The
festival of the Skira ( grc, Σκίρα) or Skirophoria ( grc, Σκιροφόρια) in the
calendar of ancient Athens, closely associated with the
Thesmophoria, marked the dissolution of the old year in May/June.
Description
At Athens, the last month of the year was ''
Skirophorion
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 beca ...
'', after the festival. Its most prominent feature was the procession that led out of
Athens to a place called
Skiron near
Eleusis
Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest ...
, in which the priestess of
Athena, the priest of
Poseidon, and in later times, the priest of
Helios
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...
, took part, under a
ceremonial canopy called the ''skiron'', which was held up by the ''Eteoboutadai''. Their joint temple on the
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
was the
Erechtheum, where Poseidon embodied as
Erechtheus remained a
numinous presence.
At Skiron there was a sanctuary dedicated to
Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
/
Kore and one to Athena.
As a festival of dissolution, the Skira was a festival proverbial for license, in which men played
dice
Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...
games, but a time also of daytime fasting, and of the inversion of the social order, for the bonds of marriage were suspended, as women banded together and left the quarters where they were ordinarily confined, to eat
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...
together "according to ancestral custom",
[''Inscriptiones Graeca'', noted by Burkert 1983: 145, note 41; see also Jane Ellen Harrison, ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'' (1903, 3rd ed. 1922:134f).] and to sacrifice and feast together, at the expense of the men. The Skira is the setting for
Aristophanes' comedy ''
Ecclesiazusae'' (393 BCE), in which the women seize the opportunity afforded by the festival, to hatch their plot to overthrow
male domination.
See also
*
Athenian festivals
Notes
{{Greek religion, state=collapsed
Festivals in ancient Athens
June observances
July observances
Festivals of Poseidon
Festivals of Athena
Festivals of Demeter
Helios