.png)
Gymnopaedia
Sign in to saveThe Gymnopaedia was an annual festival celebrated exclusively in ancient Sparta, which helped to define Spartan identity. It featured generations of naked Spartan men participating in war dancing and choral singing, with a large emphasis placed on age and generational groups. It is believed that celebration of this festival began in 668 BCE to honour a Spartan victory in Thyrea. The festival likely evolved over time to celebrate other Spartan victories such as that over the Argives in the Battle of the Champions. The Gymnopaedia was primarily in honour of Apollo, but also celebrated Artemis an
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Setting
- Time and date
- Location
- Celebrations
- Choral song and dance
- Special garments
- Historical relevance
- Ancient Sparta
- Ancient Greece
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Further reading
The Gymnopaedia was an annual festival celebrated exclusively in ancient Sparta, which helped to define Spartan identity. It featured generations of naked Spartan men participating in war dancing and choral singing, with a large emphasis placed on age and generational groups. It is believed that celebration of this festival began in 668 BCE to honour a Spartan victory in Thyrea. The festival likely evolved over time to celebrate other Spartan victories such as that over the Argives in the Battle of the Champions. The Gymnopaedia was primarily in honour of Apollo, but also celebrated Artemis and Leto, who served as representations of the childhood which would soon be left behind by the young participants. Though the festival was ritualistic, it should not necessarily be interpreted as religious. Pausanias describes the Gymnopaedia as "a festival which the Lacedaemonians take more seriously than any other" (Paus. 3.11.9).
thumb |350px|Corybantian dance, the type of dance most likely danced on Gymnopedia festivals (image from Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities).