Plynteria (Gr. πλυντήρια) was a festival of ancient Greece celebrated at Athens every year, on the 22nd of Thargelion, in honor of Athena, with the heroine Aglauros (or with the two combined as Athena Aglauros),[1][2][3] whose temple stood on the Acropolis.[4][5] The festival's name came from plynein (πλύνειν), a Greek verb meaning "to wash".[6]
Plutarch states that the festival took place on the 25th, but probably only because it lasted for several days.[7][8] The day of this festival was at Athens among the apophrades (ἀποφράδες) or dies nefasti (that is, non-business days), for the temple of the goddess was surrounded by a rope to preclude all communication with it.[9] Her statue was stripped of its garments and ornaments for the purpose of cleaning them, and was in the meanwhile covered over to conceal it from the sight of man.[2][10] The persons who performed this service were called praxiergidai (πραξιεργίδαι).[2][11] The city was therefore, so to speak, on this day without its protecting divinity, and any undertaking commenced on it was believed to be necessarily unsuccessful. A procession was also held on the day of the Plynteria, in which a quantity of dried figs, called hegetoria (ἡγητορία), was carried around.[12][13][14]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London: John Murray.
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