Anthesteria

The three days

The festival began on Pithoigia, or the jar-opening, when families unsealed their stored wine vessels and poured libations for Dionysus. The second day, Choes, brought lively visiting, silent speed-drinking competitions, and libations at family graves. It also featured a hidden state rite inside the Agora sanctuary where Athens' ritual queen was symbolically married to Dionysus, attended by fourteen sworn matrons. The third day, Chytroi, was devoted to departed spirits. People prepared a special stew of grains or fruit for Hermes Chthonios and the dead. No living person ate this food, and dramatic rehearsals took place before the spirits were formally commanded to leave.

Spirits and protection

The first two days were considered unlucky and ritually stained because souls from the underworld wandered freely through the city. To ward off harm from these visiting entities, residents chewed buckthorn or hawthorn leaves and coated their front doors with black pitch. The gathering treated these unseen visitors with hospitality while keeping boundaries intact. At the close of the third day, the wandering dead or troublesome spirits were told to leave their homes with a traditional command, which later became a popular local proverb used against visitors who lingered too long.

Wine and household bonds

A central purpose of the gathering was marking the spring flowering of the grape and tasting newly matured wine. Festivities embraced the entire household, allowing enslaved individuals to share in the drinking and merriment alongside their owners. Fresh spring blooms were gathered to decorate residential rooms, drinking jugs, and young children who had reached three years of age. Unlike standard symposia, the drinking matches on the second day were conducted in total quiet, creating a distinct atmosphere where customary civic rank dissolved into shared ritual participation.

How Anthesteria is kept

Over three sequential days, households unsealed wine jars, offered libations, and adorned rooms, vessels, and young children with spring flowers. Revellers visited friends, dressed in festive costumes, and held silent wine-drinking contests open to all household members, including slaves. Meanwhile, state officials conducted a secret nocturnal wedding between the god Dionysus and the city queen. On the final day, citizens prepared pots of cooked grains or fruit for underworld spirits and Hermes Chthonios, held rehearsals for upcoming drama festivals, and concluded the festival by commanding the ghosts to depart.

When and where

The festival took place annually over three days, from the eleventh to the thirteenth of the month of Anthesterion. This coincided with the full moon falling in late January or February, signalling the start of spring.

The observance was held in ancient Athens, centered around local households, ancestral burial sites, and the sanctuary of Dionysus in the Agora. It was also celebrated across Ionian cities.

What Anthesteria means

The gathering celebrated the renewal of nature and the bounty of the vine while directly confronting the presence of mortality. By welcoming both wine and wandering souls, the community acknowledged seasonal cycles of life, decay, and rebirth. Inverting daily social hierarchies gave every household member a shared place in honoring the god Dionysus.

On the table

• Wine
• Cooked pulse pottage
• Fruit

Questions people ask about Anthesteria

See also

ChristmasA festival of Jesus's birth, kept on 25 December with gifts, lights and shared mealsHalloweenAn annual observance on 31 October marking the eve of All Saints' Day, rooted in Christian tradition and Celtic heritageChristmas treeA decorated evergreen or artificial tree placed indoors to mark the Christmas season.DiwaliA five-day festival of lights celebrated across India and its diaspora to mark the victory of light over darkness.

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Anthesteria on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.