Panathenaia

Probably not much persons know this ancient event, but a time this was one of the main celebrations in all the ancient world. So we want to remenber what was the Panathénaia.

This festivity was dedicated to Athena in the date of her birth, the 28 of Hekatombaiòn, the first month of the athenians calendar, corrisponding between july and august.

During the Panathénaia there were gymnastic and horse racing games, poetic and music contests, and in the night of the 27 there was a night party with a race with the torches. They were also declaimed all the epic works of Homer, the epic creator of the Odyssey and Iliad.

There were some games open to all the Greeks, indipendentement of their status. This games were the same of the olympic games, and of this the most important was the chariot race. This was partecipated only by the free citizens. Moreover there was a procession that brought the precious peplum with images of Gigantomachia, weaved by nobles athenians, to the Acropolis in the front of the great Athena's altar, where only the athenians citizens entered.

The tradition says that this festivity was organizated by Teseo to celebrate the Sinecism, the unification of differents indipendent political entities in a bigger organization, like the domain of the Attic by the city-state of the ancient Athens. Frigia sculpted the Parthenon's frieze with some images about this procession in the outer walls.

For sure would be nice have a time's machine to see this human river cover Athens, and discover some amazing lost tradition, but for now... we can only imagine and remember.

Happy Panathénaia to all