Oscophoria. – An Athenian harvest festival sacred to Dionysus and Athena Skiras, celebrated on the 7th or 18th of the month Pyanepsion (October–November); elements of the saga of Theseus were connected with the O., for he is said to have instituted it on his return from Crete with the youths he had saved from the Minotaur (Plutarch, *Theseus*, 22 ff.).
The O. began with a solemn procession whose route ran “from the temple of Dionysus (in Athens) to the sanctuary of Athena Skiras” at Phalerum, and more precisely to the so-called Ochophorion (q.V. *ESCHIO*). This procession (which was led by two youths in women’s clothing) included: 22 young men chosen from the ten demes, who carried vine-shoots during the march (and were therefore called *σχωροφόροι*); a chorus of boys who sang the oscoforic hymns; and finally the *deipnophoroi* (*θεῖνουφόροι*), women who carried provisions for the youths, perhaps in memory of those once brought to the young companions of Theseus. On arrival at the Oschophorion a sacrifice was performed, and after a brief rest a race of twenty youths (in pairs) took place; the ten victors were awarded the so-called *πενταπλοία*, a drink composed of the five principal products of the year (wine, honey, cheese, flour and oil).
Cesare D’Onofrio