Apellai ( grc-gre, ἀπέλλαι), was a three-day family-festival of the Northwest
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in Italy, ...
similar with the
Ionic Apaturia, which was dedicated to
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
(
Doric form:).
[Walter Burkert (1985) ''Greek Religion''. Harvard University Press. p. 255]
The fest was spread in Greece by the
Dorians
The Dorians (; el, Δωριεῖς, ''Dōrieîs'', singular , ''Dōrieús'') were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionians) ...
as it is proved by the use of the month ''Apellaios'' ( or in
Ionic Tenos), in various Dorian states.
Etymology and related words
The word is derived from the
Ancient Macedonian word ''pélla'' (), "stone", (
Heshychius) which appears in some toponyms in Greece like
Pella
Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great.
On site of the ancient cit ...
(),
Pellene
Pellene (; grc, Πελλήνη; grc-x-doric, Πελλάνα or Πελλίνα) was a city and polis (city-state) of ancient Achaea, the most easterly of the twelve Achaean cities (the Achaean League). Its territory bordered upon that of Sicyon ...
()
Robert Beekes
Robert Stephen Paul Beekes (; 2 September 1937 – 21 September 2017) was a Dutch linguist who was emeritus professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at Leiden University and an author of many monographs on the Proto-Indo-European la ...
suggests that the word has probably
Pre-Greek
The Pre-Greek substrate (or Pre-Greek substratum) consists of the unknown pre-Indo-European language(s) spoken in prehistoric Greece before the coming of the Proto-Greek language in the Greek peninsula during the Bronze Age. It is possible that ...
origin. The
Doric word ''apella'' () originally meant wall, enclosure of stones, and later assembly of people within the limits of the square . The word usually appears in plural.
Robert Beekes
Robert Stephen Paul Beekes (; 2 September 1937 – 21 September 2017) was a Dutch linguist who was emeritus professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at Leiden University and an author of many monographs on the Proto-Indo-European la ...
derives the word from the verb , ("shut off from or out from") therefore ''apella'' is the "enclosed space, meeting space".
When a pubescent was received into the body of grown men, as a grown ''Kouros'' (male youth) he became (''apellax'', "sharer in secret rites") and he could enter the ''apellai''. The
apellaia were the offerings made at the initiation of the young men at a meeting of a family group.
Apellaion is the offering of a part of the hair to the god, and corresponds to the ''Koureion'' of the
Apaturia. ''Apellaios'' is the month of these rites, and
Apellon is the "megistos kouros" (the great Kouros).
Ancient practice
There is evidence for this festival in
Epidauros
Epidaurus ( gr, Ἐπίδαυρος) was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: '' Palaia Epidavros'' and '' Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to t ...
,
Olous
Olous or Olus ( grc, Ὄλους, or ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' § 350.) was a city of ancient Crete; now sunken, it was situated at the present day town of Elounda, Crete, Greece. According to the ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'', it had a harbour and w ...
,
Kalchedon, "Heracleia" at
Siris,
Tauromenion,
Chaleion
Chalaeum or Chalaion ( grc, Χάλαιον) or Chaleion (Χάλειον) or Chaleos (Χαλεώς) was an ancient town on the coast of the Locri Ozolae, near the borders of Phocis. Pliny the Elder erroneously calls it a town of Phocis. During the ...
,
Lamia
LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
, Oeta ( (''Oetē'')),
Tolophon,
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracl ...
and also in
Ancient Macedonia
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...
. The
phratry
In ancient Greece, a phratry ( grc, φρᾱτρῐ́ᾱ, phrātríā, brotherhood, kinfolk, derived from grc, φρᾱ́τηρ, phrā́tēr, brother, links=no) was a group containing citizens in some city-states. Their existence is known in most Io ...
(‘brotherhood’) controlled the access to civic rights. The three-day family-festival included initiation ceremonies, not concerning the state:
* A father introduced his young child
* A father presented his son again, later, as grown youth (
kouros
kouros ( grc, κοῦρος, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with a les ...
)
* A husband presented his wife after the marriage
The corresponding names for the offerings made were ''paideia'' (child), ''
apellaia'' (
kouros
kouros ( grc, κοῦρος, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with a les ...
) and ''gamela'' (marriage, Greek: γάμος ''gamos'').
[
It is almost sure that the fest belonged originally to ]Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, because his name is used in the oaths only near Poseidon Phratrios and Zeus Patroοs. In Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
a common epithet of Apollo as family-god is "Apollo Patroos".Temple of Apollo Patroos
/ref>
See also
*Apella
The ecclesia or ekklesia ( Greek: ἐκκλησία) was the citizens' assembly in the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. Unlike its more famous counterpart in Athens, the Spartan assembly had limited powers, as it did not debate; citizens ...
* Apellaia
* Ancient Macedonian calendar
Νotes
{{Reflist
Festivals of Apollo
Ancient Greek festivals by region
Lunisolar calendars