| Other
games:
Pythia
| Isthmia
| Nemea
| Panathenaea
| Heraea
| Asclepiea
Panathenaea
The
greatest festival of Athens took place every four years in
honor of Athena, the patron deity of Athens. According to
Athenian tradition, the games were organized for the first
time by Erichthonios or possibly by Theseus. It was Peisistratus,
however, who reorganized the games during the decade 570-560
BC. During the Archaic and Classical period the Panathenaic
games had an allure equal to that of the other famous Panhellenic
games (the Olympian, the Pythian, the Nemean and the Isthmian
Games). During the Hellenistic and Roman time the festival
was one of few instances in which Athenian presence became
obvious. It is estimated that the Panathenaea seized in the
early 5th century AD.
During
the Classical period, the festival took place in the second
half of August for eight days and consisted of athletic and
equestrian contests, music and rhapsody competitions, as well
as other sports and festivities. As opposed to the other Panhellenic
games, the Panathenaea were characterized as chrematites (monetary)
and not stefanites (wreath-bearing) because the athletes received
expensive prizes (e.g. olive oil in amphorae) and not plain
wreaths. |
