Ascolia, inAncient Greece, was a yearlyfeast that the peasants ofAttica celebrated in honor ofDionysus. The rites included sacrificing a goat, chosen because goats were prone to eating and destroying grapevines, and using its skin to make a football, which was filled with wine and smeared in oil. Festival participants then competed against each other by trying to leap onto it in a game that gave the festival its name (askoliazein, ἀσκωλιάζειν); the one who remained standing at the end of the contest won the wineskin as a prize. Participants also painted their faces with wine dregs, sang hymns, and recited satirical poetry.
The Atticans also made icons of Dionysus to hang in their vineyards to turn in the wind, which were calledaiorai (αἰώραι).George Spence suggested that this was due to a popular belief that the god ensured fertility of any field he faced, whileVarro speculated that the icons were intended as an offering to the spirits of the dead who had committed suicide by hanging.[1]
The festival was eventually introduced into Italy asVinalia, and theaiorai became known asoscilla.
The chief magistrate, ordemarch, of ademe conducted the festival, while the deme paid for the expenses.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Ascolia".Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al..jpg) | Thisancient Greece–related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
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