Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 4.139c–f: the Hyacinthia in Sparta

Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 4.139c–f: the Hyacinthia in Sparta

2nd/3rd century CE

Anecdote collection

Literary source

Thus Polemon; but he is contradicted by Didymus the grammarian (whom Demetrius of Troezen calls the "book-forgetter" because of the number of treatises — three thousand five hundred — which he has published). Didymus says: "Polycrates relates in his History of Sparta that the Spartans observe the ritual of the Hyacinthia for a period of three days, and because of the mourning which takes place for the death of Hyacinthus they neither wear crowns at the meals nor introduce wheat bread, nor do they dispense any cakes, with their accompaniments, and they abstain from singing the paean to the god (Apollon), and do not introduce anything else of the sort that they do at other festivals. On the contrary, they eat with great restraint, and then depart. But in the middle of the three-day period there is held a spectacle with many features, and a remarkable concourse gathers which is largely attended. Boys with tunics girded high play the lyre or sing to flute accompaniment while they run the entire gamut of the strings with the plectrum; they sing the praises of the god in anapestic rhythm and in a high pitch. Others march through the theatre mounted on gaily adorned horses; full choirs of young men enter and sing some of their national songs, and dancers mingling among them go through the figures in the ancient style, accompanied by the flute and the voice of the singers. As for the girls, some are carried in wicker carts which are sumptuously ornamented, others parade in chariots yoked to two horses, which they race, and the entire city is given over to the bustle and joy of the festival. On that day they sacrifice very many victims, and the citizens entertain at dinner all their acquaintances and their own servants as well. Not one misses the festival; on the contrary, it so happens that the city is emptied to see the spectacle.

Charles Burton Gulick, Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, vol. 2 ( = Loeb Classical Library; 327), London 1928.

ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Πολέμων πρὸς ὃν ἀντιλέγων Δίδυμος ὁ γραμματικὸς—καλεῖ δὲ τοῦτον Δημήτριος ὁ Τροιζήνιος βιβλιολάθαν διὰ τὸ πλῆθος ὧν ἐκδέδωκε συγγραμμάτων ἐστὶ γὰρ τρισχίλια πρὸς τοῖς πεντακοσίοις—φησὶ τάδε: ‘ Πολυκράτης,’ φησί, “ ἐν τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς ἱστορεῖ ὅτι τὴν μὲν τῶν Ὑακινθίων θυσίαν οἱ Λάκωνες ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας συντελοῦσι καὶ διὰ τὸ πένθος τὸ γινόμενον περὶ τὸν Ὑάκινθον οὔτε στεφανοῦνται ἐπὶ τοῖς δείπνοις οὔτε ἄρτον εἰσφέρουσιν οὔτε ἄλλα πέμματα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα διδόασι καὶ τὸν εἰς τὸν θεὸν παιᾶνα οὐκ ᾁδουσιν οὐδ᾽ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον εἰσάγουσιν οὐδὲν καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις θυσίαις ποιοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ μετ᾽ εὐταξίας πολλῆς δειπνήσαντες ἀπέρχονται, τῇ δὲ μέσῃ τῶν τριῶν ἡμερῶν γίνεται θέα ποικίλη καὶ πανήγυρις ἀξιόλογος καὶ μεγάλη: παῖδές τε γὰρ κιθαρίζουσιν ἐν χιτῶσιν ἀνεζωσμένοις καὶ πρὸς αὐλὸν ᾁδοντες πάσας ἅμα τῷ πλήκτρῳ τὰς χορδὰς ἐπιτρέχοντες ἐν ῥυθμῷ μὲν ἀναπαίστῳ, μετ᾽ ὀξέος δὲ τόνου τὸν θεὸν ᾁδουσιν ἄλλοι δ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἵππων κεκοσμημένων τὸ θέατρον διεξέρχονται: χοροί τε νεανίσκων παμπληθεῖς εἰσέρχονται καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων τινὰ ποιημάτων ᾁδουσιν, ὀρχησταί τε ἐν τούτοις ἀναμεμιγμένοι τὴν κίνησιν ἀρχαικὴν ὑπὸ τὸν αὐλὸν καὶ τὴν ᾠδὴν ποιοῦνται, τῶν δὲ παρθένων αἱ μὲν ἐπὶ κανάθρων φέρονται πολυτελῶς κατεσκευασμένων , αἱ δ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἁμίλλαις ἁρμάτων ἐζευγμένων πομπεύουσιν, ἅπασα δ᾽ ἐν κινήσει καὶ χαρᾷ τῆς θεωρίας ἡ πόλις καθέστηκεν. ἱερεῖά τε παμπληθῆ θύουσι τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην καὶ δειπνίζουσιν οἱ πολῖται πάντας τοὺς γνωρίμους καὶ τοὺς δούλους τοὺς ἰδίους: οὐδεὶς δ᾽ ἀπολείπει τὴν θυσίαν, ἀλλὰ κενοῦσθαι συμβαίνει τὴν πόλιν πρὸς τὴν θέαν.

Charles Burton Gulick (ed.), Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, vol. 2 ( = Loeb Classical Library; 327), London 1928.