OSCOFORIE. - Athenian vintage festival, sacred to Dioniso and Atena Skiras, celebrated on the 7th or 18th of the month of Pyanepsion (Oct.-Nov.); elements of the saga of Teseo were connected with the O., which he was said to have instituted upon his return from Crete with the youths saved from the Minotauro (Plutarco, Theseus, 22 ff.).
The O. began with a solemn procession, whose route was “from the temple of Dioniso (in Athens) to the sanctuary of Atena Skiras” at Falero, specifically to the so-called Oschophorion (v. ESICHIO). The participants in this procession (which was led by two youths dressed in women’s garments) were: 22 youths, chosen from the ten demes, who carried vine branches along the route (and were therefore called δαγορός); a chorus of boys, who sang the oschophoric hymns; and finally the deipnophore (δεικνυφορίαι), women who carried provisions for the boys, perhaps in memory of those once brought to the young companions of Teseo. Upon reaching the Oschophorion, a sacrifice was celebrated and, after a brief rest, the race of the 20 youths took place (two by two); the ten winners drank as their prize the so-called πεντακλός, a beverage composed of the five principal products of the year (wine, honey, cheese, flour, and oil).
Cesare D'Onofrio