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The Thesmophoria (Ancient Greek: Θεσμοφόρια) was an ancient Greek religious festival, held in honor of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. It was held annually, mostly around the time that seeds were sown in late autumn – though in some places it was associated with the harvest instead – and celebrated human and agricultural fertility. The festival was one of the most widely celebrated in the Greek world. It was restricted to adult women, and the rites practiced during the festival were kept secret. The most extensive sources on the festival are a comment in a scholion on Lucian, explaining the festival, and Aristophanes' play Thesmophoriazusae, which parodies the festival.

Festival

The Thesmophoria was one of the most widespread ancient Greek festivals.^[1] The fact that it was celebrated across the Greek world suggests that it dates back to before the Greek settlement in Ionia in the eleventh century BCE.^[2] The best evidence for the Thesmophoria concern its practice in Athens, but there is also information from elsewhere in the Greek world, including Arcadia,^[3] Sicily and Eretria.^[4]

The festival was dedicated to Demeter and her daughter Persephone^[5] and was celebrated in order to promote fertility, both human and agricultural.^[1] It was celebrated only by women, and men were forbidden to see or hear about the rites.^[4] It is not certain whether all free women celebrated the Thesmophoria, or whether this was restricted to aristocratic women;^[6] whichever was the case, non-citizen and unmarried women appear not to have celebrated the festival.^[7] In fact, participation was expected of all Attic wives, and could serve as a form of proof of marriage.^[8]

In Athens, the Thesmophoria took place over three days, from the eleventh to the thirteenth of Pyanepsion.^[4] This corresponds to late October in the Gregorian calendar, and was the time of the Greek year when seeds were sown.^[9] The Thesmophoria may have taken place in this month in other cities,^[10] though in some places – for instance Delos and Thebes – the festival seems to have taken place in the summer, and been associated with the harvest, instead.^[9] In other places the festival lasted for longer – in Syracuse, Sicily, the Thesmophoria was a ten-day long event.^[10]

The main source about the rituals of the Thesmophoria comes from a scholion on Lucian's Dialogues of the Courtesans.^[11] A second major source is Aristophanes' play Thesmophoriazusae;^[12] however, Aristophanes' portrayal of the festival mixes authentically Thesmophoric elements with elements from other Greek religious practice, especially the worship of Dionysus.

Rituals

According to the scholiast on Lucian, during the Thesmophoria pigs were sacrificed, and their remains were put into pits called megara.^[12] An inscription from Delos shows that part of the cost of the Thesmophoria there went towards paying for a ritual butcher to perform the sacrifices for the festival;^[13] literary evidence suggests that in other places, however, the sacrifices may have been made by the women themselves.^[14] Some time later, the rotten remains of these sacrifices were retrieved from the pits by "bailers" – women who were required to spend three days in a state of ritual purity before descending into the megara. These were placed on altars to Persephone and Demeter, along with cakes baked in the shape of snakes and phalluses.^[15] These remains were then scattered on fields when seeds were sown, in the belief that this would ensure a good harvest.^[12] According to Walter Burkert, this practice was "the clearest example in Greek religion of agrarian magic".^[16]

It is not certain how long the remains of the pigs were left in the megara. The fact that they had decomposed by the time that they were retrieved shows that they had been left in the pits for some time. Possibly they were thrown in during one festival and retrieved the next year. However, if they were thrown in during the Thesmophoria and retrieved in time for the sowing of seeds that year, then they may have only been left for a few weeks before being taken out again.^[14]

Anodos

The first day of the Thesmophoria at Athens was known as anodos ("ascent"). This is usually thought to be because on this day the women celebrating the festival ascended to the shrine called the Thesmophorion.^[17] Preparations for the rest of the festival were made on this day: two women were elected to oversee the celebrations. Women also set up tents on this day; they would spend the rest of the festival staying in these rather than at home.^[11]

Matthew Dillon argues that the name anodos is more likely to relate to the ascent of Persephone from the underworld, which was celebrated at the festival. Dillon suggests that a sacrifice to celebrate this ascent was performed on the first day of the festival.^[17]

