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classical civilisation > festivals > Flashcards

festivals Flashcards

1
Q

what was the Panathenaia?

A

annual festival for Athenians that celebrated Athena’s birthday

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2
Q

what was the Great Panathenaia?

A

an Athenian festival to Athena that took place every 4 years and was an escalated version of the Panathenaia, with more events

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3
Q

what is a rhapsode (rhapodes)?

A

someone who recites epic poetry at a festival

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4
Q

what was the Panathenaic amphora?

A

storage jars containing 38 litres of olive oil - given as prizes at the Great Panathenaia

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5
Q

what was an apobate?

A

meaning ‘dismounter’ - a chariot race in which the rider would dismount and remount his chariot

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6
Q

what was a peplos?

A

a greek dress

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7
Q

when did the Panathenaia/Great Panathenaia take place?

A

around July/August on the 28th of Hekatombeion

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8
Q

how long was the Great Panathenaia?

A

8 days

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9
Q

what happened on day 1 of the Great Panathenaia?

A
  • rhapsodic and musical contests
  • Rhapsodes would recite verses from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
  • 4 main competitions in the musical contests which revolved around 2 popular greek instruments - the aulos and kithara
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10
Q

what happened on day 2 of the Great Panathenaia?

A

boys and youth athletics
-> women were not allowed to compete in sporting events

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11
Q

what happened on day 3 of the Great Panathenaia?

A

mens athletics
-> women were not allowed to compete in sporting events

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12
Q

what happened on day 4 of the Great Panathenaia?

A

equestrian events
- four horse chariot race
- mounted javelin contest - competitors would have to hit targets while riding horses

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13
Q

what happened on day 5 of the great Panathenaia?

A

tribal contests
- series of strength trials
- boat race
- war dance competition

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14
Q

what happened on day 6 of the Great Panathenaia?

A

all-night celebration, procession and sacrifice

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15
Q

what happened on day 7 of the Great Panathenaia?

A
  • boat race and apobates
  • tribal contests
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16
Q

what happened on day 8 of the Great Panathenaia?

A

prizes were presented

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17
Q

how did the Great Dionysia become a festival?

A
  • Eleutherae allied with Athens
  • the people of Eleutherae were big fans of Dionysus
  • they bought a statue of Dionysus to Athens when they allied
  • the Athenians rejected the statue, but were struck with a plague that affected men’s genitals
  • they decided to worship Dionysus and started this festival of drama and partying in his honour
  • immediately the plague was cured
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18
Q

who could take part in the Great Dionysia?

A

any Athenian citizen

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19
Q

what happened on day 1 of the Great Dionysia?

A

the procession/pompe
- recreation of the events that happened when Eleutherae allied with Athens
- wooden statue of Dionysus was carried into the city accompanied by lots of Athenian citizens
- lots of drinking, dancing, partying

the Dithyrambic contest
- a competition, in which 100 members of each tribe would take part in a choral dance in honour of Dionysus

the Komos - evening
- the men would bring leather phalluses to present to Dionysus
- lots of singing, dancing, drinking in honour of Dionysus

20
Q

what happened on day 2 of the Great Dionysia?

A

the opening ceremony
- the priest of Dionysus sacrifices a piglet
- 10 generals of Athens poured a libation (a drink as an offering to a god) to each of the 12 Olympic gods

5 comedy shows were put on

21
Q

what was the theoric fund?

A
  • the main financial body
  • helped pay for poorer people too see shows
22
Q

what happened days 3-5 of the Great Dionysia?

A
  • 3 tragic plays and 1 satyr play on each day
23
Q

how did they decide the winner of the play writers in the Great Dionysia?

A
  • at the end of the festival, judging was done
  • there were 10 judges
  • each wrote their tragic playwrights in order of preference and placed their votes in an urn
  • 5 of their lists were picked at random
  • one with most votes won
  • something similar probably happened for the comedy playwrights
24
Q

what were to 2 most popular genres of play in Athens?

A

tragedy and comedy

25
Q

where was the Theatre of Dionysus located?

A

sanctuary of Dionysus on the acropolis

26
Q

who could attend the Theatre of Dionysus?

A

definitely any man, possibly women and children in a tragedy but not a comedy

27
Q

why was the Great Panathenaia enjoyable?

A
  • worshiped Athena, patron goddess - hoped for her protection
  • 8 days - more time off work
  • lots of events
  • prize of Amphorae -> olive oil can be used for cooking + cleaning + is expensive
  • procession honoured families involved in making the peplos
  • athletics events free to watch
  • sacrifice of 100 oxen
28
Q

why was the Great Panathenaia not enjoyable?

A
  • only once every 4 years - Panathenaia which was every year was only 5 days long
  • women couldn’t take part in sporting events
29
Q

why was the city Dionysia enjoyable?

A
  • in honour of Dionysus, god of fun/wine/parties/fertility - hoping for good crops and good luck in fertility
  • 9 tragedies, 5 comedies, 3 satyr plays
  • theoric fund meant poorer people could see plays
  • sacrifice of piglet + some libations
30
Q

why was city Dionysia not enjoyable?

A
  • only 5 days
  • not a large range of events - only has plays and dithyramb
  • women couldn’t take part in plays and could only watch tragedies
  • had to pay to watch plays
31
Q

what did the Lupercalia derive from?

A

a festival of purification and fertility in honour of Lupercus

32
Q

the Lupercalia honoured Lupercus and who else?

A

Romulus

33
Q

when did the Lupercalia take place?

A

15th Feb

34
Q

what were the Luperci?

A

priests chosen from the Roman nobles to perform rituals on the day

35
Q

what happened at the start of the Lupercalia?

A
  • the priests gathered in the Lupercal
    -> a cave on the Palatine hill
  • they sacrificed dogs and goats to Lupercus
36
Q

Lupercalia sacrifice:

A
  • mola salsa sprinkled on animals head
  • once animal bowed heat in acceptance, throat was slit
  • once animal was killed, knife was dipped in blood and dripped on foreheads of participants
  • blood was immediately wiped of with wool and soaked in milk
  • Luperci expected to laugh
  • haruspex read entails - if they were positive the feast began
  • Luperci cut skin of animal into strips
37
Q

Lupercalia race:

A
  • race was the public part of the festival
  • involved participants ran around foot of Palatine hill nude
  • as runners raced, they whipped spectators with leather belts to grant good fertility to those struck
38
Q

when did the Saturnalia take place?

A

17th - 23rd December at longest - some emperors shortened it

39
Q

who did the Saturnalia honour

A

Saturn

40
Q

what did the Saturnalia celebrate?

A
  • end of winter sowing (Saturn was god of sowing the seed)
  • comes at Winter solstice and celebrates coming of new light, rebirth and the promise of a positive future
  • brings hope to return to a time Saturn ruled the earth (during the golden age)
41
Q

who could take part in the Saturnalia?

A

everyone - men, women, children and slaves

42
Q

what happened on day 1 of the Saturnalia?

A

sacrifice - all business is suspended and its declared a national holiday

43
Q

what is unusual in the sacrifice at the Saturnalia?

A

the priest has his head uncovered - unusual in Rome but common in Greece

44
Q

public feast in the Saturnalia:

A
  • state pays for it
  • takes place throughout streets of Rome
45
Q

private feasts in the Saturnalia:

A
  • festival promoted equality so masters and slaves were equal
    -> to show this masters remove their toga and they all wear party dress

classical civilisation (9 decks)

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