Ancient Greek Holidays of April

April 5th Delphinia. Festival honoring Apollon Delphinios. A procession of girls carrying olive branches with wool affixed to them went to Apollon’s temple, the Delphinion in Athens. The act is believed to commemorate a similar offering Theseus made to Apollon before setting out to kill the Minotaur, according to mythology. Unfortunately we don’t know any more about this festival.

April 15th Mounukhia. Festival honoring Artemis in a combination of two of her aspects. One, in which she is called Pótnia Therôn, or “Mistress of Animals,” honors her as goddess of the hunt, and of wild animals. The other aspect is Artemis Fosfóros (“Light-bringer”) which celebrates her as a lunar goddess. The timing of the festival also incorporates both of these aspects, as it is held on the full moon in early spring.

April 18th Olumpieia. Festival honoring Olympian Zeus. Many bulls were sacrificed as part of the festival, but unfortunately we don’t know much more. The majority of attention given to this festival falls on the games at Olympia (namesake of the modern Olympics). A main feature was the cavalry display, which has an interesting origin as a type of weather magic intended to bring clear skies for the crops.

April 28th Hekate’s Deipnon. Day honoring Hekate. The direct English translation is “Hekate’s Supper.” People would leave various offerings for her at crossroads. Some accounts say to leave fish, garlic, onions, and other “smelly” foods, scraps from one’s meals that day, or even loaves prepared especially for her. This was done every month, on the night of the dark moon. It is also the last day of the ancient Athenian month.

The dates were calculated by Hellenion’s calendar committee. For more information, please see Hellenion’s calendar:
http://www.hellenion.org/calendar.html

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author bio:

Gitana is a Hellenic Reconstructionist, and member of Hellenion.
http://www.hellenion.org

She is an active member of the Hellenic pagan community, hosts many rituals, and writes numerous articles on the topic of Hellenic paganism.

They are available on her website:
http://persephones.250free.com