Demetrios Poliorketes, Kallias of Sphettos, and the Panathenaia (original) (raw)

This essay looks at the cancellation of the Great Panathenaia of 286 and it re-examines the crucial section of text in the great honorary decree for Kallias of Sphettos (SEG XXVIII 60). It shows that the festival of 286 was certainly not held and the Great Panathenaia of 282 was the first celebration after the city had been liberated. As I argue, cancelling any festival was an extremely serious decision indeed because such celebrations created, maintained, and displayed relationships between the divine and the human community. Since the Panathenaia was also an important occasion for putting Athenian democracy, unity, and freedom on show, not celebrating the festival of 286 meant passing up the opportunity to display the city’s newly won freedom and her unity after revolution to an international audience. Such a momentous decision requires further explanation. Our evidence suggests that the on-going military situation surrounding the recovery of Athens from Demetrios is the most likely reason why this important festival was cancelled.