Festival
Calendars
Dates & Festivals
The ancient Greeks used several different calendars, most of which were specific to particular city-states or regions. There are many ways to approach festival calendars. Some polytheists use reconstructions, some follow a modern lunar calendar, others use completely modern solar calendars.
Below you will find links to reconstructed festival calendars, ritual details, and other resources for building your own festival calendar.
Of all the ancient Greek festival calendars, the calendar of Attica is the most complete. For this reason, it is a popular choice in Hellenic Polytheist communities, and is by far the most common festival calendar. Like other Greek calendars Attic months traditionally start at dusk following the first visual sighting of the new moon. The New Year begins on the first new month following the summer solstice.
Despite being famous for having a jam-packed festival calendar in ancient times, not much survives of the Delphic calendar. This makes it a good choice for anyone who finds a smaller number of festivals more manageable, those who want a good foundation on which to build their own festival calendar, anyone with a particular interest in the religious life of ancient Delphi, and anyone who would like to add a non-Athenian perspective.
Calendars
Attica
Paian - Attic festival calendar
HMEPA – Hellenic Month Established Per Athens
Hellenion's Calendar – A modified Attic festival year
Festival list – Elaion
Hellenic Festival Year – Baring the Aegis
Attic calendar – Episteme Academy
Delphi & Other Hellenic
Pytho – Delphic calendar project
Pytho Delphic calendar – The next few years of Nth hem dates
Ancient Hellenic Month Calculator – A spreadsheet
The auspicious days of Hesiod – Baring the Aegis
Collection of Greek Ritual Norms – Inscription DB
Ancient Greek calendars – Wikipedia
Research aids
Journal Articles
Ancient Greek Calendars – Robert Hannah
The Greek Calendar – George Thomson
The Sacrificial Calendar of Athens – Stephen Lambert
Festivals of Rhodes – Irene Ringwood Arnold
Delphi & Cosmovision – Ioannis Liritzis & Belén Castro
Other Useful Links
Every TimeZone – local time converter
Roman Calendar – the roman festival year
ToposText – literature by location
ORBIS – travel time in the Roman world, Stanford
Attic Dates
The dates below are set to start at midnight, and are calculated for Athens. For a list of lunar dates, see Ancient Athenian Festival Year
Delphic Calendar
The dates below start at sunset, and are calculated for Delphi. For a list of lunar dates, see Delphic Festival Year