The Panathenaia and Local Festivals

Unlike the four Panhellenic festivals with their focus on what it meant to be Greek, regional and city celebrations and their competitions concentrated on more local concerns. At the Panathenaia at Athens, the Eretrian Artemisia at Amarynthos, and the Delia on Delos, how one participated in the competitions and other spectacles was crucial to the dynamics of the festival and the construction of its politics. In the case of the Panathenaia, the restrictions on participation kept the focus on Athenians and those closely associated with the city. The Artemisia concentrated on local issues, particularly in the years after 340 bce on recovering from civil strife, while the Delia functioned at the level of the region. Both the Artemisia and the Delia show how the politics of a celebration may change over time. These local festivals existed in tension between the needs of the sponsoring community and its relationships to other cities and region(s).