Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

PANATIIEXAEA.

28

PANCRATIUM.

Heeatombaeon ; the great Panathenaea in the
third year of every Olympiad, and probably
commenced on the same day as the lesser Pan-
athenaea. The principal difference between
the two festivals was, that the greater one was
more solemn, and that on this occasion the
peplus of Atliena was carried to her temple in
a most magnificent procession, which was not
held at the lesser Panathenaea. The solem-
nities, games, and amusements of the Pana-
thenaea were, rich sacrifices of bulls, foot,
horse, and chariot races, gymnastic and mu-
sical contests, and the lampadephoria ; rhap-
sodists recited the poems of Homer and other
epic poets, philosophers disputed, cock-fights
were exhibited, and the people indulged in a
variety of other amusements and entertain-
ments. The prize in these contests was a
vase filled with oil from the ancient and
sacred olive tree of Athena on the Acropolis.
A great many of such vases, called Panathe-
naic vases, have in late years been found in
Etruria, southern Italy, Sicily, and Greece.
They represent on one side the figure of
Atliena, and on the other the various con-
tests and games in which these vases were
given as prizes to the victors. Of the dis-
cussions of philosophers and orators at the
Panathenaea we still possess two specimens,
the Aoyo? rJai/aOrjrai/cos of Isocrates, and that
of Aristeidcs. Herodotus is said to have re-
cited his history to the Athenians at the
Panathenaea. The management of the games
and contests was entrusted to persons called
Athlotlietne (a0Ao0eVai), whose number was
ten, one being taken from every tribe. Their
office lasted from one great Panathenaic fes-
tival to the other. The chief solemnity of
the great Panathenaea was the magnificent
procession to the temple of Athena Polias,
which probably took place on the last day of
the festive season. The whole of the proces-
sion is represented in the frieze of the Par-
thenon, the work of Phidias and his disciples,
now deposited in the British Museum. The
chief object of the procession was to carry the
peplus of the goddess to her temple. This peplus
was a crocus-coloured garment for the goddess,
and made by maidens, called epyao-Tu-cu. In it
were woven Enceladus and the giants, as they
were conquered by the goddess. The peplus
was not carried to the temple by men, but
suspended from the mast of a ship. The pro-
cession proceeded from the Ceramicus, near a
monument called Leocorium, to the temple of
Oemeter at Eleusis, and thence along the
Pelasgic wall and the temple of Apollo
Pythius to the Pnyx, and thence to the
Acropolis, where the statue of Minerva Polias
was adorned with the peplus. In this pro-
cession nearly the whole population of Attica

appears to have taken part, either on foot, on
horseback, or in chariots, as may be seen in
the frieze of the Parthenon. Aged men car-
ried olive branches, and were called Thal-
lophori (0aAAo<J)dpoO; young men attended,
at least in earlier times, in armour, and
maidens who belonged to the noblest families
of Athens carried baskets, containing offerings
for the goddess, whence they were called Ca-
nephori (Kanj^opcu). Respecting the part
which aliens took in this procession, and the
duties they had to perform, see Hydeiapho-
ria. Men who had deserved well of the
republic were rewarded with a gold crown at
the great Panathenaea, and the herald had to
announce the event during the gymnastic
contests.

PANCRATIUM (VayxpaVrioiO, is derived
from vaii and /cpa-ros, and accordingly signifies
an athletic game, in which all the powers of
the fighter were called into action. The
pancratium was one of the games or gymnas-
tic contests which were exhibited at all the
great festivals of Greece ; it consisted of box-
ing and wrestling (7rvyp.7j and 7raArj), and
was reckoned to be one of the heavy or hard
exercises (aywi'tcrp.aTa fiapia or /Japvi-epa), on
account of the violent exertions it required,
and for this reason it was not much practised
in the gymnasia. In Homer we find neither
the game nor the name of the pancratium
mentioned, and as it was not introduced at
the Olympic games until 01. 33, we may
presume that the game, though it may have
existed long before in a rude state, was not
brought to any degree of perfection until a
short time before that event. The name of the
combatants was Pancratiastae (-ay/cpai-iao-Tai)
or Pammachi (irap./a.axoi). They fought
naked, and had their bodies anointed and
covered with sand, by which they were
enabled to take hold of one another. "When
the contest began, each of the fighters might

Pbncntiastae. (Krause, Gvministik und Agunisiik der
Hellen., tav. 21.)