women and religion - The Great Panathenaia (ATH)

Question 1

what was the panathenaia

Answer 1

was held every year in July to honour the birthday of Athene and to celebrate the Gigantomachy

was the most important and biggest festival in the calendar

every 4 years there would be an even grander one called the GREAT panathenaia

Question 2

the great panathenaia

Answer 2

• it lasted 8 days
• competitions throughout allowed Athenians to demonstrate arete
• competition was a form of worship
• women weren’t allowed to compete but watch
• important opportunity for propaganda

Question 3

schedule of the great panathenaia

Answer 3

day 1 - poetry and music
day 2 - boys athletic comp
day 3 - mens athletic comp
day 4 - equestrian comp
day 5 - strength, sailing, dancing contests between different athenian tribes
day 6 - all night torch race, procession and sacrifice
day 7 - chariot and boat races
day 8 - prize giving

Question 4

the peplos

Answer 4

• this is a floor length dress
• Athena’s peplos was dyed purple (most expensive dye) and saffron (2nd expensive)
• it was embroidered with images of the gigantomachy
• each year for the panathenaia it was presented to the lifesize statue of Athena in the Erechtheion
• for the great panathenaia, there was a second peplos for the MASSIVE statue of Athens in the Parthenon

Question 5

who were the arrephoroi

Answer 5

they were young girls who set up the loom for the peplos and were selected to live at Acropolis that year
–> difficult task so it’s a right of passage

Question 6

who were the ergastenai

Answer 6

they were the few women that were experienced enough to make the peplos
–> very rare experience as it is only a few women (would be honoured by community)

Question 7

prescribed source:
The Parthenon Frieze

Answer 7

date: 443 - 438 BCE
sculptor: unknown (pheidias)
commissioned by: pericles (put forward the idea)
style: high relief sculpture, classical style
original location: the parthenon, the acropolis, athens

honours Athena Parthenos
–> Athena the virgin - symbolises defense of city/city walls will never be breached and Athena is impregnable

on the top of a hill (Acropolis) in the centre of the city, where the panathenaic procession would end

the frieze is a continuous line of sculptures that tells a story of the panathenaia