Panathenaic Games
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The Panathenaic Games (
History
The Panathenaic festival was formed in order to honor the goddess Athena who had become the patron of Athens after having a competition with the god Poseidon where they were to win the favor of the Athenian people by offering the people gifts. The festival would also bring unity among the people of Athens.[3]
The attempted assassination of the tyrants Hippias and Hipparchus during the Panathenaea in 514 BC by Harmodius and Aristogeiton was often regarded as the birth of Athenian democracy.
Events
The competitions for which the festival came to be known were part of the Great Panathenaia, a much larger religious occasion. These ritual observances consisted of numerous sacrifices to Athena (the namesake of the event and patron deity to the hosts of the event) as well as Poseidon and others. The Lesser Panathenaia, a sister-event to the Great Panathenaia, was held every year with 3 to 4 days shorter in celebration. The competitions were the most prestigious games for the citizens of Athens, but not as important as the Olympic Games or the other Panhellenic Games.
The Panathenaea also included poetic and musical competitions. Prizes were awarded for
The Panathenaic Stadium
The athletic events were staged at the
Contests
The Panathenaic Games held contests in a number of musical, athletic, and equestrian events. Due to the fact that there were so many contests held, the games usually lasted a little over a week. On a fourth century marble block, experts explain that on the block is written a program for the games, as well as individual events and their prizes. The inscription also says that there are two age categories for the music events but three age categories for the athletic events. According to scholars, the age groups are boys: 12–16; beardless youths: 16–20; men: over 20.[6] One thing that was different about these games than normal funeral games is that prizes were given to runners-up, not just the lone victor.
Using the inscription, experts put together a general program like so: Day 1: Musical and Rhapsodic Contest; Day 2: Athletic Contest for Boys and Youths; Day 3: Athletic Contest for Men; Day 4: Equestrian Contest; Day 5: Tribal Contest; Day 6: Torch Race and Sacrifice; Day 7: Boat Race; Day 8: Awarding of Prizes, Feasting and Celebrations.[6] Experts reasonably came up with how the games went based on the order of prizes which were written on the marble block. Wrestling and discus were also included in the contest.
The musical events which took place were Kithara players, Flute players, and singers. The athletic events were the stadion, pentathlon, wrestling, boxing, and pankration. The equestrian events were two-horse chariot race, horse race, and javelin throw on horseback. Based on the inscription, we learn that the prizes given to the men and the youth were different. Men were rewarded a certain amount of drachmas and/or a valuable crown worth a certain amount of drachmas. Boys and youths were given a certain number of amphorae of olive oil.[6]
Ceremony
The Panathenaic games were a chrematitic ('monetary') event were the winner would take home prizes with a monetary value, as opposed to stephanitic ('crowned') games like the Olympics which awarded the winner with only a crown. Award ceremonies included the giving of
In mythology
In the myth of the
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-4051-1129-4, p. 23
- ISBN 0-520-20868-4, p. 39.
- S2CID 192242243.
- ^ The Modern Olympics, A Struggle for Revival by David C. Young, p. 42
- ^ The Modern Olympics, A Struggle for Revival by David C. Young, Chapters 4 & 13
- ^ a b c Neils, Jennifer (1992). Goddess and Polis: The Panathenanic Festival In Ancient Athens. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- ISBN 978-3-031-26356-9.
- ^ "Prizes of Panathenaea Festival". www.athens-greece.us. Retrieved 2021-10-31.
Further reading
- Roisman, Joseph, and translated by J.C Yardley, Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2011, ISBN 1-4051-2776-7
- Young, David C., A Brief History of the Olympic Games, Wiley-Blackwell, 2004, ISBN 978-1-4051-1129-4
External links
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 672–673.