Ancient Greek Festivals

            Most of the Greek festivals were based on a religious aspect, either worshiping a deity or celebrating a holy occasion.  Days when festivals were to take place became considered holy days, in which people would get a break from working and doing chores and just celebrate.  Almost all of the festivals were dedicated to at least one of the Greek gods, sometimes dedicated to multiple deities.  The Greek people would get very involved in their worship, willing to sacrifice all they had if they thought it would help better them in the eyes of the gods.  Anyone who worshiped the particular deity being honored would participate in celebrations events.  Some of the celebrations were exclusively for male or female deities, so only one of the genders would participate.  “Thesmophoria” is an example of a celebration for women only, while “The Greater Dionysia” was a festival primarily for men.

            The Greater Dionysia was a celebration strictly for men, in which they worshiped Dionysus, the god of wine.  This was the Greek men’s time to get away, in which they got to stop working, leave their families for a couple of days, and just have fun.  The men taking part in this celebration would start with a huge procession, that would than lead to drinking and feasting.  During this festival the men would also perform in plays, mostly dramas but occasionally comedies.  The plays performed at this festival are some of the oldest western plays known about today.  In the early years, the Greeks only performed dramas, but as time went on comedies became more popular among the people.  This festival introduced the idea of plays being a source of entertainment for the Ancient Greeks, rather than just an event for religious festivals.  There were other celebrations that both men and women participated in and at least one festival for only women.

            Thesmophoria is a festival celebrated throughout Greece, which honors the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone.  This festival was strictly for married Greek women, no men were allowed to take part in the celebrations or even watch them.  Men were expected to send their wives away, and pay for all the costs of the festival.  Women would leave their towns and travel to a more scarred place to camp for three nights.  They also fast for a day to honor Demeter, and to transfer their strength to the soil.  The final night the woman would quit fasting and celebrate, then return to their homes until the next year.  For the common woman in Greece this celebration was equivalent to the men’s celebration of The Greater Dionysia.  It was one of their only chances to get away from their household duties and from their families to have fun and celebrate for a few days.

            Besides being very religiously important, the festivals and celebrations of Ancient Greece were also fun filled days that had a lot of meaning to the people, and helped shaped their everyday lives.  To the Ancient people festivals were their holidays, celebrations, and weekends.  These festivals gave everyone a chance to have fun and take a break from daily activities.  When a festival approached citizens of Greek cities would prepare food, gifts, and outfits for the occasion.  The festivals were very symbolic to the Ancient Greeks, symbolizing events in their history or even their gods themselves.  All of the festivals helped shape Greece into the nation it is today, with many of these celebrations still celebrated today.

References

<http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Festivals.htm>

<http://www.polysyllabic.com/?q=calhistory/earlier/greek>

<http://www.fjkluth.com/festival.html>

<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/delphi/3310/festival.html>

<http://www.answers.com/library/Classical%20Literature%20Companion-cid-2222521>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Festivals_in_Ancient_Greece>