Summary

The Dioskouria is a festival associated with the divine twins, Castor and Polydeuces – the Dioskouroi. The Dioskouroi are patrons of young men and are associated with athletics events and war dances. In the festivals dedicated to them, the twins are summoned to a table laid with food, either at individual homes or public hearths. They are known to be master horse trainers, and are described as deliverers of men and ships during storms. Shipmen call upon them with offerings, and their appearance in the sky brings calm to the sea.

When

The date of the Dioskouria is not known for certain. Evidence has been pieced together from the associations of the twins themselves. This date of the 7th of Endyspotropios is based on:

The month

The day

  1. The twins were known to be worshipped alongside Helen in Sparta, and this may indicate an astrological relationship with the moon (which Helen is sometimes identified with) [@todo locate citation]
  2. Consistently, the days across several years where the twins align with the moon at dusk in Delphi are the 6th and 7th of Endyspoitropios (from the hip of one twin, to the head of the other). This does not appear to be the case in 329BCE, but is the case by the 1st century CE.
  3. A major festival on the 7th is supported by the theory that there was a large festival every 7th during Apollon's months (see Oracle consultation ).
  4. The sharing of Apollon’s date fits with other known intersections of the Dioskouroi and Apollon, such as the festival of Theoxenia.

The sky over the temple of Apollon in Delphi, showing the moon aligned with the Gemini constellation [Image constructed using Stellarium & google maps]

The sky over the temple of Apollon in Delphi, showing the moon aligned with the Gemini constellation [Image constructed using Stellarium & google maps]

even from an astrological point of view this feast has a justification: it is the middle of the spring, coinciding with the rising of Gemini $^{15}$

This late-emerging but widely-distributed iconographical type shows the Dioscuri, variously depicted but almost always readily identifiable even without the accompanying dedication, on either side of a female figure who often has lunar attributes; 73

Details

The worship of the Dioskouroi is particularly prominent in Sparta and Rhodes, where they are associated with athletics events and war dances, and are considered patrons of young men. In festivals for the Dioskouroi, the twins are summoned to a table laid with food, whether at an individual’s own homes or at a public hearth. The 33rd Homeric Hymn describes them as deliverers of men on earth and of ships during stormy gales, and shipmen call upon them with vows of white lambs.

Banquet

Related primarily to the Theoxenia, but also perhaps to the worship of the Dioskouroi more generally:

The two deities were summoned to a table laid with food, whether at individuals' own homes or in the public hearths or equivalent places controlled by states. They are sometimes shown arriving at a gallop over a food-laden table. Although such "table offerings" were a fairly common feature of Greek cult rituals, they were normally made in the shrines of the gods or heroes concerned. The domestic setting of the theoxenia was a characteristic distinction accorded to the Dioskouroi

[15]

Homeric Hymn 33: The Dioskouri

Bright-eyed Muses, tell of the Tyndaridae, the Sons of Zeus, glorious children of neat-ankled Leda, Castor the tamer of horses, and blameless Polydeuces.

When Leda had lain with the dark-clouded Son of Cronos, she bare them beneath the peak of the great hill Taygetus, —children who are deliverers of men on earth and of swift-going ships when stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea. Then the shipmen call upon the sons of great Zeus with vows of white lambs, going to the forepart of the prow; but the strong wind and the waves of the sea lay the ship under water, until suddenly these two are seen darting through the air on tawny wings.

Forthwith they allay the blasts of the cruel winds and still the waves upon the surface of the white sea: fair signs are they and deliverance from toil. And when the shipmen see them they are glad and have rest from their pain and labour.

Hail, Tyndaridae, riders upon swift horses! Now I will remember you and another song also.