Ascolia, in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, was a yearly feast that the peasants of Attica celebrated in honor of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

. The rites included sacrificing a goat, chosen because goats were prone to eating and destroying grapevines, and using its skin to make a football, which was filled with wine and smeared in oil. Festival participants then competed against each other by trying to leap onto it in a game that gave the festival its name (''askoliazein'', ἀσκωλιάζειν); the one who remained standing at the end of the contest won the wineskin as a prize. Participants also painted their faces with wine dregs, sang hymns, and recited satirical poetry. The Atticans also made icons of Dionysus to hang in their vineyards to turn in the wind, which were called ''aiorai'' (αἰώραι). George Spence suggested that this was due to a popular belief that the god ensured fertility of any field he faced, while Varro speculated that the icons were intended as an offering to the spirits of the dead who had committed suicide by hanging. The festival was eventually introduced into Italy as Vinalia, and the ''aiorai'' became known as ''oscilla.'' The chief magistrate, or demarch, of a

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...

conducted the festival, while the deme paid for the expenses.

References

*
''Encyclopaedia Perthensis: Or, Universal Dictionary of the Arts, Sciences, Literature, &c.'', vol. 2
(1816).
Biblioteca Classica: Or, A Classical Dictionary. Anthon, Charles, ed. vol. 1.
(1831).
Popular English Specimens of the Greek Dramatic Poets.
Aeschylus. (1831). * Ancient Attica Festivals in ancient Athens Greek festivals of Dionysus {{Reli-festival-stub