Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, Eiresione or Iresione (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Εἰρεσιώνη, from εἶρος - ''eiros'', "wool") was the personification of an object very important in many Greek rituals and ceremonies: a branch of olive or laurel, covered with wool, fruits, cakes and olive flasks, dedicated to

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

and carried about by singing boys during the festivals of Pyanopsia and

Thargelia Thargelia ( grc, Θαργήλια) was one of the chief Athenian festivals in honour of the Delian Apollo and Artemis, held on their birthdays, the 6th and 7th of the month Thargelion (about May 24 and May 25). Essentially an agricultural festiv ...

, and afterwards hung up at the house door. It could only be carried by children who had two living parents. The song they were singing during the ritual was also known as "eiresione": Greek: Eiresione signified the advent of wealth (Greek: πλοῦτος - ''ploutos'').Walter Burkert
''Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual''
University of California Press, 1982, p.134

References

*A Greek-English Lexicon compiled by H. G. Liddell and R. Scott. 10th edition with a revised supplement. – Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996; under εἰρεσιώνη. {{Greek mythology (deities), state=collapsed Personifications in Greek mythology Greek goddesses