Nesteia

The second day of the festival was called the nesteia. This was a day of fasting,^[17] imitating Demeter's mourning for the loss of her daughter.^[11] On this day, the women at the festival sat on the ground on seats made of plants which were believed to be anaphrodisiac.^[17] Angeliki Tzanetou says that ritual obscenity (Ancient Greek: αἰσχρολογία) was a feature of the second day of the festival;^[11] however, Dillon says that the ritual obscenity would have taken place on another day, rather than the subdued second day,^[12] and Radek Chlup argues that it took place on the third day of the festival.^[18]

Kalligeneia

The third day of the Thesmophoria was kalligeneia, or "beautiful birth". On this day, women called upon the goddess Kalligeneia, praying for their own fertility. Plutarch notes that in Eretria the women did not call upon Kalligeneia during the Thesmophoria.^[17]

References

^ ^a ^b Habash 1997, p. 20.
^ Chlup 2007, p. 74.
^ Herodotus, 2.171
^ ^a ^b ^c Dillon 2002, p. 110.
^ Habash 1997, p. 19.
^ Dillon 2002, p. 118.
^ Dillon 2002, p. 112.
^ Pritchard, David M. (October 2014). "The Position of Attic Women in Democratic Athens". Greece and Rome. 61 (2): 190. doi:10.1017/S0017383514000072. ISSN 0017-3835. S2CID 74391789.
^ ^a ^b Tzanetou 2002, p. 331.
^ ^a ^b Dillon 2002, p. 111.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Tzanetou 2002, p. 333.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dillon 2002, p. 114.
^ Dillon 2002, p. 116.
^ ^a ^b Dillon 2002, p. 115.
^ Tzanetou 2002, pp. 333–334.
^ Burkert 1985, p. 244.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Dillon 2002, p. 113.
^ Chlup 2007, p. 87.

Works cited

Burkert, Walter (1985). Greek Religion. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-36280-2.
Chlup, Radek (2007). "The Semantics of Fertility: Levels of Meaning in the Thesmophoria" (PDF). Kernos. 20.
Dillon, Matthew (2002). Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415202728.
Habash, Martha (1997). "The Odd Thesmophoria of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 38 (1).
Herodotus, Histories, Book 2.
Tzanetou, Angeliki (2002). "Something to do with Demeter: Ritual and Performance in Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria". American Journal of Philology. 123 (3): 329–367. doi:10.1353/ajp.2002.0045. S2CID 162596042.
Pritchard, David M. “The Position of Attic Women in Democratic Athens.” Greece and Rome, vol. 61, no. 2, 2014, pp. 174–193., doi:10.1017/S0017383514000072.

