PANATHENAEA, an annual festival at Athens of great an tiquity and importance. Traditionally begun by Erechtheus and changed from Athenaea (festival of Athena) to Panathenaea (festival of all Athenians, universal festival of Athena) by The seus, its elaboration seems to date from Peisistratus. In its de veloped form it was celebrated every fourth year with especial splendour, probably in deliberate rivalry to the Olympic games; its date was the third year of each Olympiad. The annual festival, probably about the middle of August, consisted solely of the sac rifices and rites proper to this season in the cult of Athena. One of these rites originally consisted in carrying a new peplos through the streets to the Acropolis, to clothe the ancient carved image of the goddess; but it is probable that this rite was afterwards restricted to the great penteteric festival. The peplos was a costly, saffron-coloured garment, embroidered with scenes from the bat tle between the gods and giants. At least as early as the 3rd cen tury B.c. the custom was introduced of spreading the peplos like a sail on the mast of a ship, which was rolled on a machine in the procession. At the Great (quadrennial) Panathenaea representa tives of all the dependencies of Athens were present, bringing victims, and a most brilliant procession resulted. After the presen tation of the peplos the hecatomb was sacrificed. The subject of the frieze of the Parthenon is this great procession.
Pericles introduced a regular musical contest in place of the recitations of rhapsodes, which were an old-standing accompani ment of the festival. This contest took place in the Odeum,
originally built for this purpose by Pericles himself. The order of the agones from this time onwards was—first the musical, then the gymnastic, then the equestrian contest. Many kinds of con test, such as the chariot race of the apobatai (said to have been introduced by Erechtheus), which were not in use at Olympia, were practised in Athens. Apobates was the name given to the companion of the charioteer, who showed his skill by leaping out of the chariot and up again while the horses were going at full speed. There were in addition several minor contests : the Pyrrhic, or war dance; the Euandria, or parade of "crack" troops; the Lampadedromia, or the Naumachia (re gatta), which took place on the last day of the festival. The pro ceedings were under the superintendence of ten athlothetai, one from each tribe, the lesser Panathenaea being managed by hiero poioi. In the musical contests, a golden crown was given as first prize ; in the sports, a garland of leaves from the sacred olive trees of Athena and vases filled with oil from the same. The season of the festival was the 24th to the 29th of Hecatombaeon, and the great day was the 28th.
See A. Michaelis, Der Parthenon (1871, bibl.) ; L. R. Farnell, Cults of Greek States, i. (1896) ; A. Mommsen, Feste d. Stadt Athen (1898) ; cf. ATHENA.