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Oskhophoria was a separate ceremony held on the same day that the Pyanepsie honored Dionysus and Athena Skira who protects the grape harvest.
Oskhophoria in honor of Dionysus and Athena Skira
The celebration consisted mainly of a procession from a now unknown temple of Dionysus to the temple of Athena Skiras (in Phaleron). Two young men dressed as women (still relating the events of the legends of Theseus), carried vine branches with bunches of grapes (oskhoi) still attached (Plutarch, Theseus, XXIII, 2-3).
The herald who accompanied the procession did not wear a garland, as is customary, but attached it to his herald staff, due to the precedent established in the legend of Theseus.
According to legend, Theseus was supposed to let his father know that he was returning safely, but, overcome with excitement, Theseus forgot to hoist the white sails that signaled him, and the old man leapt to his death, thinking that his son was dead (Plutarch, Theseus, XXII, 1-2).
The herald who went to Athens from the harbor to let the king know that Theseus had returned was greeted with joy and crowns, but because of the king's death he placed the crowns on his herald's staff rather than on his head.
As a festival in honor of Dionysus, it is interesting in the myth that it was Theseus who abandoned Ariadne on the island where Dionysus, the god of the vine, would in time find her and make her one of the immortals.
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On this day, the Athenians celebrated Oskhophoria. Two men dressed as women carrying bunches of grapes were coming down from the temple of Dionysus towards the temple of Athena Skiras. #mythology #myth #legend #calendar #7pyanepsia #oskhophoria #athena #dionysus