Ancient
Delphic Festivals

Overview

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.

In ancient Delphi 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. Because lunar months diverge from solar, occasionally a month would be repeated - most likely the month of Poitropios - to keep the year in sync with the seasons.

#1
Jul – Aug n.
Jan – Feb s.

summer

Apellaios

1* - Apellai
Apollon | A gathering of the Labyadai to mark the beginning of the year

7 - Oracle consultations
Apollon | The Delphic oracle was open for consultation. This is thought to have coincided with other festivities

7* - Daphnephoria
Apollon | A rite held every 8 years where a young man reenacts Apollon's return by retrieving a branch of the sacred laurel from the sanctuary in Tempe

#2
Aug – Sep n.
Feb – Mar s.

autumn

Boukatios

4 - Pythian Games (5–7 days)
Apollon | A series of grand athletic and music competitions held in every 4 years in the 3rd year of the Olympiad

7 - Oracle consultations
Apollon | The Delphic oracle was open for consultation. This is thought to have coincided with other festivities

10 - Boukatia
Zeus Patroos & Apollon | An "ox-killing" festival

#3
Sep – Oct n.
. Mar – Apr s.

autumn

Boathoos

7 - Oracle consultations
Apollon | The Delphic oracle was open for consultation. This is thought to have coincided with other festivities

#4
Oct – Nov n.
Apr – May s.

autumn

Heraios

10* - Heraia
Hera | Includes a banquet, otherwise unknown

#5
Nov – Dec n.
May – Jun s.

winter

Daidophorios

13* - Daidaphoria
Dionysos | Possibly related to the bi-annual festival celebrating the return of Dionysos' winter rule

#6
Dec – Jan n.
Jun – Jul s.

winter

Poitropios

9* - Poitropia
Zeus, Apollon, Dionysos | A purificatory festival

#7
Jan – Feb n.
Jul – Aug s.

winter

Amalios

We know of no festivals in the Amalios month, but it's likely named after a forgotten Amalia festival. Perhaps related to ἀμαλός - used to refer to young weak animals, such as those that may be born before the spring.

#8
Feb – Mar n.
Aug – Sep s.

spring

Bysios

7 - Theophania & Oracle consultations
Apollon | The re-opening of the Oracle, Apollon's return to Delphi and birthday in which a feast of cakes was served to the god

9 - Henatan
Dionysos? | Potentially a festival marking Dionysos taking leave of Delphi, or his spring return every second year.

16* - Eukleia
Artemis Eukleia | unknown

17* - Artamitia
Artemis | unknown

#9
Mar – Apr n.
Sep – Oct s.

spring

Theoxenios

6* - Laphria
Apollon and/or Artemis | unknown

7 - Theoxenia & Oracle consultations
Apollon, Leto & the Gods | A feast to welcome the return of the gods in which large onions would be offered to Leto. Heavily linked to the Dioskouroi in other parts of Greece

9* - Telkhinia
Athene, Poseidon and/or The Telkhines | The mythical first inhabitants of Rhodes, believed to be sorcerers and the inventors of metalworking

#10
Apr – May n.
Oct – Nov s.

spring

Endyspoitropios

7 - Oracle consultations
Apollon | The Delphic oracle was open for consultation. This is thought to have coincided with other festivities

7* - Dioskoureia
The Dioskouroi | A feast inviting the gods, possibly war dances and athletic contests

21* - Megalartia
Demeter | Festival "of the big loaves" in which cakes were offered and grains thrown on the threshing floor

#11
May – Jun n.
Nov – Dec s
.
summer

Herakleios

4* - Herakleia
Herakles | A festival of athletic games

7 - Oracle consultations
Apollon | The Delphic oracle was open for consultation. This is thought to have coincided with other festivities

#12
Jun – Jul n.
Dec – Jan s.

summer

Ilaios

7 - Oracle consultations
Apollon | The Delphic oracle was open for consultation. This is thought to have coincided with other festivities

23* - Septerion
Apollon | A purification and atonement festival held every 8 years

* speculative date
n. nth hemisphere months (approximate)
s. sth hemisphere months (approximate)

More calendar resources

Delphic Calendar

The dates below start at sunset, and are calculated for Delphi.

for in heeding my own heart, as a child
obeys his dear mother, I have come
to Apollon’s precinct, nurse of crowns
and feasts,
where the maidens of Delphi
often sing to Leto’s son
at the shady navel of the earth
and beat the ground with a rapid foot . . .

– Pindar, For the Delphians to Pytho

Select Bibliography

A Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN) – Two excerpts from the dossier of regulations of the Labyadai at Delphi - J.-M. Carbon, S. Peels and V. Pirenne-Delforge, Liège, 2016
Athens and Delphi in the Classical Period: Exploring a Religious Relationship - Hugh Bowden, 2020
Neoptolemos at Delphi [pdf] - Emilio Suárez de la Torre, 1997
Delphi and Cosmovision: Apollo's Absence At the Land of the Hyperboreans and the Time for Consulting the Oracle - Ioannis Liritzis and Belén Castro, 2013
Divine Madness and Conflict at Delphi [pdf] - Bernard C. Dietrich, 1992

See the Pytho project bibliography for a complete list

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Ancient Delphic Festivals