The Panathenaia was the most important festival celebrated in ancient Athens. It was the state festival honoring the city's patron diety, Athena. The Panathenaia, literally meaning "the Rites of all Athenians", was celebrated annually. Every four years, though, it was celebrated on a much greater scale. This was called the "Greater Panathenaia." It took place from the 23rd to the 30th of the Hekatombaion, the fiirst month of the Athenian calendar year, approximately our month of July. The main day of the festival was the 28th, for this was thought to be Athena's birthday. The festival attracted people from far and wide. It provided them with occasions for honoring the Gods with sacrifices and gifts, as well as being a time of relaxation, feasting, games, and prizes. Events A schedule of events can be diagramed as follows: DAY ONE: MUSICAL AND RHAPSODIC CONTESTS Adult Kitharodes: singing and accompanying oneself on the kithara (seven-stringed instrument) Adult Aulodes: singing to the flute Adult and Boy Kitharist: kithara playing Adult and Boy Auletes: solo flute playing DAY TWO: ATHLETIC CONTESTS FOR BOYS AND YOUTHS DAY THREE: ATHLETIC CONTESTS FOR MEN The Panathenaic athletic contests had over 20 events, with three age classes, and team and individual competitions. The following briefly describes each event: Footrace: The footraces were held on the straight track of the Athenian Agora. Each race had ten competitors and was distinguished by distance: stadion: 200 yards diaulos: 2 lengths dolichos: 20 or 24 lengths Pentathalon: The Pentathalon consisted of five events: The Jump: took place in a large sand pit using jumping weights called halteres to improve distan... ... middle of paper ... ...ere were many other prizes given at the Panathenaia. Gold crowns worth several hundred drachmas were often presented for first place. For those competitors who did not achieve first place, there were often monetary awards of a few hundred drachmas. Many special equestrian events had prizes of money, along with bulls, oxen, and free meals. BIBLIOGRAPHY "Athletics: Track, Field, Wrestling, and Boxing." The Internet. http://www.museum.upenn.edu/greek/Religion_athletics.html "Panathenaic Exhibit." The Internet. http://www.devlab.cs.dartmouth.edu/olympics/Panathenaia/index.html "Panathenean Games." The Internet. http://www.orama.com/athens1896/pictures/docs/athgames.html Neils, Jenifer. Goddess and Polis. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992. Neils, Jenifer (ed.) Worshipping Athena. Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.
The cult of Artemis Orthia was the most prominent cult in Sparta, and a sanctuary had been created near the Eurotas River, outside the center of Sparta. The festival of Artemis Orthia consisted of young boys trying to steal cheese from the altar, defended by the elders of Sparta. The ritual is said to be a test of courage, and according to Pausanias, the goddess was not satisfied until her altar was soaked with blood of the cheese thieves. The festival also included colossal celebrations, lead figurines, terracotta masks, lyres, and bone flutes have been found in proof of
Athletics were an expression of the philosophical, religious and civic values that were at the very heart of Greek culture. In the world of the ancient Greeks, well-educated individuals were expected to be balanced mentally, spiritually, and physically (http://www.mediaconcero.com/olympic/olympia/ideal_o.php, September 27, 2004). It was felt that athletics aided in the creation of such an individual. Athletic events during this period were not simply displays of physical prowess, but an integration of the facets of Greek culture.
The Coliseum is really cool place to look at. The Coliseum was finished around 80 A.D.; it took 10 whole years to build it. It is made of marble and limestone. Within the Coliseum they had seat around the edging of the building. It could seat about 45,000 – 50,000 people in it. People would gather to the coliseum to watch Gladiators swing swords to kill each other to death. They also came to watch warriors kill animals in the arena, and to watch animals attack each other. Along with all of the fighting, people were able to receive free food at the coliseum. Get free food and get free fights to watch. It would be a great place to have fun. But all of this is the origin of Panem et Circenses Latin for “Bread and Circuses.”
