The Anthesphoria was one of the religious festivals held in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...

in honor of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

's return from the

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...

. According to mythological tradition, Persephone's husband, Hades, tricked her into eating four

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

seeds when

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

ordered him to let her return to her mother after he had kidnapped her. Because she ate the seeds, Persephone was then forced to spend one-third of the year in the Underworld and only allotted two-thirds of the year aboveground. This festival was held in several different regions throughout the ancient world, with each one having distinct customs and rituals. The Athenian Anthesphoria was known to be one of the most beautiful ones, featuring flowers, music, and peaceful celebration to commemorate the return of the goddess of springtime. While the Athenian Anthesphoria was known for its beauty, other festivals such as the Sicilian Anthesphoria placed more significant weight on the holiday. In fact, the Anthesphoria was one of the most important celebrations of the year.

References

Ancient Roman festivals Festivals in ancient Greece Festivals of Persephone {{AncientGreek-reli-stub