The Kronia () was an
Athenian festival
The festival calendar of Classical Athens involved the staging of many festivals each year. This includes festivals held in honor of Athena, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Persephone, Hermes, and Heracles. Other Athenian festivals were base ...
held in honor of Kronos (
Cronus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or ; ) was the leader and youngest of the Titans, the children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky). He overthrew his father and ruled dur ...
) 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 bec ...
, 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 encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...
, 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. Its Roman equivalent is ]Saturnalia
Saturnalia is an Roman festivals, ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the List of Roman deities, god Saturn (mythology), Saturn, held on 17 December in the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities until 19 December. By t ...
.[
]
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
Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...
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 wh ...
, 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 ( ) was a god in Religion in ancient Rome, 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 m ...
* Saturnalia
Saturnalia is an Roman festivals, ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the List of Roman deities, god Saturn (mythology), Saturn, held on 17 December in the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities until 19 December. By t ...
Footnotes
References
Festivals in ancient Athens
Cronus
July observances
August observances
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