Thesmophoria
Encyclopedia
Thesmophoria was a festival
held in Greek
cities, in honor of the goddesses Demeter
and her daughter Persephone
. The name derives from thesmoi, or laws by which men must work the land. The Thesmophoria were the most widespread festivals and the main expression of the cult of Demeter, aside from the Eleusinian Mysteries
. The Thesmophoria commemorated the third of the year when Demeter abstained from her role of goddess of the harvest and growth; spending the harsh summer months of Greece, when vegetation dies and lacks rain, in mourning for her daughter who was in the realm of the Underworld
. Their distinctive feature
was the sacrifice of pigs.
This feast was for women to celebrate their private customs, their chance to leave the home and set up makeshift shelters somewhat apart from the centers of the deme
. Only women who were the spouses of Athenian citizens could attend the festival; no unmarried women were present, and no men, who were expected to send their wives and to meet the festival's costs, but who might be severely treated if they attempted to spy on the proceedings. The ceremony was supposed to promote fertility, but the women prepared for it with sexual abstinence
. Bathing was also used for purification.
The word is applied as an epithet to Demeter in this context: Demeter Thesmophoros; a relief at Eleusis illustrated in Kerenyi (fig 7) shows the goddess sitting on the ground as she receives her votaries. "In this situation she can be called Demeter Thesmophoros, for the Athenian women imitated her when they sat on the ground and fasted at the Thesmophoria".
At Athens and some other places the festival was of three days, from the 11th to the 13th of Pyanepsion. The first day at Athens was the anodos, the "way up" to the sacred space, the Thesmophorion near the hill of the Pnyx
. The second day was a grieving day of fasting (nesteia) without garlands, seated on the ground, without fire in some cities, in which pomegranate
seeds only were eaten; those that fell on the ground were the food of the dead and might not be picked up. Insults (aischrologia) might also have been exchanged among the women, as among the celebrants of the Eleusinian Mysteries
. The third day, especially the evening and night that began the Greek day, was a meat feast in celebration of the Kalligeneia, a "goddess of beautiful birth" who appears in no other contexts and has no counterpart among the Olympian gods, further emphasizing the archaic, pre-Olympian nature of this festival that reinforced female solidarity. The absence of elements of the Thesmophoria in myths is notable: the pigs of the swineherd Euboulos
, that were swallowed up in the cleft in the ground when Hades
abducted the Kore
, are an attempt to provide an etiology
for the ancient rites; in some places, Zeus penetrates the Thesmophoria, as Zeus Eubouleus (Burkert p 243).
Not much else is known about the Thesmophoria, as only women were allowed to attend, and it was rare that women wrote down anything at this time, short of letters. The "mysteries" or initiation rites (teletai) surrounding restrictive religious ceremonies were jealously guarded by those who performed them. The chief source is a scholiast on Lucian
(Dialogue Meretricii 2.1), explaining the term "Thesmophoria".
The ceremony involved sinking sacrifices into the earth by night and retrieving the decaying remains of pigs that had been placed in the megara
of Demeter, trenches and pits or natural clefts in rock, the previous year. As snakes
were known to congregate in such pits, the scholiast on Lucian explains, those who didn't go to retrieve the remains shouted to scare away any that might be lurking down there. After prayers the foetid remains of the pigs from the previous year were mixed with seeds and planted (Scholiast on Lucian): ""the clearest example in Greek religion
of agrarian magic," Burkert observes (1985 p 244).
The playwright and poet Aristophanes
parodied this festival in the play, Thesmophoriazusae
, but he was unable to give much detail about the festival itself.
Athenian festivals
The festival calendar of city-state of classical Athens involved the staging of a large number of festivals each year. These Athenian festivals included:-Athena:...
held in Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
cities, in honor of the goddesses Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
and her daughter Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
. The name derives from thesmoi, or laws by which men must work the land. The Thesmophoria were the most widespread festivals and the main expression of the cult of Demeter, aside from the Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance...
. The Thesmophoria commemorated the third of the year when Demeter abstained from her role of goddess of the harvest and growth; spending the harsh summer months of Greece, when vegetation dies and lacks rain, in mourning for her daughter who was in the realm of the Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
. Their distinctive feature
Distinctive feature
In linguistics, a distinctive feature is the most basic unit of phonological structure that may be analyzed in phonological theory.Distinctive features are grouped into categories according to the natural classes of segments they describe: major class features, laryngeal features, manner features,...
was the sacrifice of pigs.
This feast was for women to celebrate their private customs, their chance to leave the home and set up makeshift shelters somewhat apart from the centers of the deme
Deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or demos was a subdivision of Attica, the region of Greece surrounding Athens. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in...
