Note (return) — THE TEMPLE ON THE ACROPOLIS BURNT BY THE PERSIANS.

In Suidas we find a hint of the other ceremonies on the Chytri. According to him, there were sacrifices to Dionysus as well as to Hermes. This suggests that the Chytri was but one day of the Anthesteria, and, though the worship of the departed may have been the older portion of the celebration, it was later overshadowed by the festivities in honor of the wine-god. As the text of his argument in his oration against Midias, Demosthenes cites four oracular utterances, two from Dodona, the others probably from Delphi. In the first the god calls upon the children of Erechtheus, as many as inhabit the city of Pandion, to be mindful of Bacchus, all together throughout the wide streets to return fit thanks to the Bromian, and crowned with wreaths, to cause the odor of sacrifice to rise from the altars. In this oracle, Athens is the city of Pandion, because it was reported that under his rule the worship of Dionysus was introduced into the city. This and the other commands from Dodona and Delphi concerning Dionysus refer to the introduction of the worship of the god; for in every one the statement is absolute; there is no reference to a previous worship and a backsliding on the part of the people, κνισάν βωμοΐσι of the first oracle can refer only to a sacrifice of animals. Stronger still is the statement in the fourth oracle (from Dodona) where the command is given to fulfil sacred rites (ίερα τελεΐν) to Dionysus, and to sacrifice to Apollo and to Zeus. (Άπόλλωνι Άποτροπαίω βοūν θυσαι ... Δú Κτησίω βοūν λευκόν.) The command "to mix bowls of wine and to establish choral dances," in the second and fourth oracles, serves as an explanatory comment on "return fit thanks to the Bromian" in the first. "Let free men and slaves wear wreaths and enjoy leisure for one day," must refer to the Pithoigia. In this feast the slaves had a part, and enjoyed a holiday. Hence the saying 184 "Forth, slaves, it is no longer the Anthesteria." In obedience to the oracles then, public sacrifices could not have been lacking at the Anthesteria. Therefore, this festival must have been officially known as the Dionysia έπί Ληναίω.