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+{{Short description|Festival in honour of Demeter / Persephone}}
 {{Ancient Greek religion}}
+The '''Thesmophoria''' ({{langx|grc|[[wikt:Θεσμοφόρια#Ancient Greek|Θεσμοφόρια]]}}) was an ancient Greek religious festival, held in honor of the goddess [[Demeter]] and her daughter [[Persephone]].  It was held annually, mostly around the time that seeds were sown in late autumn – though in some places it was associated with the harvest instead – and celebrated human and agricultural fertility.  The festival was one of the most widely celebrated in the Greek world.  It was restricted to adult women, and the rites practiced during the festival were kept secret.  The most extensive sources on the festival are a comment in a [[scholia|scholion]] on [[Lucian]], explaining the festival, and [[Aristophanes]]' play ''[[Thesmophoriazusae]]'', which parodies the festival.
-'''Thesmophoria''' was a [[Athenian festivals|festival]] held in [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] cities, in honor of the goddesses [[Demeter]] and her daughter iphone. The name derives from ''thesmoi'', or laws by which men must work the land.<ref>For a fuller  discussion of the name considering multiple interpretations, cf. A.B. Stallsmith's article "Interpreting the Thesmophoria" in ''Classical Bulletin''.</ref> 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.<ref>"Pig bones, votive pigs, and terracottas, which show a [[Religious vows|votary]] or the goddess herself holding the piglet in her arms, are the archaeological signs of Demeter sanctuaries everywhere."(Burkert p 242).</ref>
 ==Festival==
+[[File:'Thesmophoria' by Francis Davis Millet, 1894-1897.jpg|alt=Semi-circular painting showing a procession of women, dressed in white robes.  A Greek temple is partially visible in the background.|thumb|Painting of the Thesmophoric procession by the American artist [[Francis Davis Millet]].]]
+The Thesmophoria was one of the most widespread ancient Greek festivals.{{sfn|Habash|1997|p=20}} The fact that it was celebrated across the Greek world suggests that it dates back to before the Greek settlement in [[Ionia]] in the eleventh century BCE.{{sfn|Chlup|2007|p=74}}  The best evidence for the Thesmophoria concern its practice in [[Athens]], but there is also information from elsewhere in the Greek world, including [[Arcadia (regional unit)|Arcadia]],<ref>Herodotus, 2.171</ref> [[Sicily]] and [[Eretria]].{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=110}}
+The festival was dedicated to Demeter and her daughter Persephone{{sfn|Habash|1997|p=19}} and was celebrated in order to promote fertility, both human and agricultural.{{sfn|Habash|1997|p=20}} It was celebrated only by women, and men were forbidden to see or hear about the rites.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=110}} It is not certain whether all free women celebrated the Thesmophoria, or whether this was restricted to aristocratic women;{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=118}} whichever was the case, non-citizen and unmarried women appear not to have celebrated the festival.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=112}} In fact, participation was expected of all [[Attica|Attic]] wives, and could serve as a form of proof of marriage.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pritchard|first=David M.|title=The Position of Attic Women in Democratic Athens|date=October 2014|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0017383514000072/type/journal_article|journal=Greece and Rome|language=en|volume=61|issue=2|pages=190|doi=10.1017/S0017383514000072|s2cid=74391789|issn=0017-3835|doi-access=free}}</ref>
-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]]''.<ref>Another archaic festival celebrated under temporary shelter is the Hebrew [[Sukkot|Succoth]].</ref> Only women who were the spouses of Athenian citizens could attend the festival; no unmarried women were present,<ref>The position of slave women is unclear, according to Burkert.</ref> 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".<ref>Kerenyi, note 141, p. 212 , instancing [[Plutarch]] ''De Iside et Osiride'' 378.</ref>
+In Athens, the Thesmophoria took place over three days, from the eleventh to the thirteenth of [[Pyanepsion]].{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=110}} This corresponds to late October in the [[Gregorian calendar]], and was the time of the Greek year when seeds were sown.{{sfn|Tzanetou|2002|p=331}} The Thesmophoria may have taken place in this month in other cities,{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=111}} though in some places – for instance [[Delos]] and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] – the festival seems to have taken place in the summer, and been associated with the harvest, instead.{{sfn|Tzanetou|2002|p=331}}  In other places the festival lasted for longer – in [[Syracuse, Sicily]], the Thesmophoria was a ten-day long event.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=111}}
