragic playwrights and five comic playwrights who were commissioned to write 17 plays.
Choregos
- Chosen by the archon
- Chorus leader
- Finance the plays
What was the programme of the Great Dionysia?
Day one:
- Pompe or grand procession - a wooden statue of Dionysus dragged on a wheeled boat accompanied by much drinking, singing, dancing and revelry.
- The pompe was followed by the dithyramb competition in the theatre.
- In the evening, there was the male only komos (party) celebrating the phallus celebrating Dionysus as god of fertility - singing, dancing, lots of wine, and probably a lot of silliness (ed.)
Day two:
- Sacrifice of a piglet by the priest of Dionysus.
- Ten generals then poured a libation to the 12 Olympian gods.
- Five comedies were then shown; a play could last 90 mins - the comedies were usually about war, politics, or social life - often mocking social norms (women and slaves controlling men, politicians satirised).
Day three to four
- Tragedies were presented in 3 plays a day - they seemingly had more importance than the comedies; they focused on human nature, suffering, fate. They were designed to provoke reflection.
- After the reflective tragedies, the satyr plays were offered as comic relief - they tended to present mythical themes.
Fifth day
- the plays were judged by the judges and the archon announced the winner.
Athens
Who formed the Ten Tribes of Attica and why?
In 508 BC Cleisthenes altered the constitution of Athens which initially had four tribes; but each tribe sought its own family’s power rather than worked for the good of Athens.
Cleisthenes divided Attica into Ten Tribes based on region rather than family - each was named after an Athenian hero and statues were erected in the Athenian marketplace.
