The herald., 1897-04-20
A SPRING REJOICING
In Honor of the Time When Nature
Awoke

"oh. the waking of a morrow! the farewell
The Old is past forever. and new tryst we
A new tryst, a new hope; what was dream
Rut nj listen. Is there sobbing in the old
heart of Earth?
"a hush of recollection for the old tninsS
A backward look where once the royal
crimson crown was sheu;
An upward gaze 'twixt budding boughs'
with hand on messy girth-
And goodbye to what hes hlduen IN the
ueep VIRGINIA w. CLOUD.
"A might be supposed. the festival in
honor of Athene was observed py the
citizens Of Athens with every marx oil
honor. pomp and circumstance. II was
instituted by Erechtheus, sixth king OF
Athens. who Is also sometimes credited
with having first introduced the mys-
teries of Ceres at Eleusis. He died b. {.
1347. This festival of "Athenaea' was
afterwards broadened out and elabo-
rated with great splendor by Theseus,
who caused it to be observed by all the
tribes of Attica, whom he had united into
one state, of which Athens was the
capital.
The festivals were two: The great
Panathenaea, which was observed every
fifth year. beginning on the date equiva-
lent to our 7th of July, and the lesser Pan
athenaea, kept annually beginning on
the 5th OF May. Ten presidents, chosen
from the ten tribes, conducted the af-
fairs of the festival. which was carried
out with great splendor and certain ex-
ceptional features.
On the evening Of the first day there
was a race with torches, in which men
on foot, and afterward on horseback, con-
tended. The second combat was gym
nical and feats of strength and bodily
dexterity were displayed. The last was
a musical contention, first instituted by
Pericles, who rebuilt the temple of
Athene, which had been destroyed by
the Persians. Phrynis of Mitylene was
the first who obtained the victory by
playing upon the harp; but there were
other musical instruments upon which
they played in concert, such as flutes, etc.
The poets contended in four plays, the
last of which was satire. There
was also at Synium a sham naval
fight. Whoever obtained the victory In
any of these games was rewarded with
a vessel of oil, which he was permitted
to dispose of in whatever manner he
rleased; and it was unlawful for any
other person to transport that commodity
The conqueror was also crowned with a
wreath of olives grown in the groves Of
Academus, sacred to Athene in
remembrance of the tragcal end of
Halirhotius, the son of Neptune, who
cut his legs in attempting to cut down
the olive which had given victory to
Athene in preference to his father when
these two deities contended for the pa
tronage of Athens.
There was also a dance, called
Pyrrhichia, performed by youths clad
in armor, in imitation of Athene, and
gladiators were introduced al later date,
when Athens became tributary to Rome
During the celebration no one was per-
mitted to appear in dyed garments, and
II any one transgressed he was punished
according to the discretion of the presi-
dent OF the games.
After these preliminary exercises the
religious rites were celebrated with great
splendor. The whole empire partici-
pated by sending of their products for
sacrifice in the temple. On the great day
of the feast there was grand procession
or parade of the priests. the sacriflcial
assistants of every kind, the representa-
tives of every part of the empire. the
cavalry and foot soldiers-in fact of tha
population of Attica and great part of
~~---ss>..~ies. As Aariv a. thR third