The Kronia ( grc, Κρόνια) was an
Athenian festival held in honor of Kronos (
Cronus
In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and ...
) on the 12th day of
Hekatombaion, the first month of the
Attic calendar
The Attic calendar or Athenian calendar is the lunisolar calendar beginning in midsummer with the lunar month of Hekatombaion, in use in ancient Attica, the ancestral territory of the Athenian polis. It is sometimes called the Greek calendar be ...
, and roughly equivalent to the latter part of July and first part of August.
The festival was also celebrated in parts of
Ionia
Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...
, and in these places the month was called ''Kronion'', named after the festival.
[ Scholars usually interpret it as a celebration of the mid-summer (first) harvest.][
]
Details from ancient sources
The Roman playwright Accius says that to celebrate the ''Kronia'', "In nearly all fields and towns they happily feast upon banquets, and everyone waits upon his own servants." Slaves and the free, rich and poor, all dined together and played games.
The freedom from work and social egalitarianism enjoyed on the day represented the conditions of the mythical Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...
, when Kronos (Cronus) still ruled the world.[ In the Golden Age, the earth had spontaneously supported human life, and since labor was unneeded, slavery had not existed. William Hansen describes the Golden Age of Kronos as "a period of thorough harmony in which hierarchical, exploitative, and predatory relationships were nonexistent."
The ''Kronia'' was a time for social restraints to be temporarily forgotten. Slaves were released from their duties, and participated in the festivities alongside the slave-owners. Slaves were "''permitted to run riot through the city, shouting and making a noise''."][ Other than the ''Kronia'', there is only limited evidence of religious devotion to Kronos (Cronus).][
]
See also
* Kronos (Cronus)
* Saturn (mythology)
Saturn ( la, Sāturnus ) was a god in ancient Roman religion, and a character in Roman mythology. He was described as a god of time, generation, dissolution, abundance, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. Saturn's mythological ...
* Saturnalia
Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple ...
Footnotes
References
Festivals in ancient Athens
Cronus
July observances
August observances
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