I shall also argue (2) that the holiday (or hieromГЄnia ) of the Hyakinthia lasted at least nine days, of which only the last three were dedicated to sacrifice, this certainly being a much shorter period than the бјђОєОµП‡ОµО№ПЃОЇО± or ПѓПЂОїОЅОґО±ОЇ attested in connection with the early history of the festival. I shall argue (1) that the envoysвЂ™ arrival coincided not with the celebration of the festival, but with the part of the holiday preceding it, and that they departed as soon as the holiday was over. the actual festival, often occupied only part of a longer holiday called the бј±ОµПЃОїОјО·ОЅОЇО±. 4 My aim in this paper is to show that the contradiction 5 between Herodotus and Polycrates disappears, if we take into account the point that the celebration of a festival, i.e. 3 In view of this, Richer has recently argued that in the Classical times the Hyakinthia lasted at least ten days, while in later times it lasted only three days, and that the festival ended with вЂњdes actes empreints de rГ©jouissance., qui pouvaient ГЄtre nocturnesвЂќ. Yet according to Polycrates, the Spartans celebrated П„бЅґОЅ П„бї¶ОЅ бЅ™О±ОєО№ОЅОёОЇП‰ОЅ ОёП…ПѓОЇО±ОЅ for three days, which is usually taken to indicate the existence of a three-day festival. C., which was delayed by the ephors for ten days by reason of the holiday. 2 Herodotus mentions the Hyakinthia in connection with the Athenian embassy seeking military aid from Sparta against the Persians at 479 B. 354вЂ“356 seems to connect the вЂњactesвЂ¦ nocturnesвЂќ (355) with the ОЅПЌП‡О№ОїОЅ вЂ¦ ОµбЅђП†ПЃОїПѓПЌОЅО±ОЅ i (.)ДЎ How long did the Hyakinthia last, and what was the salient feature of the festival, are questions for which our main evidence derives from Herodotus and Polycrates, probably a historian of late Hellenistic date. See on Polycrates, FGrHist III b (1955) 588. 1 I thank the anonymous readers for their suggestions, which have helped me clarify several points.

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