The Thesmophoria were a religious festival in ancient Greece honoring Demeter and her daughter Persephone, goddesses of agriculture and fertility. Held annually, mostly coinciding with the planting of seeds in late autumn, though in some regions it was associated with the harvest, this event celebrated human and agricultural fertility and was one of the most widespread in the ancient Greek world. Exclusively for adult women, the details of the rites were kept secret, preserving their mystery to this day.

Its origins likely date back to before Greek colonization in Ionia in the 11th century BCE, and the extent of its celebration suggests it was a common practice in various regions of the Greek world, including Athens, Arcadia, Sicily, and Eretria. In Athens, the best documented, the festival was celebrated for three days, from the eleventh to the thirteenth day of pyanepsion, corresponding to late October in the Gregorian calendar.

Demeter, goddess of agriculture and fertility, and her daughter Persephone were the central deities of the festival. The myth of Demeter and Persephone symbolized the cycle of the seasons: Persephone, kidnapped by Hades, spends part of the year in the underworld, causing Demeter’s mourning and the infertility of the earth. Her return marks the spring and the renewal of fertility. The Thesmophoria, by celebrating this myth, promoted the fertility of both the land and women.

The Return of Persephone, painting by Frederic Leighton (1891)
The Return of Persephone, painting by Frederic Leighton (1891). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The festival was exclusively female, with complete prohibition on male participation and knowledge of what occurred there. It is unclear whether all free women participated or only aristocratic ones, but non-citizens and single women were excluded. In Athens, participation was limited to married women, who were expected to take part, highlighting the connection between the festival and their social and legal status.

The festival included sacrifice rituals and agricultural practices kept secret. According to a scholion in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Courtesans, pigs were sacrificed, and their remains were deposited in pits called megara. These remains were later recovered and scattered over the fields, symbolizing fertility and the renewal of the land.

An inscription from Delos indicates that the cost of the Thesmophoria included payment to a ritual butcher for the sacrifices, though in other places women performed the sacrifices themselves. The decomposed remains were recovered by “water bearers”, women who had to observe a period of ritual purity before descending to collect them from the megara. These remains were offered on altars of Demeter and Persephone along with cakes shaped like snakes and phalluses, symbolizing fertility. According to Walter Burkert, this practice was the clearest example in Greek religion of agrarian magic.

The abduction of Persephone in a Roman sarcophagus
The abduction of Persephone in a Roman sarcophagus. Credit: Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons

Scholars still debate how long the pig remains stayed in the pits. Some suggest they were left for a full year, while others believe they remained only a few weeks.

The festival consisted of three phases. The first day, known as anodos (“ascent”), involved the women’s ascent to the sanctuary, called Thesmophorion. This day was dedicated to preparations, including the selection of two women to oversee the celebrations, after which everyone camped in tents to spend the rest of the festival in the sanctuary.

The second day, nesteia, was a day of fasting imitating Demeter’s mourning for the loss of Persephone. The women sat on the ground on seats made of aphrodisiac plants, symbolizing abstinence and mourning. Some scholars believe that this day also included acts of ritual obscenity, though the exact nature of these acts is unknown.

A festival of antiquity, painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1871)
A festival of antiquity, painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1871). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The third day, kalligeneia (“beautiful birth”), focused on invoking the goddess and praying for fertility. This day marked the climax of the festival with women calling upon the goddess for blessings on their own fertility and prosperity.

The Thesmophoria was not just a religious festival but also an affirmation of the importance of fertility and agriculture in ancient Greek society, and in this sense, it can be compared to other fertility festivals of ancient cultures, such as the Consualia in Rome.

By focusing on Demeter and Persephone, it honored the forces of nature and regeneration, highlighting the crucial role of women in Greek religion and society and providing an exclusive space for them in the sacred realm.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on August 12, 2019: Tesmoforias, el festival de la antigua Grecia donde los hombres tenían prohibido participar

SOURCES

Walter Burkert, Greek religion

Angeliki Tzanetou, Something to do with Demeter: Ritual and Performance in Aristophanes’ Women at the Thesmophoria. American Journal of Philology, Volume 123, Number 3 (Whole Number 491), Fall 2002, pp. 329-367. DOI:10.1353/ajp.2002.0045

Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the study of Greek religion

Pierre, H. (2008). Réflexions autour de la Nesteia des Thesmophories athéniennes. Pallas, 76, 85–94. jstor.org/stable/43606636

Wikipedia, Tesmoforias

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