-At Athens and some other places the festival was of three days, from the 11th to the 13th of [[Pyanepsion]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Hammond, N.G.L|author2=Scullard, H.H.|title=Oxford Classical Dictionary|date=1970|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=1062|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]] (v.4.7) reports that the Thesmophoria at [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]] lasted ten days. At [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]] or [[Delos]] the festival occurred two months earlier, so any seed-sowing connection was not intrinsic.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Clement of Alexandria]] (''Protrepicus'' ii.19.3) parses this as because the pomegranate grew from spilt drops of [[Adonis]]' blood, a useful reminder that his interpretations of pagan cult were often (intentionally?) wide of the mark. Kerenyi, (1967 p 138) calls it a "strange interpretation".</ref> 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 [[Eubuleus|Euboulos]], that were swallowed up in the cleft in the ground when [[Hades]] abducted the [[Persephone|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).
+The main source about the rituals of the Thesmophoria comes from a scholion on [[Lucian]]'s ''Dialogues of the Courtesans''.{{sfn|Tzanetou|2002|p=333}} A second major source is [[Aristophanes]]' play ''[[Thesmophoriazusae]]'';{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=114}} however, Aristophanes' portrayal of the festival mixes authentically Thesmophoric elements with elements from other Greek religious practice, especially the worship of [[Dionysus]].
-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 rite]]s (''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".
 ==Rituals==
+[[File:Persephone krater Antikensammlung Berlin 1984.40.jpg|alt=Detail of a Greek red-figure vase.  There are two rows of figures.  On the top row, two men stand to the left; in the centre two leopards pull a chariot which an armoured man in climbing on to; on the right stands a woman, arm outstretched.  On the bottom row, four horses pull a chariot carrying a man and a woman in the centre; a female figure stands to the left, and a male figure stands to the right.|thumb|The Thesmophoria commemorated the kidnap of Persephone by Hades, and her return to her mother Demeter.  Hades and Persephone ride the chariot on the lower part of this [[krater|vase]] which depicts the myth; Demeter is shown on the top right corner.]]
+According to the scholiast on Lucian, during the Thesmophoria pigs were [[Animal sacrifice|sacrificed]], and their remains were put into pits called ''megara''.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=114}}  An inscription from Delos shows that part of the cost of the Thesmophoria there went towards paying for a ritual butcher to perform the sacrifices for the festival;{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=116}} literary evidence suggests that in other places, however, the sacrifices may have been made by the women themselves.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=115}}  Some time later, the rotten remains of these sacrifices were retrieved from the pits by "bailers" – women who were required to spend three days in a state of ritual purity before descending into the ''megara''.  These were placed on altars to Persephone and Demeter, along with cakes baked in the shape of snakes and phalluses.{{sfn|Tzanetou|2002|pp=333–334}}  These remains were then scattered on fields when seeds were sown, in the belief that this would ensure a good harvest.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=114}} According to [[Walter Burkert]], this practice was "the clearest example in [[Religion in ancient Greece|Greek religion]] of agrarian magic".{{sfn|Burkert|1985|p=244}}
+It is not certain how long the remains of the pigs were left in the ''megara''.  The fact that they had decomposed by the time that they were retrieved shows that they had been left in the pits for some time.  Possibly they were thrown in during one festival and retrieved the next year.  However, if they were thrown in during the Thesmophoria and retrieved in time for the sowing of seeds that year, then they may have only been left for a few weeks before being taken out again.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=115}}
-The ceremony involved sinking sacrifices into the earth by night and retrieving the decaying remains of pigs that had been placed the previous year in the ''megara'' of Demeter, trenches and pits or natural clefts in rock (compare ''[[megaron]]''). As [[Serpent (symbolism)|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 fetid remains of the pigs from the previous year were mixed with seeds and planted (Scholiast on Lucian): this is, Burkert observes, "the clearest example in [[Religion in ancient Greece|Greek religion]] of agrarian magic,"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burkert|first1=Walter|title=Greek Religion|date=1985|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-36280-2|page=244}}</ref>
