Cicynna or Kikynna ( grc, Κίκυννα) was a
deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...
of
ancient Attica of the ''
phyle
''Phyle'' ( gr, φυλή, phulē, "tribe, clan"; pl. ''phylai'', φυλαί; derived from ancient Greek φύεσθαι "to descend, to originate") is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphylet ...
'' of
Acamantis Acamantis ( el, Ακαμαντίς) was one of the phylai (tribes) of classical Athens, created during the reforms of Cleisthenes. It was named after the legendary hero Acamas, and included the demes of
Cholargos,
Eiresidai,
Hermos,
Iphistiadai, ...
, sending two or three delegates to the
Athenian Boule.
It was the native deme of
Strepsiades
''The Clouds'' ( grc, Νεφέλαι ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not as ...
, the protagonist in
Aristophanes' ''
The Clouds
''The Clouds'' ( grc, Νεφέλαι ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not as ...
''. Representing the generality of the deme, Aristophanes depicts this character as a prosperous farmer and attentive to his lazy son. Probably Cicynna had his own
diasia, the most important festival to Zeus in Attica, in which the god was honored as
Zeus Meilichius: this is evident from a passage from the aforementioned comedy by Aristophanes. The party was held on the 23rd of
Anthesterion
The Attic calendar or Athenian calendar is the lunisolar calendar beginning in midsummer with the lunar month of Hekatombaion, in use in ancient Attica, the ancestral territory of the ancient Athens, Athenian polis. It is sometimes called the Gre ...
(around the beginning of March); the richest people offered sacrifices, and the poorest burned incense.
Its site is tentatively located near modern
Chalidou.
References
Populated places in ancient Attica
Former populated places in Greece
Demoi
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