Another contest peculiar to the Panathenaea was a muster of men
(εὐανδρία). Like the dramatic representations, the torch-race, and the
Pyrrhic dance, this was a liturgy, that is, a voluntary service
performed by a rich citizen. It was his duty to select the handsomest
and strongest men of his tribe, to clothe and equip them, and present
them at the festival; that tribe which, in the opinion of the judges,
made the best impression, received the prize. This curious custom
originated after the expulsion of the Peisistratidae, since they would
not have been permitted, during the tyranny, to bring forward the armed
citizens in this manner. Another liturgy was the torch-race
(λαμπαδοφορία), which was superintended by the gymnasiarchs; the victor
in this contest received a water-jar. The contests of the Panathenaea
were concluded by a regatta, which took place at the Peiraeus. Here,
again, it was not individuals, but tribes, that competed for the prize,
which was not inconsiderable, since the victorious tribe received 300
drachmae, and money for a festive banquet.
The expenses of these various contests, if they did not happen to be
voluntary services, were defrayed from the treasury of Athene Polias;
the sacrifices, in particular the hecatomb offered to the goddess at the
greater Panathenaea, were provided by the superintendents of sacrifice
(ἱεροποιοί), appointed as the ten representatives of the ten tribes, but
there were sometimes special subscriptions for the purpose, and, at the
great festivals at any rate, the Attic client cities sent their
contributions to the sacrifices, apparently each one cow and two sheep.
The hecatomb was offered on the chief day of the feast; another
sacrifice was performed to _Athene-Hygeia_, and a third on the
Areopagus, but we do not know when these took place, nor whether they
were also offered at the lesser Panathenaea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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