Dionysia

The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honour of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies and comedies. It was the second-most important festival after the Panathenaia. The Dionysia was actually comprised of two related festivals, the Rural Dionysia and the City Dionysia, which took place in different parts of the year. They were also an essential part of the Dionysian Mysteries.

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The Dionysia was originally a rural festival in Attica (Dionysia ta kat' agrous), probably celebrating the cultivation of vines. It was probably a very ancient festival perhaps not originally associated with Dionysus. This "rural Dionysia" was held during the winter in the month of Poseideon (roughly corresponding to December). The central event was the pompe, the procession, in which phalloi were carried by phallophoroi. Also participating in the pompe were kanephoroi (young girls carrying baskets), obeliaphoroi (who carried long loaves of bread), skaphephoroi (who carried other offerings), hydriaphoroi (who carried jars of water), and askophoroi (who carried jars of wine).

Athens: Athens (Greek: ?????, Ath?na; IPA ) is the capital of Greece, and of the Attica prefecture of Greece. Modern Athens is a large and cosmopolitan city; Ancient Athens was a powerful city-state and renowned center of learning. It is named after its patron goddess, Athena. Athens is located at 38? North...

Dionysus: :The god Dionysus is occasionally confused with one of several historical figures named Dionysius, a theophoric name that simply means " of Dionysus."...

Tragedies: Redirect tragedy...