View source for Pyanopsia

'''Pyanopsia''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|aɪ|ə|ˈ|n|ɒ|p|ʃ|ə|,_|-|ˈ|n|ɒ|p|s|i|ə}} (''Πυανόψια'') or '''Pyanepsia''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|aɪ|ə|ˈ|n|ɛ|p|ʃ|ə|,_|-|ˈ|n|ɛ|p|s|i|ə}} (''Πυανέψια'') was an ancient [[Athenian festivals|Athenian festival]] held in honor of [[Apollo]] in [[Athens]] on the 7th day of the month [[Pyanepsion]] (October/November). Its name literally means "bean-stewing", in reference to one of the sacred offerings given during this time, and is taken from the Greek words ''πύανος - pyanos'' "bean" and ''ἕψειν - hepsein'' "to boil".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=675}}

== Mythical context ==
The Pyanopsia is linked to [[Theseus]], the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. In specific, the festival is linked to one of the [[Theseus#The Six Labours|Six Labours]] of Theseus, which was to kill the [[Minotaur]] on the Greek island of Crete. Before facing the Minotaur Theseus promised a thank offering to Apollo in rewards for favoring him during his quest. As a result of Apollo's divine favor, it is said that Theseus established the Pyanopsia, a tradition which was later continued by his hero-cult.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scherf |first1=Johannes |title=Pyanopsia |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/pyanopsia-e1014920 |website=Brill's New Pauly |date=October 2006 |access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> The offerings given during the festival also relate to this founding myth, as Theseus' promised thanks came in the form of the ''[[eiresione]]'' (εἰρεσιώνη). The bean stew is related to the meal prepared by Theseus' crew following their landing back in Attica.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=675}} 

Theseus' status in the cultic calendar of Athens, as represented by festivals such as the Pyanepsion, is unique given the fact that Theseus is inherently an outsider to the Athenians, being born in Megara.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garland |first1=Robert |title=Whose "Life" Is It Anyway? |journal=Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics |date=Fall 1997 |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=207}}</ref> Theseus, despite his status as a foreign entity in an intensely nationalistic city-state (he would later be named an honorary citizen in the 5th century BCE), became representative of many essential Athenian traits.<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last1=Garland |first1=Robert |title=Whose "Life" Is It Anyway? |journal=Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics |date=Fall 1997 |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=215}}</ref> In fact, it has even been proposed that his actions in and his journey to Crete came to represent the naval power of the Athenians after the Persian Wars.<ref name=":4"/> This reveals the dynamic nature of Athenian festivals, as new understandings and depictions of founding myths may in turn lead to new understandings of the festival. The Pyanopsia and other Theseus-based Greek festivals may not have only symbolically thanked Apollo for his actions and agricultural abundance, but also represented the values of their founders.<ref name=":4"/> The Pyanopsia also involved the worship of the [[Horae]] - the daughters of [[Themis]], the goddess of divine law and order.<ref name=":7">{{cite journal |last1=des Bouvrie |first1=Synnøve |title=Review |journal=History of Religions |date=November 2003 |volume=43 |issue=2 |page=159}}</ref> By being worshipped at the Pyanopsia and a spring festival called the Thargelia, the Horai – Eunomia (well ordering) and Dike (right and justice) – are revealed as being connected to agriculture and vegetation.<ref name=":7"/>

