The gate of the year

The Panathenaia

Figure above: View of the Athens Acropolis.

The Panathenaia were the main religious festival of the city of Athens, celebrated in honor of Athena Polias, the goddess patron of the city. They were held in the month Hekatombaiòn, the first month of the Athenian calendar, corresponding to July-August, of primary importance in the economic year because it marked the closure of the productive cycle. The feast comprised torchlight processions, sportive games and ended with the sacrifice of more than one hundred sheep and cows (hecatomb). Every four years, were celebrated the Great Panathenaia, during which a great procession took place, which headed towards the Acropolis, bringing the new peplos (dress) which was designed to decorate the goddess’s statue. The peplos had been weaved and embroidered during the preceding four years by a group of girls (the Arrephoroi), who had spent their time as attendants at the temple of the goddess, and was brought on a chariot in the shape of a ship.
The feast celebrated the birth of Athena from the head of her father Zeus and the institution of social order established by the goddess who protected the city-state. The reference to a condition preceding the established order was indicated by the commemoration of the victory of the gods over the Giants, which was represented on the peplos offered to the goddess. The origins of the feast were attributed to Erichthonius, the half-man half-serpent being born out of the Earth, after she had been fertilized by the semen of Hephaestus, who had tried to have intercourse with Athena. The goddess entrusted, however, the baby to the three daughters of king Cecrops (the “One with a tail”, because of his serpent’s tail), concealed into a basket. Later on, Erichthonius became king of Athens and founder of the Athena temple on the Acropolis. During the procession of the Panathenaia, the episode of Erichthonius’s birth was recalled by the Kanephóroi, maidens of marriageable age who carried baskets on their heads. Aside from being a commemoration of the origins of the city and of its patroness, the feast was a New Year festival, celebrating the opening of a new seasonal cycle. A relay race of youths brought the new fire from the Prometheus altar (the hero who had given fire to humankind) to the altar of Athena Polias on the Acropolis (Köpping 2005). The theme of extinguishing the old fire and kindling a new one was a characteristic element of many New Year festivals.

[Source: http://www.palazzospinelli.com/plogger/?level=picture&id=6375]

Figures below:

The most well-known iconographic representation of the Panathenaia is found in the friezes of the Parthenon, which show some of the participants to the procession: a group of horsemen and the maidens carrying the offering of a new dress for the goddess.

1) Detail of the Parthenon frieze with the procession of the horsemen during the Panathenaia, dating to about 445-438 B.C., now in the British Museum, London.

[Source: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panatenee]

2) Detail of the Parthenon frieze with the representation of the maidens who offer the new peplo sto Athena, during the celebration of the Panathenaia. The object is in the Louvre Museum and dates back to about 445-438 B.C.

[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_Frieze]




Seasonal Cycles

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The Panathenaia Figure above: View of the Athens Acropolis. The Panathenaia were the main religious festival of the city of Athens, celebrated in honor of Athena Polias, the goddess patron of the city. They were held in the month Hekatombaiòn, the first month of the Athenian calendar, corresponding to July-August, of primary importance in the economic year because it marked the closure of the productive cycle. The feast comprised torchlight processions, sportive games and ended with the sacrifice of more than one hundred sheep and cows (hecatomb). Every four years, were celebrated the Great Panathenaia, during which a great procession took place, which headed towards the Acropolis, bringing the new peplos (dress) which was designed to decorate the goddess’s statue. The peplos had been weaved and embroidered during the preceding four years by a group of girls (the Arrephoroi), who had spent their time as attendants at the temple of the goddess, and was brought on a chariot in the shape of a ship. The feast celebrated the birth of Athena from the head of her father Zeus and the institution of social order established by the goddess who protected the city-state. The reference to a condition preceding the established order was indicated by the commemoration of the victory of the gods over the Giants, which was represented on the peplos offered to the goddess. The origins of the feast were attributed to Erichthonius, the half-man half-serpent being born out of the Earth, after she had been fertilized by the semen of Hephaestus, who had tried to have intercourse with Athena. The goddess entrusted, however, the baby to the three daughters of king Cecrops (the “One with a tail”, because of his serpent’s tail), concealed into a basket. Later on, Erichthonius became king of Athens and founder of the Athena temple on the Acropolis. During the procession of the Panathenaia, the episode of Erichthonius’s birth was recalled by the Kanephóroi, maidens of marriageable age who carried baskets on their heads. Aside from being a commemoration of the origins of the city and of its patroness, the feast was a New Year festival, celebrating the opening of a new seasonal cycle. A relay race of youths brought the new fire from the Prometheus altar (the hero who had given fire to humankind) to the altar of Athena Polias on the Acropolis (Köpping 2005). The theme of extinguishing the old fire and kindling a new one was a characteristic element of many New Year festivals. [Source: http://www.palazzospinelli.com/plogger/?level=picture&id=6375] Figures below: The most well-known iconographic representation of the Panathenaia is found in the friezes of the Parthenon, which show some of the participants to the procession: a group of horsemen and the maidens carrying the offering of a new dress for the goddess. 1) Detail of the Parthenon frieze with the procession of the horsemen during the Panathenaia, dating to about 445-438 B.C., now in the British Museum, London. [Source: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panatenee] 2) Detail of the Parthenon frieze with the representation of the maidens who offer the new peplo sto Athena, during the celebration of the Panathenaia. The object is in the Louvre Museum and dates back to about 445-438 B.C. [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_Frieze]