Athenaean Games

The **Athenaean Games** (Ancient Greek: Ἀθηνεασ, *Atheneas*, "the Atheniad"), also called the **Ishtarian Games** and the **Anahitan Games**, is a series of athletic competitions that were held once every two years in the Seleucid Empire. The Games were derived from the Heraean Games, where only young, unmarried women could compete. Like so, the Games allowed only freeborn and unmarried young women to compete at the minimal age of 14, with an age limit of 29 applied for marital reasons; they also represented their people, which became a source of pride. Unlike its predecessor and the Ancient Olympic Games, aside from the Games being dedicated to the goddess Athena and its equivalent Persian and Babylonian deities, the Games included two events that only men could compete in, which are the *synoris* ("two-horse chariot race") and the *tethrippon* ("four-horse chariot race"). Moreover, a new event named the *Amazonomilla* ("Contest of the Amazons") was a novelty in antiquity as it is a combat competition where women fight until the last remains standing, a contest usually attributed for men only. Several more events were added further by royal decree; on the 5th Atheniad, it was the *diaulos* (double stadion), on the 19th the *hoplitodromos* (hoplite race), and on the 43rd playwriting and singing. Victors were rewarded a vase of olive oil, and commemorated in chronicles and dedicated statues to a respective patron goddess.

The Games were created in 94 BC by an edict enacted by Alexander II Zabinas, established with the purpose for women contributing to the home defense of the Empire. Nevertheless, women were discouraged from joining the Seleucid army. All races under the Empire's domain were allowed to participate, and by the 37th Atheniad, foreigners were welcome to compete as a sign of cordiality; they included other Greeks, Pontics, Armenians, Nabataeans, Egyptians, Romans, Carthaginians, Caucasian Iberians and Albanians, and even Buyeo Koreans. With this uniqueness, the Athenaean Games is one of the most recognizable products of Hellenization, with women of different races and ethnicities from all over the known world assembling to compete. It also gave women relatively more freedoms than those of ancient times, being that they were allowed to partake in more athletic events that were generally presented to men only; concerning the athletes in general, they were given more status in society for being a victor.

## History

### Equestrian

Similar to the Olympic Games, the equestrian events were the most presitigious, with comparatively more wealthy competitors being able to afford a chariot and horses.

### *Amazonomilla*

The *Amazonomilla* ("Contest of the Amazons") is a popular event for all women, commoner and noble. Despite the prestige from the equestrian events and its popularity, the combat event became a cultural phenomenon, with women showcasing their martial skills and abilities. Gathering a large audience, a major portion of family patriarchs often asked for their hand in marriage to their sons, to which an idiom of marital engagement was subsequentl conjured.

Victors of the event, after marriage, were obligated to train their sons, and even their daughters if they were willing to participate in the event in the future.

## Famous athletes

### Greek

* Aegesta of Tarsus (*Amazonomilla*, 1st)
* Chrysothemis of Berytus (*Synoris* and *Tethrippon*, 34th)
* Tryphena of Corcessos (*Amazonomilla* and *Hoplitodromos*, 33rd)
* Medicaste of Aegiopolis (Playwriting, 142nd)

### Persian

* Orsabaris of Edessa (*Synoris*, 1st)
* Cassandane of Ecbatana (*Diaulos* and Playwriting, 42nd)
* Parmys of Awan (Playwriting, 84th)
* Artastuna of Thermicapaeum (*Tethrippon*, *Hoplitodromos* and *Amazonomilla*, 123rd)

### Galatian Celt

* Centogenea of Theocydia Cydnus (*Diaulos* and *Amazonomilla*, 34th)

### Armenian

* Zarmandukht of Tigranocerta (*Tethrippon* and *Amazonomilla*, 45th)