GENESIE (Tḗ yuésux). — A funerary commemoration observed in Athens on the anniversary of a deceased person’s birth (not death), especially that of the head of the family (Herodotus, IV, 26; Isaeus, II, 46).
As a public festival, it took place on the 5th of Boedromion (September–October) in memory of the dead of various families. The ritual, like that of the private *génesie*, consisted of offerings at the tombs—ribbons, garlands, and funeral foods. A sacrifice was also made to Earth, the mother who receives the dead (Hesychius, *Lexicon*, s.v.). Similar commemorations under the name *Tḗ yuésux* (from *yuésux* “dead”) were held in other cities of the Argolid and Boeotia.
It is not proven that the *Nerémesie* (*Tḗ yuésux*) should be identified with the *génesie*, since the former were rather intended to appease the vengeance (*yuésuxi*) of the dead, angered by the living’s neglect. The great festival of all the city’s dead in Athens fell on the third day of the *Antesterie* (v.).