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ThePanathenaea (orPanathenaia) was a multi-day ancient Greek festival held annually inAthens that would always conclude on 28Hekatombaion, the first month of theAttic calendar.[1] The main purpose of the festival was forAthenians and non-Athenians to celebrate the goddessAthena.[2] Every four years, the festival was celebrated in a larger manner over a longer time period with increased festivities and was known as theGreat(orGreater)Panathenaea.[1] In the years that the festival occurred that were not considered the Great Panathenaea, the festival was known as theLesser Panathenaea.[3] The festival consisted of various competitions and ceremonies, culminating with a religious procession that ended in theAcropolis of Athens.[4]
The inaugural celebration of the Great Panathenaea occurred in 566 BCE and possibly continued until around 410 CE.[5] Edicts issued byTheodosius I in 391 CE banned sacrifices and closed the temples inAthens, making it very unlikely the festival continued until 410 CE despite some archeological evidence that indicates it may have.[6] There is some uncertainty surrounding the creation of the festival butPeisistratos is commonly credited with the solidification of the festival in 566 BCE, organizing it and turning it into a significantAthenian celebration.[7]
There are multiple mentions of the founding of the Panathenaea inGreek mythology that most notably include the stories ofTheseus andErectheus (also referred to asErichthonius in mythological texts). TheIliad holds the earliest mention of the festival and attributes its creation toErechtheus.[7] The son ofGaia andHephaestus,Erechtheus created the festival and dedicated it toAthena after becoming the king ofAthens.[8] InPlutarch'sLife of Theseus, Theseus unifies multipleAttic communities into one state, giving it the name ofAthens and creating a feast known as Panathenaea or "the sacrifice of all the united Athenians".[9]
Athenians would begin the festival with a banquet during the first night in theAgora where meat would be cut up to be distributed using a ceremonialkopis.[10] There was also a major banquet on the second day and a smaller banquet-style meal after the procession on the last day of the festival where people would eat bread alongside parts of the animals that were sacrificed toAthena.[11]
The most significant aspect of the festival was the procession to theAcropolis on the last day of the festival (28Hekatombaion), whereAthenians would make sacrifices to the goddessAthena. Such as a Hekatomb (sacrifice of 100 oxen or cows)[12] The night before this procession, the younger population ofAthens would have a vigil known as apannychis where the people would dance on the Acropolis. During this vigil, the people of Athens would sing apaean for Athena, a song of praise that typically would not be sung at celebrations for Athena but at celebrations for the godApollo instead.[13]
During the Lesser Panathenaea young girls known asarrephoroi would carry a specially wovenpeplos robe to place on the woodencult image of Athena located in theErechtheum, a temple on the north side of the Acropolis that was dedicated to Athena.[13][14] In line with the occurrence of the Great Panthenaea every four years a larger peplos tapestry would be woven to be put on the statue of Athena in theParthenon, a temple in the centre of the Acropolis.[13][14]
Athenians would begin their procession in theKerameikos neighbourhood and would continue south until they reached the Acropolis.[15] The procession consisted of over 1,000 people from a wide range of backgrounds but was led by the high priestess and the treasurers of the temple followed by the arrephoros carrying the peplos robe.[16] This lead group would be followed by other priests (hieropoios), priestesses (athlothetai), and unmarried young women (kanephoros), magistrates, soldiers, athletes, representatives from other states, musicians, and herdsmen among others.[16] The procession would conclude with more than one hundred cows and sheep being sacrificed on thealtar of Athena in the Acropolis in a religious ceremony known as ahecatomb.[13][16] Non-Athenians also participated in the procession, with femalemetics carryinghydria I and male metics carrying bread used for the meal after the festival or other non-animal offerings on ornate trays known as skaphai.[13]
During the festival many competitions were held including a chariot race, astadion, and various other athletic events.[4][17] There would also be singing and poetry competitions, where participants would perform selections fromHomer'sIliad andOdyssey.[18]
After the conclusion of the competitions at the festival, prizes were awarded to the victors. The reward that is most synonymous with the festival was thePanathenaic prize amphora with images on the sides that would remain similar year to year.[19] These prize amphoras were filled with valuable high-class sacredolive oil and the victors would also sometimes receive monetary prizes in the form ofGreek drachma instead of amphoras.[20] The victors’ names were carved into stone victor lists, which were displayed in various parts ofAthens.[21] They were placed primarily near churches or religious shrines, with the most notable of these places being theAcropolis.[21]
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The prize amphoras were the major reward victors received during the festival. People inancient Greece associated olive oil withAthena because of the mythological story of her gifting the firstMoria to Athens, using the tree to claim the city over the godPoseidon.[22] Olive oil and the prize amphoras were associated with power, wealth, and prosperity due to this association with Athena.[22] The standardized versions of these amphoras would typically depict an image of Athena with roosters standing on two columns on each side of the goddess.[17] On the other side of the amphora, there would typically be images related to the event or competition that the amphora was won for.[17] These images were believed to be included in an attempt to show the rest of the world that Athens was the self-proclaimed head of ancient Greek civilization.[23] An armed Athena was meant to indicate that the goddess was the protector of Athens.[24] The roosters supported this image as the people of Athens saw the birds as having a "fighting spirit" with the columns being used to emphasize the rooster's presence.[24]
TheParthenon Frieze is a marble sculpture in theParthenon in theAcropolis of Athens that has a portion that is interpreted to be depicting people ofAthens participating in the religious procession that takes place during the Panathenaea.[25] There are images of the high priestess, priests, a young girl meant to resemble anarrephoros, and people herding animals to be sacrificed to the gods.[26]
The Panathenaea ended around the conclusion of the 4th century CE, but it still holds some relevance in the present day.[5] ThePanathenaic Stadium was initially a small racetrack with seating on a hill overlooking the track used for the athletic competitions until it was upgraded in the 4th century BCE by thelogographerLykourgos.[27] He upgraded the track to a small stadium with stone seating, remaining untilHerodes Atticus upgraded the stadium again in the middle of the 2nd century CE.[27] He made the stadium much larger and used marble instead of stone.[28] The stadium was abandoned afterTheodosius I banned the festival and was not used again until theZappas Olympics in the late 19th century CE.[6][29] Before the inaugural1896 Summer Olympics the stadium was completely renovated, going on to host both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as a number of the competitions.[30] The stadium has hosted many athletic events since then, most notably the archery competition and marathon finish for the2004 Summer Olympics.[31] One side of the Olympic medals from the 2004 Summer Olympics also depicts an image of the Panathenaic Stadium. It is important to note that themodern Olympic Games are more directly inspired by theancient Olympic Games than thePanathenaic Games.
