The Elaphebolia (; Έλαφηβόλια ''Elaphēbolia'') was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

festival held at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

and

Phocis Phocis ( el, Φωκίδα ; grc, Φωκίς) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Var ...

during the month of

Elaphebolion 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 Athenian polis. It is sometimes called the Greek calendar be ...

(March/April dedicated to

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...

''Elaphebolos'' (

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

slayer). In the town of

Hyampolis Hyampolis (Ὑάμπολις ''Iabolis'') was a city in ancient Phocis, Greece. A native of this city was called a ''Hyampolites''. Some ancient authors record that the city was also called simply ''Hya''. Mythology and situation In the ancient ...

in Phocis, it would have been instituted by the inhabitants to commemorate a victory against the

Thessalians Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessa ...

. Cakes made from flour, honey, and sesame and in the shape of stags were offered to the goddess during the festival. Modern followers of

Hellenism (religion) Hellenism (Ἑλληνισμός) in a religious context refers to the modern pluralistic religion practiced in Greece and around the world by several communities derived from the beliefs, mythology and rituals from antiquity through and up ...

observe Elaphebolia as a holiday. It falls on the 6th day of the month of Elaphebolion. In 2020 it will fall on March 1.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

*Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities edited by William Smith (1870
p.450
Festivals in ancient Greece Festivals in ancient Athens Festivals of Artemis Military history of ancient Thessaly March observances April observances

See also

References

Sources