The Bendidia was an ancient Athenian festival celebrating the

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

goddess

Bendis Bendis () was a Thracian goddess associated with hunting and the moon. Worship of the goddess seems to have been introduced into Attica around 430 BC. In Athens, Bendis was identified with the goddess Artemis, but she had a separate temple at ...

. It was celebrated on the 19th day of the month of Thargelion (late May, in the Gregorian calendar), and was introduced in 429 BC. The festival took place in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

. It was rare for ancient Athens to permit foreign residents of the city to worship their own gods; the cult of Bendis and the Bendidia is one of a few exceptions, driven by the strategic importance of Thrace to Athens at the beginning of the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

. The Bendidia began with a procession to the sanctuary of Bendis. Worshippers coming from Athens processed from the Prytaneion, while the Thracian worshippers of Bendis in the Piraeus organised a separate procession, possibly organised so that it would join up with the Athenian contingent before they arrived at the sanctuary. The procession from Athens – six miles from the sanctuary – was provided with sponges and basins in which to wash, and garlands; the celebrants then ate lunch in the precinct of the sanctuary. After dark, there was a horseback relay race, with the riders passing torches between them. The horseback race was a Thracian feature of the festival, as such races at Athenian festivals were usually performed on foot, and Thracians were famous for their equestrianism, though it is unknown if similar races were also held in Thrace itself. The horse race was followed by an all-night celebration, though the precise details of the remainder of the festival are unknown. It is known that at least one sow was sacrificed.

References

{{reflist Festivals in ancient Athens Greek mythology May observances June observances