This whole Apokries celebration period in Greece is a Christianized remnant of an ancient Dionysiac celebration called Anthestiria/Ανθεστήρια.
This was celebrated during the month of Anthestiria, which in our current calendar falls in the early days of March. The holiday went on for three day and it simultaneously celebrated the rebirth of nature in the name of Dionysus, but also honored the souls passed in the name of the psychopomp Chthonic Hermes. According to the ancients, the souls of the dead needed to be at peace so they can seed the earth’s fertility and allow the living to celebrate.
RECALLING SPRING
The name Anthestiria comes from the verbs «αναθέω» and «αναθεύσασθαι», which loosely translate to “I am returning-recalling”.
The ancient celebration’s goal was to “recall spring”, to awaken nature after its winter hibernation. Similarly to Easter, the rites practiced hold an amalgamation of feelings - the excess joy and frenetic partying for the return of spring (life) and the sadness, mourning, and honoring for the souls passed. The ancients believed that when nature is in hibernation it is the death of the divine and the blooming of spring brings the return of life. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is where figures such as the Maenads or the Bacchae show up in history. They were mostly women who in honor of Dionysus/Bacchus would get drunk on wine (made from his blessed fruit) and dress up in animal skins and ivy, running around in ecstasy and joy, completely giving themselves over to the trance. The whole city would break out into a giant party drunk on wine, but all with the spiritual aspect of living life to the fullest, honoring the god-granted life that so many souls no longer have, and jumping on the earth to awaken it for spring.
DAY ONE & TWO
The first day was named Pithigia/Πιθοίγια, because that was the day they unsealed the piths holding the newest wine. They would offer it firstly to Dionysus, at his temple in Athens. That temple would operate only during Anthestiria. The first two days were a mandatory holiday for everyone in Athens, even the servants, and every household would host a symposium (essentially a two-day dinner party).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The second day was named Choes/Χοές. They believed that the gates of Hades opened up and the dead rose to the Upper Realm (the one we’re on), and then return on the third day during Chitrous/Χύτρους. During this “dead among the living” hang, the living made offerings to the dead and fed them a mix of grain and legumes, similar to kollyva, a mix we use to this day as an offering during a memorial service.
During Choes, each Athenian used their own personal, small wine vessel, named chous/χους (plural: choes). That’s how the second day got its name. From these choes is how we have a lot of information about not only Anthestiria but also children’s daily life in Athens. At the family symposium, the youngest members of the family who had turned 3 years old were invited to participate in their first Anthestiria and they had their own personal chous gifted to them.
These often depict children in various daily activities since they were commonly a child's gift. If a child perished before reaching 3, they would often be buried with their unused chou/χου.
MAY WE REMEMBER OUR RITES
The symposium of Choes would take place on a more somber note. Of course there was wine and flower wreaths but there was no music and the dinner was held quietly.
At the end of the second night, all Athenians would parade down to the temple of Dionysus to offer their flower crowns and their choes to the god. These were received by the 15 priestesses running the temple for the three days.
The third day of Anthestiria was called Chitri/Χύτροι, which means cauldron or pot. The name comes from the clay cauldrons where the kolyva or panspermia were cooked as an offering for the souls of the dead. The day was dedicated to Chthonic Hermes also known as psychopomp Hermes, as we would guide the dead to the Underworld. He was the only Olympian who could transverse all the realms due to his role as messenger and with the support of his winged sandals. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This dedication of kolyva to the kindly dead was in order to gain their blessing for prosperity. Similar to ancestral work, they believed that feeding their dead would bring joy to them and will be taken care of in exchange. Kolyva is a wheat, berry, nut and seed mix and has been around in similar form as an offering to the dead for 4,000 years(!) of Greek history. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Each family would bring the kolyva to the tomb of their “unforgotten ones” who had travelled to Hades’ shores. It needed to be consumed on the same day it was made so they would also offer it to passersby, similar to offerings and sharing thereof during the Day of the Dead in Mesoamerican traditions. Any leftovers were offered to the land and its creatures.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
At the end of the third day, folks would banish the Keres, deities of death, and any wandering Underworld spirits by calling out the phrase “Keres out the door, Anthestiria is over!”. This signaled the end of the Dionysian mystery and the return to daily life. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Anthestiria was revived in the 60s-70s for a while and mostly during the dictatorship in Greece but didn’t last long. It has been replaced by Apokries or Carnaval and though the messaging may be slightly lost, the life-affirming celebratory vibe is still strong. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
May we remember our rites and may we honor the dead in all our life-affirming actions.
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