THARGELIA

in Greek religion, one of the chief festivals of Apollo at Athens, celebrated on the sixth and seventh days of Thargelion (May-June). Basically a vegetation ritual upon which an expiatory rite was grafted, the festival was named after the first fruits, or the first bread from the new wheat. On the first day of the festival, one or two men (or a man and a woman), representing the deity but also acting as scapegoats for community guilt, were first led through the city and then driven out. Occasionally, as in times of heavy calamity, they were sacrificed, being either thrown into the sea or burned on a funeral pyre. On the second day of the festival, there were a thanks offering, a procession, and the official registration of adopted persons.