PLUNTĒRIA (Πλυντήρια). - From πλύνω "I wash," a purification festival celebrated - probably on 25 Thargelion (May-June) - in honor of Athena as the second cleansing of the temple in Athens, after the first, which took place at the Kallynteria on the 19th of the same month.

There must have been a certain religious (purificatory) link between the two festivals, in that at the Kallynteria (festival of the sweeping) the temple of Athena Polias (the Erechtheion) was swept and cleaned, while at the P. the main ceremony consisted in the cleansing of the ancient wooden statue (ἔξανον) of the goddess; this image, wrapped in a veil, was carried from the temple to the seashore, near Phaleron, where two young girls (called πλυντρίδες "washers") had the task of washing it in the sea water. The image was brought back to the temple in the evening by the ephebes by torchlight. A sheep was sacrificed to the goddess as a rite of purification. During this festival the city suspended all business, since it considered itself deprived of the goddess's protection, and the days on which it lasted were considered ἀποφράδες, that is, ill-omened.

Bibliography

BIBL.: L. Deubner, Attische Feste, Berlin 1932, p. 17 ff.

Cesare D'Onofrio

@incollection{ec9_plinterie_plunteria, author = {D'Onofrio, Cesare}, title = {Plinterie (ΠΛΥΝΤΉΡΙΑ)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {1629}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/plinterie-plunteria} }

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Pluntēria (Πλυντήρια)

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