The Panathenaia

Question 1

Why were festivals important to the Greeks?

Answer 1

They didn’t have a weekend so they found their days of rest at various festivals.

Question 2

What happened during festivals?

Answer 2

Work ceased and the government met only in an emergency.

Question 3

What did the Panathenaia celebrate?

Answer 3

Athene’s birthday.

Question 4

When did the weaving of the peplos begin?

Answer 4

Nine months before the festival.

Question 5

Describe the peplos.

Answer 5

Always gold and purple in colour and into its fabric were woven scenes from they mythological victory of the Olympian gods over the Giants, which symbolised the triumph of order over chaos.

Question 6

What were the rhapsodic contests?

Answer 6

Competitors had to recount passages from the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Question 7

What were the main categories in the musical contests?

Answer 7

Singers to the kithara, soloists on the kithara, singers to the aulos, and soloists on the aulos.

Question 8

Where did people come from to compete in the sporting events?

Answer 8

All over Greece.

Question 9

What classes were competitors divided into?

Answer 9

Boys, beardless youths and men.

Question 10

What were the four running races?

Answer 10

Stadion, diaulos, dilochos and hoplitodromos.

Question 11

What was the stadion?

Answer 11

Sprint from one end of the stadium to the other.

Question 12

What was the diaulos?

Answer 12

Double the length of the stadion, racing from one end of the stadium to other and then back again.

Question 13

What was the dilochos?

Answer 13

Long distance race, likely to have been 20 or 24 lengths. Less spectacular to watch so was often the first track race.

Question 14

What was the hoplitodromos?

Answer 14

Race in armour. 25 runner raced the length of the diaulos with a helmet, greaves and round shield.

Question 15

What were the three horse/chariot events?

Answer 15

Tethrippon, keles and apobates.

Question 16

What was the tethrippon?

Answer 16

Four-horse chariot race over twelve circuits. Charioteers had to be resilient as there was no suspension.

Question 17

What was the keles?

Answer 17

Horses had to cover six stadia. Ancient jockeys neither had a saddle nor stirrups, although they were allowed to whip their horses.

Question 18

What was the apobates?

Answer 18

Chariot race which involved charioteers dismounting from their chariots during the race.

Question 19

Why the equestrian events particularly popular?

Answer 19

They had a high blood and guts factor. Races were held at great speeds and many accidents occurred as competitors rounded the turning posts. At this point they could be thrown over from their seats, crushed, or trampled underfoot by oncoming horses.

Question 20

What were the three combat events?

Answer 20

Wrestling, boxing, pankration.

Question 21

What was wrestling?

Answer 21

An athlete had to cause his opponent to fall three times. A fall was if an athlete’s back or shoulders touched the ground. Contestants were allowed to trip, but not bite, gouge or punch.

Question 22

What was boxing?

Answer 22

Victory was won when either an opponent was knocked out unconscious or when they conceded defeat by holding up a hand with an uplifted finger. Boxers were allowed to use the punch, he slap and the back of the hand.

Question 23

What did boxers wear on their knuckles?

Answer 23

Leather thongs called himantes.

Question 24

What was pankration?

Answer 24

Competitors fought with bare hands and the event was won when one competitor admitted he could no longer continue or was knocked out unconscious. The only two actions banned were biting and the gouging of the eyes.

Question 25

What tactics were used in pankration?

Answer 25

Finger breaking, kicking, strangle holds and throwing.

Question 26

What events were in the pentathlon?

Answer 26

Discus, long jump, javelin, stadion and wrestling.

Question 27

What was discus?

Answer 27

A stone or metal discus was thrown.

Question 28

What was long jump?

Answer 28

Jumpers carried metal weights called halteres, which helped the athlete jump further.

Question 29

What was javelin?

Answer 29

They were made of wood and had a leather thong wrapped around them allowing it to be thrown further and maintain a steadier flight.

Question 30

What were the prizes in the Panathenaia?

Answer 30

Amphoras of oil, each of which had a picture of Athene one side and the event they won on the other side.

Question 31

Why were the prizes so great at the Panathenaia?

Answer 31

Olive oil was a very valuable commodity in the ancient world.

Question 32

What were the four tribal contests?

Answer 32

Euandrion, pyrrhic dance, the torch race and the boat race.

Question 33

What was the euandrion?

Answer 33

The contest of manly excellence.

Question 34

What was the pyrrhic dance?

Answer 34

The war dance performed to the aulos.

Question 35

What was the torch race?

Answer 35

A 2 mile long relay, run by 4 members of each of the 10 tribes of Athens. The object was to win the race without causing the torch to go out. The fire of the winning torch was used to light the sacrificial fire on the great altar of Athene on the Acropolis.

Question 36

What was the boat race?

Answer 36

Great rowing regatta at Piraeus, the harbour of Athens.

Question 37

What was the main event of the festival?

Answer 37

The grand procession through the city of Athens towards the Acropolis.

Question 38

What happened at the end of the procession?

Answer 38

Athenians presented the statue of Athene on the Acropolis with a birthday present - a new robe, known as the peplos.

Question 39

When and were did the procession begin?

Answer 39

At dawn at the Dipylon gate.

Question 40

Who was included in the procession?

Answer 40

At least 100 sacrificial animals, young women, priestesses of Athene, metics, musicians, old men, soldiers and horsemen.

Question 41

What is the Parthenon frieze?

Answer 41

It was around the Parthenon and was believed to depict the procession at the Panathenaia. The frieze build up to a point where a young girl hands over the robe - the peplos - to a man, with the Olympian gods watching on.

Question 42

How was the festival political?

Answer 42

Offered opportunities for Athenians to show off their city to the rest of the Greek world. The events were Panhellenic so the other Greeks would have sure been impressed by the wealth, power and religion of the city. It was also a chance for them to display their democracy and its successes in action.