An ''Arrephoros'' ( grc, Ἀρρήφορος) was a girl

acolyte An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...

in the cult of

Athena Polias Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

on the

Athenian Acropolis The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...

. They were seven to eleven years old. According to

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

,Pausanias
1.27.3.
/ref> two ''Arrephoroi'' lived for a year on the Acropolis and concluded their term with a mystery rite called the

Arrhephoria Arrhephoria was a feast among the Athenians, instituted in honor of Athena. The word is derived from the Greek term Ἀρρηφόρια, which is composed of ἀρρητον, "mystery", and φέρω, "I carry". This feast was also called Hersiph ...

: they carried unknown objects into a cavern, and there exchanged them for other unknown objects. The lexicon of

Harpocration __NOTOC__ Valerius Harpocration ( grc-gre, Οὐαλέριος or , ''gen''. Ἁρποκρατίωνος) was a Greek grammarian of Alexandria, probably working in the 2nd century AD. He is possibly the Harpocration mentioned by Julius Capitolinus ...

states (s.v. Arrêphorein) that there were four ''Arrephoroi'' and that two supervised the weaving of the Panathenaic

peplos A peplos ( el, ὁ πέπλος) is a body-length garment established as typical attire for women in ancient Greece by circa 500 BC, during the late Archaic and Classical period. It was a long, rectangular cloth with the top edge folded down a ...

Notes

Sources

* Joan Breton Connelly, ''Portrait of a priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece'', p. 27 {{authority control Ancient Athenian religious titles Athena Ancient Greek priestesses Obsolete occupations