APATURIAE (ἀπατσύρια). — The etymology is certainly from the copulative à and πάτορες, that is, the festival of those who have common ancestors. It was in fact common to all the Ionian tribes, with the exception of Ephesus and Colophon. For Athens we are, naturally, better informed; nevertheless, it does not seem likely that there were any significant differences between the Attic a. and those outside Attica. The a. were essentially family festivals; but, given the constitution of the Greek states, they assumed an unusual importance from the socio-political point of view. They lasted three days: the first seems to have been called ἀνάρρυσις and was devoted to sacrifice, that is, to the slaughtering of the victims; the second, δόρτις, was devoted to the great collective banquet of all the members of the phratry who were present. During the third (κουρῶσις), fathers presented their own or adopted sons to the other members of the phratry, and husbands presented their new wives. Since the members of the phratry could object to the boy’s enrollment in the phratry, this amounted to denying him Athenian citizenship, with all the rights connected with it: hence the importance of the ceremony for the future of the prospective citizen.
The sons were presented to the phratry twice during their lives: the first time—and this was probably a purely religious ceremony—at the age of three or four, and the second time at puberty. The sacrifice offered on the occasion of the first presentation was called μεῖον, that is, lesser, and consisted of offerings of small animals, probably lambs. The sacrifice offered on the occasion of the second presentation was called κουρῶσιν for males, because it was connected with the ritual cutting of their hair, and γαμβλία for females, because only after this ceremony—which was necessary for the future bride to be regarded as possessing Attic citizenship, indispensable for the recognition of the citizenship of her future offspring—could they marry; it consisted of adult animals, as well as bread and wine. In Attica, the sacrifices were performed at the altar of Zeus Fratrius and Athena Fratria: the political character of the festival, superimposed upon its original gentilician character, is evident in the choice of these deities.
A long inscription of the Demotionids, discovered near ancient Deceleia, provides a wealth of detail concerning the celebration of the a.; other precious but fragmentary information is derived from passages by authors and, above all, from scholia.
The a. were celebrated at the beginning of winter, when all the members of the family, scattered in search of bread, gathered again around the hearth.