TESEE. - An Athenian festival celebrated on the 8th of the month Pyanopsion (= October 21) in honor of Theseus (to whom the 8th of every month was sacred) and which continued until the 11th day.

To this hero, celebrated in numerous exploits (the Minotaur, the Amazons, etc.) and certainly the dearest to the peoples of Attica, at least from the age of Pisistratus a sanctuary had been consecrated in Athens (Theseion) whose cult was entrusted to the clan of the Phytalidae. The T. were celebrated with particular magnificence beginning in 475 B.C., when the hero's bones were transported to Athens. On the 7th day a ram was sacrificed in honor of Theseus's mythical tutor, Connidas. On the 8th, after a solemn procession and a sacrifice, there took place a distribution of food to the poor (the ἀθαρῆ was consumed, a milk porridge), and on the same day the γοαί were offered, libations in honor of the dead. On the morning of the 9th great games began (consisting of 9 different contests) which ended on the 10th with a lampadodromia, a race of youths carrying torches. The festival closed on the 11th day with an equestrian contest.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: A. Mommsen, Feste der Stadt Athen im Altertum, Leipzig 1898, pp. 278-307; L. Deubner, Attische Feste, Berlin 1932, pp. 224-26.

Cesare D'Onofrio

@incollection{ec12_tesee, author = {D'Onofrio, Cesare}, title = {Tesee}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/tesee} }

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