Plynteria ( Gr. ) was a festival of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...

celebrated at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

every year, on the 22nd of Thargelion, in honor of

Athena Polias Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

, with the heroine Aglauros (or with the two combined as Athena Aglauros),

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

, '' Alcibiades'' 34 whose temple stood on the Acropolis. The festival's name came from ''plynein'' (), a Greek verb meaning "to wash".

states that the festival took place on the 25th, but probably only because it lasted for several days. The day of this festival was at Athens among the ''apophrades'' () or '' dies nefasti'', that is, impure days on which temples were closed and business was not done. During the festival the temple of Athena was surrounded by a rope to preclude all communication with it. Her statue was stripped of its garments and ornaments so that they might be ritually cleaned, and was in the meanwhile covered over to conceal it from the sight of man. The ''

genos In ancient Greece, a ''genos'' ( Greek: γένος, "race, stock, kin", plural γένη ''genē'') was a social group claiming common descent, referred to by a single name (see also Sanskrit " Gana"). Most ''gene'' were composed of noble families& ...

'' of women who performed this service were called ''praxiergidai'' (). The city was therefore, so to speak, on this day without its protecting divinity, and any undertaking commenced on it was believed to be necessarily unsuccessful. A procession was also held on the day of the Plynteria, in which a quantity of dried figs, called ''hegetoria'' (), was carried around.Photius, ''Lex.'' ''s.v.'' The Plynteria is thought to have originated in Ionia, where some communities had a month named ''Plynterion''.

References

{{SmithDGRA Festivals in ancient Athens Festivals of Athena May observances June observances

See also

References