Cult of Artemis at Brauron - Festivals and Rituals

Festivals and Rituals

There is evidence that during the 5th century the festival at Brauron was celebrated every 4 years, earlier on it may have been an annual event. There is evidence to indicate that the site at Brauron was flourishing as far back as the Neolithic and Mycenaen periods. During the festival young girls, and it seems that on occasion young boys, would gather to celebrate Artemis, the Great-she-bear. They did this by assuming the image of bears themselves and performing certain rituals. Vases depict images of races and dancing to honor the goddess. The dance, also called the "arkteia", was made up of slow, solemn steps meant to imitate the movements of a bear and was performed to a tune from a diaulos (double flute). The young girls also carried baskets of figs. Little is known about exactly what each stage of the ritual actually meant, but it is understood that they each symbolized a gesture of devotion to Artemis in return for her protection over the young and guidance on their way to maturity. Early on the participants wore actual bear skins, but by the 5th century bears had become scarce. The skins were substituted with Krokoton. These short, saffron-yellow chiton dresses were meant to symbolize the bear skins and were "shed" during the final ritual to symbolize the participant's maturation.