ANTESTERIA ('Ανθεστῆρια). - Festivals common to all Ionian peoples; about the Attic ones we are, naturally, better informed. They lasted three days and took place on the 11th, 12th and 13th of the month Anthesterion (late February-early March).
The first day is called πιθαγία, and celebrated the opening of the "pithoi" of terracotta half-buried in the earth, in which the wine had completed its fermentation. Everyone took part in the merry festival of the tapping of the wine, with dances and songs, including slaves and children; nor was a practical side lacking, consisting of the sale of the new product. This part of the festival was essentially private, and undoubtedly dates back to the time when Athens was a purely agricultural center.
The second day was called χύες, that is, "jugs," and was a public festival. The most important cult act consisted of the sacred marriage of the basilissa, that is, of the wife of the archon-king (originally, of course, of the true queen) with Dionysus. Fourteen women, chosen from among the noblest and called γεραρχί, the venerable ones, accompanied the basilissa to the Βουκαλείον, originally the dwelling of the king, and shut her in there for a night together with the ancient wooden image of the god. This was the survival of an ancient magical rite, intended to ensure the fertility of the soil, in the imminent rebirth of nature. The procession started from the ancient temple of Dionysus in the marsh (Διόνυσος ἐν λίμναις), where the γεραρχί and the basilissa had performed various ceremonies at the "fourteen altars" of the sanctuary. It took on - through the crowd that accompanied the idol and the basilissa as they escort the spouses to their dwelling - all the characteristics of a carnival. Such were made of it by the presence of people ritually disguised, the use of jests and jokes between the people who followed the procession on carts and those who followed it on foot, and finally the particular - revealed to us by vase paintings - of transporting the image of the god on a ship, placed on a cart.
ANTESTERIA. - The basilissa proceeds to the marriage with Dionysus, which takes place on the second day of the A. - Vase painting (5th century B.C.)." fetchpriority="high" />But even in the private sphere the day of the χύες had great importance. Children who had reached the third year of age received small gifts: many tiny vases depict them while they play with the gifts received. To the ritual custom of the day of the χύες, that each should drink from his own jug, with a prohibition against letting others taste it, and to the fact that on that day all temples were closed, the ancients associated a myth: Orestes, still stained with the guilt of matricide, had arrived at Athens precisely on the day of the χύες, and to prevent the ritual impurity of the unexpected guest from hindering the continuation of the festival, recourse had been had to the institution of these two customs. But the true reason is to be sought in the twofold character of the A., which were sacred, besides to the forces of nature, to the spirits of the dead. On the day of the χύες it was in fact said that the spirits of the dead went wandering among the living.
Exclusively funerary was the third day, called χύτροι, that is, "pots," from the vessels in which seeds of every kind of legume were offered to Hermes of the underworld (Hermes Chthonios), which were not to be touched by anyone, evidently because they were destined for the dead. At the end of the A. the dead, who had by then been satisfied, were asked to depart with the formula: "Go away, O Spirits, the A. are over!"
From all the particulars of the festival it appears evident that it was a festival intended to close the year and inaugurate the new one, under the protection of a nature deity, mistress of life and death. The identification of this deity with Dionysus may be relatively recent, but the rites are very ancient and typical of the primitive mentality, as typically primitive is the myth of the death of Dionysus in this month; a myth later fallen into oblivion, but which harmonizes well with the rite and with the concept of the year that dies and is reborn.
Bibliography
Paolino Mingazzini