“In one dangerous race, he fell out of his chariot, but the Hellenic Judges in charge of the games nevertheless granted him the wreath of victory: he rewarded these traditionally unpaid officials with one million
Track and field-style events are among the oldest of all sporting competitions, as running, jumping and throwing are natural and universal forms of human physical expression. The first recorded examples of organized track and field events at a sports festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, and only one event was contested which was the stadion footrace. We have track athletes to distinguish who is the best athlete for the event in which they are competing in and the athletes can be distinguished from high school, college, and even countries. All tracks athletes come in different shape and sizes, but one thing they
precautions taken before each race. The horses and the drivers were both checked to ensure
The Circus Maximus was a large place in Greece. The Circus Maximus was a horse chariot race running around a track. Almost like our NASCAR races today, these races where the biggest attraction in the day of the Greece. The citizens were greatly involved in the racing of the Circus Maximus.("Circus Maximus princeton.edu") Because so many people were involved with these races, they had to find a way to seat all of these people. ("Circus Maximus aviewoncities.com”) This was the first time they invented stadiums. There were also other events held in the Circus Maximus. These events were held for a long time and were eventually ended around 549 BC. The Circus Maximus reflected the values of ancient Rome for entertainment and competition in ancient Roman culture.
Everywhere in Greece, the festivals were regarded as public acts of worship, but only in Athens did these crude beginnings develop into tragedy. The tragic performances of ancient Athens presented a magnificent spectacle. All citizens could attend freely, for the festivals were still regarded as public acts of worship. Everybody could easily respond to the rhythms of dance...
to become the patron god of Athens. Their contest took place on the Acropolis. which is a
As history tells us, in the Roman days, the competitors had to be in superb shape in order to compete in the activities and sports of that time. What about Hercules and the characters of the Roman time period. Chariot races could be considered the beginning of auto racing or even motocross. The chariot rider ...
There were two main festivals that celebrated Apollo’s victory over the Python. Those were the festival Septri and Pythia, which was celebrated every four years. There is also a celebration for Apollo called Thargetia, which is celebrated for the coming of spring yearly. Also, the Romans built their first temple in honor of
The Athenians held assemblies also known as Ekklesia. This was where the central events of Athenian de...
The Pentathlon was the name for the five events in Greek gymnastics: running, jumping, wrestling, discus throwing, and javelin throwing which began with the 18th Olympiad. In the wrestling event, wrestlers were anointed with oil, dusted with powder, and forbidden to bite or gouge one another. Wrestling was looked upon as a weapon-free military exercise. Since there was no weapons wrestlers that competed used their weight and strength as an advantage especially since there were no weight categories. The Javelin was thrown in the same form back in ancient times as it is thrown today. The first recorded Olympic Games had one event, a race, called the stade which is a measure of the distance of the length of the track. By 724 B.C. a two-length race was added and by 700 B.C. there were longer distance races. By 720 B.C., men participated naked, except in the foot race in armor that weighed between fifty to sixty pounds. The outfit included a helmet, greaves, and a shield that helped young men build speed and stamina in preparation for war. The Pentathlon included three running events such as the Stade, the Diaulos, and the Dolichos. The Stade was a 200 yard foot race, was the first and only Olympic event for 13 Games. The dolichos was a variable length foot race averaging twenty stades or four thousand yards for the fifteenth Olympiad. The Diaulos was a four hundred yard foot race that was instituted for the next Olympic Games. The discus was considered by ancient Greeks, an event of rhythm, precision, and finesse of a competitor to throw the discus was as important as his strength. The discus was made of stone, iron, bronze, or lead, and was shaped like a flying saucer. The Sizes were different for the boys' division, since the boys were not expected to throw the same weighted discus as the men. The athletes who competed in the jump event used lead or stone jump weights called halteres shaped like telephone receivers to increase ...
Ancient Olympics The ancient Olympics had some differences from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete, instead of athletes from any country. Women where not allowed to even watch the games on penalty of death let alone play in them.. Also, the games were always held at Olympia in Greece instead of being moved around to different sites every time. But also they had some similarities to our modern Olympics, winning athletes were heroes who put their home towns on the map, and became financially sound for life. The conflict between the Olympic's ideals of sportsmanship and unity and the commercialism and political acts which accompany the Games where also present in ancient times. "Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans."
Every country in the world has its own festival and celebration. People all around the world love joining together and sharing good time through the festivals and celebrations. Festivals are great way to experience local culture. Sometime they even offer a glimpse into past. There are hundreds of festivals across the world. So are you ready to experience of fun and colorful festivals? Below are some of festivals from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.