Religion and Belief: Festivals project- Write about each of the festivals mentioned, explaining in detail the reasons for the festivals.

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Religion and Belief

Festivals project- Write about each of the festivals mentioned, explaining in detail the reasons for the festivals.

The Athenians of the 5th century bc regularly took part in religious festivals. They had these for a number of reasons

  • To honour the gods
  • To relax
  • To feast
  • To enjoy themselves
  • To experience a sense of community
  • To enjoy drama and athletics
  • To give all classes the chance to participate
  • To recognise various stages in life and to show other states their wealth and power.

The Skira

This festival was held to honour Demeter at the threshing time and was restricted to women. Women threw into holes in the ground various offerings, especially piglets, which were symbols and sacred to Demeter. They also threw in snakes and male genital organs made from dough. (This had no correlation with the actual ploughing of the peasants.

The Thesmorphia

This was also exclusively for women at the sowing time; usually 3 months after the Skira. This time the women “Bakers” retrieved the decayed remains of the Skira and placed them on altars. In order that the women remained pure for 3 days before the festival, they ate garlic to discourage their husbands’ advances. The “remains” were supposed to promote fertility in the fields as well as the women. Only rich men might be involved as they had to pay for the festival.(They basically had this festival because they believed that it promoted fertility in women and in the field).

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The Haloa

Held at Eleusis. This was a women’s festival to Demeter, Persephone and Dionysus which took place in mid-winter at the time of the pruning of the vines and wine tasting. Magistrates prepared a feast for the women before leaving them to the festivities which included eating phallus-shaped pastries and drinking to much wine. The result seems to have been obscene language, strange behaviour (women carried around models of male and female genitalia) and promiscuity.  The reasons for this festival seem to be basically for women to feast and enjoy themselves.

Rural Dionysia/The city Dionysia

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