. Only women who were the spouses of Athenian citizens could attend the festival; no unmarried women were present, and no men, who were expected to send their wives and to meet the festival's costs, but who might be severely treated if they attempted to spy on the proceedings. The ceremony was supposed to promote fertility, but the women prepared for it with sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical or religious reasons.Common reasons for practicing sexual abstinence include:*poor health - medical celibacy...
. Bathing was also used for purification.
The word is applied as an epithet to Demeter in this context: Demeter Thesmophoros; a relief at Eleusis illustrated in Kerenyi (fig 7) shows the goddess sitting on the ground as she receives her votaries. "In this situation she can be called Demeter Thesmophoros, for the Athenian women imitated her when they sat on the ground and fasted at the Thesmophoria".
At Athens and some other places the festival was of three days, from the 11th to the 13th of Pyanepsion. The first day at Athens was the anodos, the "way up" to the sacred space, the Thesmophorion near the hill of the Pnyx
Pnyx
The Pnyx is a hill in central Athens, the capital of Greece. It is located less than west of the Acropolis and 1.6 km south-west of the centre of modern Athens, Syntagma Square.-The site:...
. The second day was a grieving day of fasting (nesteia) without garlands, seated on the ground, without fire in some cities, in which pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
seeds only were eaten; those that fell on the ground were the food of the dead and might not be picked up. Insults (aischrologia) might also have been exchanged among the women, as among the celebrants of the Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance...
. The third day, especially the evening and night that began the Greek day, was a meat feast in celebration of the Kalligeneia, a "goddess of beautiful birth" who appears in no other contexts and has no counterpart among the Olympian gods, further emphasizing the archaic, pre-Olympian nature of this festival that reinforced female solidarity. The absence of elements of the Thesmophoria in myths is notable: the pigs of the swineherd Euboulos
Eubuleus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Eubuleus is a god known primarily from devotional inscriptions for mystery religions. The name appears several times in the corpus of the so-called Orphic gold tablets spelled variously, with forms including Euboulos, Eubouleos and Eubolos...
, that were swallowed up in the cleft in the ground when Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
abducted the Kore
Kore
Kore is an energy drink distributed by GNC in 250 mL cans.-Ingredients:Water, Sugar, Dextrose, Citric Acid, Taurine, Sodium Citrate, Glucuronolactone, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caffeine, Sodium Benzoate, Inositol, Caramel Color, Potassium Sorbate, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine...
, are an attempt to provide an etiology
Etiology
Etiology is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek , aitiologia, "giving a reason for" ....
for the ancient rites; in some places, Zeus penetrates the Thesmophoria, as Zeus Eubouleus (Burkert p 243).
Not much else is known about the Thesmophoria, as only women were allowed to attend, and it was rare that women wrote down anything at this time, short of letters. The "mysteries" or initiation rites (teletai) surrounding restrictive religious ceremonies were jealously guarded by those who performed them. The chief source is a scholiast on Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
(Dialogue Meretricii 2.1), explaining the term "Thesmophoria".
The ceremony involved sinking sacrifices into the earth by night and retrieving the decaying remains of pigs that had been placed in the megara
Megara
Megara is an ancient city in Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens. Megara was one of the four districts of Attica, embodied in the four mythic sons of King...
of Demeter, trenches and pits or natural clefts in rock, the previous year. As snakes
Serpent (symbolism)
Serpent in Latin means: Rory Collins :&, in turn, from the Biblical Hebrew word of: "saraf" with root letters of: which refers to something burning-as, the pain of poisonous snake's bite was likened to internal burning.This word is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context,...
were known to congregate in such pits, the scholiast on Lucian explains, those who didn't go to retrieve the remains shouted to scare away any that might be lurking down there. After prayers the foetid remains of the pigs from the previous year were mixed with seeds and planted (Scholiast on Lucian): ""the clearest example in Greek religion
Greek religion
Greek religion can refer to several things, including*Ancient Greek religion**Greek hero cult**Eleusinian Mysteries**Hellenistic religion**Platonic idealism*Greek Orthodox Church*Religion in Greece*Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism...
of agrarian magic," Burkert observes (1985 p 244).
The playwright and poet Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
parodied this festival in the play, Thesmophoriazusae
Thesmophoriazusae
Thesmophoriazusae is one of eleven surviving plays by the master of Old Comedy, the Athenian playwright Aristophanes. It was first produced in 411 BC, probably at the City Dionysia...
, but he was unable to give much detail about the festival itself.