Why is Thargelia celebrated?

Why is Thargelia celebrated?

Thargelia, in Greek religion, one of the chief festivals of Apollo, celebrated on the sixth and seventh days of Thargelion (May–June). Purification took place on the first day of the festival, so that the town and townspeople could make a fresh start. …

Who celebrates Thesmophoria?

Thesmophoria, a women’s festival in honour of *Demeter, common to all Greeks, celebrated in the autumn (in Attica on 11-13th Pyanopsion for the most part), before the time of sowing.

What does the Greek word Pharmakos mean?

Definition of pharmakos : a person often already condemned to death sacrificed in ancient Greece as a means of purification or atonement for a city or community.

What calendar did ancient Greece use?

Olympiad Calendar
Olympiad Calendar. Ancient Athenians and other Greeks used the Olympiad Calendar only for historical purposes. The Olympiad Calendar did not calculate dates in the modern sense as it does not count days nor even months but only years.

What is the meaning of Thargelia?

Thargelia /θɑːrˈdʒiːliə/ (Ancient Greek: Θαργήλια) was one of the chief Athenian festivals in honour of the Delian Apollo and Artemis, held on their birthdays, the 6th and 7th of the month Thargelion (about May 24 and May 25).

What is the Thargelia Festival?

Essentially an agricultural festival, the Thargelia included a purifying and expiatory ceremony. While the people offered the first-fruits of the earth to the god in token of thankfulness, it was at the same time necessary to propitiate him, lest he might ruin the harvest by excessive heat, possibly accompanied by pestilence.

What did they do on the 7th of September in Athens?

The ceremony on the 7th was of a cheerful character. All kinds of first-fruits were carried in procession and offered to the god, and, as at the Pyanepsia (or Pyanopsia), branches of olive bound with wool, borne by children, were affixed by them to the doors of the houses.

Is Saturday the 7th day of the week?

We can look to the Jews, who have tracked and kept the seventh-day Sabbath for millennia, and be confident that our current Saturday is the seventh day of the week, on the same weekly cycle that has been in place since the beginning of creation—a cycle established and confirmed by God Himself.