== Offerings ==
There were two offerings given to Apollo by the people of Athens during the Pyanopsia. One of these offerings came in the form of a stew made of boiled beans, grains, and other vegetables and cereals.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hornblower |first1=Simon |last2=Spawforth |first2=Antony |title=Pyanopsia |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606413.001.0001/acref-9780198606413-e-5444|website=Oxford Classical Dictionary |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-860641-3 |access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> This stew would have been prepared by the various households of Athens and then consumed on a community-wide basis as a part of the tradition of public-feasting in Athens.<ref name=":18">{{cite web |last1=Howatson |first1=M.C. |title=Pyano'psia |website=Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 3rd Edition |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> Athenian festivals were seen to be done in benefit to the state. The Attic calendar was one marked by frequent festivals to the gods which offered some form of divine patronage or assistance for Athenian state as a whole. In performing acts such as preparing and eating the Pyanopsia, Athenian citizens and those who participated across Attica were making use of a tradition whereby private actions were done to help the state as a whole.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Nancy |title=Feasts, Citizens, and Cultic Democracy in Classical Athens |journal=Ancient Society |date=2004 |volume=34 |page=8|doi=10.2143/AS.34.0.505233 }}</ref> To be considered a proper and functioning Athenian, participation in civic feasting by both men and women was essential.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Nancy |title=Feasts, Citizens, and Cultic Democracy in Classical Athens |journal=Ancient Society |date=2004 |volume=34 |page=13|doi=10.2143/AS.34.0.505233 }}</ref> By taking part in the preparation and consumption of the stew, Athenian men and their family members not only represented the agricultural abundance of the state and gave thanks to the gods, but also reinforced their status.

The other offering was the ''[[eiresione]] - εἰρεσιώνη''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=675}} The eiresione was a branch of olive bound with purple or white wool, and hung with various fruits of the season, pastries, small jars of honey, oil, and wine, all of which served as symbols of agricultural abundance in thanks to Apollo.<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=Robert |title=Eiresione |url= https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-5444|website=Oxford Classical Dictionary |date=7 March 2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.5444 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 |access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> The fact that the eiresione is principally composed of an olive branch is of great importance. Due to its connections with Athena and the importance of olives to the wealth and success of the city of Athens, olive branches were seen as a representative of life and therefore vital to the spread of blessings to the people of Athens.<ref name=":14">{{cite journal |last1=Luyster |first1=Robert |title=Symbolic Elements in the Cult of Athena |journal=History of Religions |date=Summer 1965 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=18–19|doi=10.1086/462518 |s2cid=162055506 }}</ref> The eiresione served as the most prominent example of the olive branch serving in such a capacity due to its prominence in the procession.<ref name=":14"/> In understanding the eiresione in such a way, the connections between the offerings given at the Pyanopsia and the success of the city are elucidated. According to Chisholm, "it was intended as a thank-offering for blessings received, and at the same time as a prayer for similar blessings and protection against evil in future; hence, it was called a suppliant branch (εἶρος)." The principal eirisione was carried in a procession by a group of singing boys who carried it to the Athenian Temple of Apollo, where it was suspended on the gate.<ref name=":13"/> Smaller eirsiones were also left by the boys on private households, in return for which the boys would receive presents.<ref name=":13"/> The branch was said to bring good fortune to the homes at which it was left, and would have been replaced on an annual basis during next year's Pyanopsia. There was also a chant sung during the procession which was recorded by Plutarch and went as follows: "Eiresin carries figs and rich cakes; Honey and oil in a jar to anoint the limbs; And pure wine, that she may be drunken and go to sleep"."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=675}} In this song, the eiresione is effectively personified.<ref name=":14"/> By personifying the branch it was awarded special importance showing how the olive tree, an important cultic image of Athena and therefore the city of Athens, is connected to the success and fortune of the city and its denizens. 

During the Pyanopsia, the Athenians seem to have also venerated the [[Horae]] (the goddesses of the seasons) and [[Helios]], the god of the sun, with a feast as gods with connection to agriculture;{{sfn|Konaris|2016|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PLbkCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA225 225]}}<ref>Harrison, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uucSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 79] "At the Pyanepsia and the Thargelia the Athenians hold a feast to Helios and the Horae".</ref> a procession in their honour is attested, separate from the one at the [[Thargelia]], and perhaps related to the Pyanopsia.<ref>Parker, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ff51JeXhHXUC&pg=PA203 203], note 52: "Deubner [...] and Σ. vet. Ar. Plut. 1054c treat the ''Thargelia'' (and ''Pyanopsia'') as festivals of the Sun and Seasons. Once could on that basis equally well link the Sun and Seasons processions with ''Pyanopsia'', but it is neater to identify it with the attested ''Thargelia'' procession and leave the ''Pyanopsia'' free for the boys' roamings with the ''eiresione''."</ref>

