Panegyris (holiday)
The Panegyris ( ancient Greek πανήγυρις panḗgyris , "the meeting") was originally an event attended by a large number of people. The term is used in this description by Thucydides . Pindar uses it for the Olympic , Pythian , Isthmian and Nemean Games. A panegyris gave famous speakers a large audience. The best-known example are the panegyries of Isocrates, written on such an occasion . Agons , which were renewed or introduced mainly during the Hellenistic period , attracted people from the near and far and therefore turned the events into large folk festivals. The gathering of a large crowd on a feast day was subject to legal regulations. An agoranomos , hieromnemon or a panegyriarches ensured compliance with the regulations . In Theophrastus of Eresos the reference to a sacred festival is found for the first time, which has received the predominant meaning in further use.
literature
- Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff : Isokrates Panegyrikos 100-114. In: Aristotle and Athens. (Cambridge Library Collection - Classics), Cambridge 2010, pp. 380-390.
- Ludwig Draw : Panegyris . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE) . Volume XVIII, 3, Stuttgart 1949, Sp. 581.