The Thesmophoria |
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 The most widely practiced rites throughout the various Greek city-states was the festival known as the Thesmophoria. These rites, considered to be among the most ancient practiced in Greece, were conducted only by women and honored Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and her daughter Persephone/Kore. The Thesmophoria was traditionally celebrated as a three-day and three-night festival and consisted of three distinct parts: the Anodos, the opening day procession up to the Thesmophorion building during which the participants bring the sacrifices and other cult implements up to the hill of the Pnyx; the Nesteia, the ritual fasting which comprised the second day of the ritual; and the sacrifice and feasting that dominated the third and final day. Throughout the festival, the women reenact aspects of the myth of Demeter as she searched for her abducted daughter, ranging from ritualized mouring to celebration as the reunion of the goddess and her daughter revive the fertility of the earth.
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© 2001 Andrea Koinski and Barbara Olsen. All rights reserved. |
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