With the construction of the Erechtheum, the numerous cult objects that once
cluttered the north side of the rock were collected together in one place. They were at
once duly honored, and hidden from view. In short, the Erechtheum does in a cultic
way what the stories we have looked at do from a mythic perspective. They draw
together a range of religious beings with a particular figure linking them: Athena.
This enables us to restate one of the central points made above, that Athenian religion
was at once highly diverse and uniquely focused. It also lets us underline another
point, namely that the Athenians’ relationship with their gods was always evolving. As
Athens was becoming a great power in the fifth century, so Athena’s cult was
enhanced. We will consider this evolution further in the next section via an examin-
ation of the Panathenaea, Athena’s major festival and the greatest celebration in the
religious calendar.
Ritual in the City
The Athenians had a rich ritual life, with over sixty days given over to annual festivals
alone (cf. Chapter 12). Rituals provided the most important means in ancient religion
of establishing and maintaining a channel of communication with the gods. They also
helped keep society healthy by enabling particular groups to gather together, often in
ways precluded in ordinary life. At the Kronia, for example, masters and slaves feasted
together. We even hear that masters took over the role of servants for the duration of
the meal. Women had rich religious lives, including several festivals that provided an
opportunity for them to gather together away from their menfolk. At the Adonia, as
we have seen, women gathered on the rooftops to mourn Adonis, while at one of the
official festivals of the state calendar, the Thesmophoria in honor of Demeter, citizen
women spent three days away from their homes camped out on the Pnyx, performing
rituals, and – it appears – enjoying themselves with a good deal of laughter, and even
obscenity. Indeed, women’s festivals seem typically to have permitted the kinds of
behavior normally frowned upon, one of their functions seemingly being to provide a
temporary escape from the repetition and potential drudgery of their everyday lives.
Another important function of festivals was to allow particular social and political
groups to express their communal identity. The festivals of the Attic demes, for
example, enabled the peoples of the various neighborhoods and villages to gather
together at local sanctuaries. In addition to this, there were great civic occasions, such
as the Panathenaea, and the Dionysia in honor of Dionysus, when large numbers of
the population had an opportunity to worship the gods, take part in processions,
enjoy a communal meal, or spectate at athletic or dramatic competitions. This section
will focus on one of these festivals, the Panathenaea, which not only demonstrates the
importance of communality in the lives of the Athenians but enables us to explore in
more detail the Athenians’ special bond with their patron deity.
The greatest festival in the Athenian religious calendar, the Panathenaea enabled
the people to worship Athena. Indeed, its main ritual event was a procession though
the city up to the Acropolis to present a newpeplos(‘‘robe’’) to her statue. The festival
also enabled the people to get together in a communal expression of unity. It is all too
easy for us to overlook the impact of large gatherings in shaping national identity.
Although, as we have seen, Athens was large by Greek standards, it was far smaller
The Religious System at Athens 229