-==In drama==
+===Anodos===
+The first day of the Thesmophoria at Athens was known as ''anodos'' ("ascent").  This is usually thought to be because on this day the women celebrating the festival ascended to the shrine called the Thesmophorion.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=113}}  Preparations for the rest of the festival were made on this day: two women were elected to oversee the celebrations.  Women also set up tents on this day; they would spend the rest of the festival staying in these rather than at home.{{sfn|Tzanetou|2002|p=333}}
+Matthew Dillon argues that the name ''anodos'' is more likely to relate to the ascent of Persephone from the underworld, which was celebrated at the festival.  Dillon suggests that a sacrifice to celebrate this ascent was performed on the first day of the festival.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=113}}
-The playwright and poet [[Aristophanes]] parodied this festival in the play, ''[[Thesmophoriazusae]]'', but he did not give much detail about the festival itself.
-==Notes==
+===Nesteia===
+The second day of the festival was called the ''nesteia''.  This was a day of fasting,{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=113}} imitating Demeter's mourning for the loss of her daughter.{{sfn|Tzanetou|2002|p=333}}  On this day, the women at the festival sat on the ground on seats made of plants which were believed to be [[anaphrodisiac]].{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=113}}  Angeliki Tzanetou says that ritual obscenity ({{langx|grc|αἰσχρολογία}}) was a feature of the second day of the festival;{{sfn|Tzanetou|2002|p=333}} however, Dillon says that the ritual obscenity would have taken place on another day, rather than the subdued second day,{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=114}} and Radek Chlup argues that it took place on the third day of the festival.{{sfn|Chlup|2007|p=87}}
-<references/>
+===Kalligeneia===
+The third day of the Thesmophoria was ''kalligeneia'', or "beautiful birth".  On this day, women called upon the goddess Kalligeneia, praying for their own fertility.  Plutarch notes that in Eretria the women did not call upon Kalligeneia during the Thesmophoria.{{sfn|Dillon|2002|p=113}}
+== See also ==
+* [[Consualia]]
+* [[Sukkot]]
 ==References==
+{{reflist|18em}}
-*[[Jane Ellen Harrison|Harrison, Jane Ellen]], 1903. ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion''.
-*[[Walter Burkert|Burkert, Walter]], 1985. ''Greek Religion'',  V.2.5 pp 242–46. "Thesmophoria"
+==Works cited==
-*[[Karl Kerenyi|Kerenyi, Karl]], 1967. ''Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter''.
+* {{cite book|last1=Burkert|first1=Walter|author-link=Walter Burkert|title=Greek Religion|date=1985|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-36280-2}}
+* {{cite journal|last=Chlup|first=Radek|title=The Semantics of Fertility: Levels of Meaning in the Thesmophoria|journal=Kernos|year=2007|volume=20|url=http://ufar.ff.cuni.cz/sites/default/files/u15/chlup_-_the_semantics_of_fertility.pdf}}
+* {{cite book|last=Dillon|first=Matthew|title=Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion|publisher=Routledge|location=London|year=2002|isbn=0415202728}}
+* {{cite journal|last=Habash|first=Martha|title=The Odd Thesmophoria of Aristophanes' ''Thesmophoriazusae''|journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies|volume=38|issue=1|year=1997}}
+* Herodotus, ''Histories'', Book 2.
+* {{cite journal|last=Tzanetou|first=Angeliki|title=Something to do with Demeter: Ritual and Performance in Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria|journal=American Journal of Philology|volume=123|issue=3|year=2002|pages=329–367|doi=10.1353/ajp.2002.0045|s2cid=162596042}}
+*Pritchard, David M. “The Position of Attic Women in Democratic Athens.” ''Greece and Rome'', vol. 61, no. 2, 2014, pp.&nbsp;174–193., {{doi|10.1017/S0017383514000072}}.
+==Further reading==
+* {{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Jane Ellen|author-link=Jane Ellen Harrison|year=1903|title=Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion|publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/prolegomenatostu00harruoft}}
+* {{cite book|last=Kerenyi|first=Karl|author-link=Károly Kerényi|year=1967|title=Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter}}
+* Håland, Evy Johanne (2017). ''Greek Festivals, Modern and Ancient: A Comparison of Female and Male Values'', 2 vols. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (or. Norwegian 2007, translated by the author).
-[[Category:Ancient Greek religion]]
+[[Category:Festivals in ancient Greece]]
-[[Category:Festivals in Ancient Greece]]
 [[Category:Festivals in ancient Athens]]
 [[Category:Festivals of Demeter]]
+[[Category:Festivals of Persephone]]
+[[Category:October observances]]
+[[Category:November observances]]
+[[Category:Women-only spaces]]