== Significance and connections ==
The Pyanopsia is connected to other Greek Festivals. One such festival is the Thargelia, another Attic agricultural festival related to the god Apollo, which occurred in the Spring.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burkert |first1=Walter |title=Greek Religion |date=1985 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=101 }}</ref> Just as at the Pyanopsia, the Thargelia was staged by children of Athens who performed offerings with musical features, connected to the song sang at the Pyanopsia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cuche |first1=Vincent |title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History |chapter=Ionian Festivals |chapter-url= https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30118 |website=Encyclopedia of Ancient History |year=2017 |pages=1–2 |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30118 |isbn=9781444338386 |access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> An additional festival which the Pyanopsia seemingly resembles is the Procession of the Girls festival performed in Sparta. Though in a different region of Greece and occurring in modern-day May, the festival bears a number of striking resemblances to the Pyanopsia. The Procession of the Girls involved Spartan women bringing offerings to the altar of Artemis at Orthia, whilst singing a hymn.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boutsikas |first1=Efrosyni |last2=Ruggles |first2=Cliver |title=Temples, Stars, and Ritual Landscapes: The Potential for Archaeoastronomy in Ancient Greece |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=January 2011 |volume=115 |issue=1 |page=60|doi=10.3764/aja.115.1.55 }}</ref> 

The Pyanopsia is also connected to a common Greek practice of offering firstlings - the first and foremost produce of agriculture - to the Gods.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clinton |first1=Kevin |title=First Fruits |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2668?product=orecla |website=Oxford Classical Dictionary |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2668 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 |access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> The festival also gave its name to the month in which it occurred, Pyanepsion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burkert |first1=Walter |title=Greek Religion |date=1985 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=226 }}</ref> The name Pyanopsia derives from the Greek term "pyana" which meant the "cooked beans" which were given to all members of an Athenian household during this festival.<ref name=":18"/> The Pyanopsia is also related to the buildings of the Ancient Athenian city center. During his time as king of Athens, Theseus constructed two buildings - the Bouleuterion and the Prytaneion - though only remains of the Prytaneion are still present.<ref name=":20"/> It is of special notice that even when much of the business of the old Agora, where the buildings were located, moved to the new Agora, the Prytaneion maintained the function of housing the Archon.<ref name=":20">{{cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Noel |title=The City Center of Archaic Athens |journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens |date=September 1998 |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=298–299|jstor=2668475 }}</ref> The importance of this building is connected to its "sacred hearth" which is where the Pyanopsia departed from,<ref name=":20"/> emphasizing the sacred nature of the festival and its connections to the city.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book| title =Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion| last1 = Harrison | first1 = Jane Ellen| publisher = [[Princeton University Press]]| date= March 9, 1991 |isbn = 978-0-691-01514-9}}
* {{cite book |publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | title = The Greek Gods in Modern Scholarship: Interpretation and Belief in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Germany and Britain| last1 = Konaris| first1= Michael D. |date=2016 |isbn= 978-0-19-873789-6}}
* Parker, Robert, ''Polytheism and Society at Athens'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-19-927483-3}}.
;Attribution
*{{1911|wstitle=Pyanepsia|volume=22|page=675}} Endnotes:
**[[W. Mannhardt]], ''Weld- und Feidkulte'' (1905), ii. 214, for an exhaustive account of the eiresin and its analogies;
**[[J. G. Frazer]], ''[[The Golden Bough]]'' (1900), i. 190; [[J. E. Harrison]], ''Prolegomena to Greek Religion'' (1908), ch. 3;
**[[L. R. Farnell]], ''Cults of the Greek States'' (1907), iv. 286.

[[Category:Festivals in ancient Athens]]
[[Category:Festivals of Apollo]]
[[Category:September observances]] 
[[Category:October observances]]
[[Category:November observances]]
[[Category:Horae]]
[[Category:Helios]]