TESEE. - An Athenian festival celebrated on the 8th of the month of Pyanopsion (= 21 Oct.) in honor of Teseo (to whom the 8th of every month was sacred), and continuing until the 11th day.
To this hero, celebrated for numerous exploits (the Minotauro, the Amazzoni, etc.) and certainly the dearest to the people of Attica, at least from the age of Pisistrato a sanctuary had been dedicated at Athens (Theseion), whose cult was entrusted to the lineage of the Phytelidi. The T. were celebrated with particular magnificence from 475 B.C., when the hero’s bones were transported to Athens. On the 7th a ram was sacrificed in honor of Teseo’s mythical tutor, Konnidas. On the 8th, after a solemn procession and a sacrifice, food was distributed to the poor (the ἀθαρῆ, a milk porridge, was consumed), and on the same day the γοαί, libations in honor of the dead, were offered. 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 with an equestrian contest.
Cesare D'Onofrio