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Ancient Greek calendars

Various ancient Greek calendars began in most states of ancient Greece between autumn and winter except for the Attic calendar, which began in summer.

The Greeks, as early as the time of Homer, appear to have been familiar with the division of the year into the twelve lunar months but no intercalary month Embolimos or day is then mentioned, with twelve months of 354 days.[1] Independent of the division of a month into days, it was divided into periods according to the increase and decrease of the moon. Each of the city-states in ancient Greece had their own calendar that was based on the cycle of the moon, but also the various religious festivals that occurred throughout the year.[2]

The Greeks considered each day of the month to be attributed to a different entity, such as the seventh day of each month being dedicated to Apollo.[2] The month in which the year began, as well as the names of the months, differed among the states, and in some parts even no names existed for the months, as they were distinguished only numerically, as the first, second, third, fourth month, etc. Another way that scholars kept time was referred to as the Olympiad. This meant that the Olympic Games had just occurred and according to the four-year span, the games would not be held for another three years.[2] Of primary importance for the reconstruction of the regional Greek calendars is the calendar of Delphi, because of the numerous documents found there recording the manumission of slaves, many of which are dated both in the Delphian and in a regional calendar.

It was not until the second century BCE that the ancient Greek calendars adopted a numerical system for naming months.[3] It is theorized that this was more for uniformity across the regions than to secularize the calendar.[3] The newly numerical calendars were also created in regions federated from the leagues of Phokis, Ozolian Locris, and Akhaia.[3]

Below are fifteen regions of the ancient Greek world and the corresponding information of the yearly calendar.

Calendars by region edit

In the following tables the month names used in each Greek-speaking city are laid out with Athenian Greek letters (not necessarily how they were spelled in the city they were used in) transliterated into English letters, and with a leading ordinal number column. The ordinal column is mostly for reference, and should not be read too literally: Different cities started their calendar year at different points in the solar year, and the month-numbers do not (necessarily) reflect the start date, which for some cities is not known. Not all of the calendars are equally well-known, and confidence and uncertainties are discussed under individual headings, below. Calendars changed from time-to-time and from city-state to city-state on an irregular basis, sometimes for intercalation.

Aetolian edit

The months of the Aetolian calendar have been presented by Daux (1932) based on arguments by Nititsky (1901) based on synchronisms in manumission documents found at Delphi (dated to the 2nd century BCE).[4] The intercalary month was Dios, attested as Dios embolimos in SEG SVI 344, equivalent to Delphian Poitropoios ho deuteros. The month Boukatios corresponds to Delphian Daidaphorios, while Delphian Boukatios is Aetolian Panamos. There has been no argument to dispute the order of months, so the months found by scholars are agreed upon to be the most likely for the time. Unfortunately, there is no convenient table that describes the synchronisms, as one inscription is given for all the months. The only month to have a singular document describing it is the eleventh month, in comparison to the other numerous documents for the rest of the calendar. The Aetolian calendar was used across the League, and additionally, one could find the Aetolian calendar in use across western central Greece until the league dissolved circa the second century BCE.[4][a]

Lunar months at Aetolia
  1   Prokúklios Προκύκλιος
  2 Athanaíos Ἀθαναίος
  3 Boukátios Βουκάτιος
  4 Diós Διός
  5 Euthaíos Ἑυθυαίος
  6 Homolṓios Ὁμολώιος
  7 Hermaíos Ἑρμαίος
  8 Dionúsios Διονύσιος
  9 Agúeios Ἀγύειος
10 Hippodrómios   Ἱπποδρόμιος
11 Laphraíos Λαφραίος
12 Pánamos Πάναμος

Argolian edit

Lunar months at Argos
  1 Ermaíos Ερμαίος
  2 Ayios Άγιος
  3 Ardios Άρδιος
  4 Gamos Γαμος
  5 Erthaíeos Ἐριθαίεος
  6 Pánamos Πάναμος
  7 Téleos Τέλεος
  8 Kárneios Κάρνειος
  9 Agriánios Αγριάνιος
10 Ardamítis Αρδαμίτης
11   Amúklaios   Αμύκλαιος
12 Abellaíos Αμπεναίος

Attic edit

The Attic calendar, otherwise known as the Athenian calendar, is one of the best known regions today. There are numerous articles that can detail what the months are named and how the calendar came to be attested. The Attic calendar consisted of twelve months and twenty-nine to thirty days, much like the calendar now.[2] Occasionally, the Attic calendar would be thirteen months and have an intercalary year to keep the festivals aligned with the differing seasons.[2] Additionally, the Attic calendar created extra days to have the festivals align with the lunar cycle.[2]

Festival calendar edit

With the festival version of the calendar, the months were named after the chief of the festival that corresponded to the lunar cycle.[5] The years were also named after the Archon who had served that year (i.e. Eponymos Archon).[5]

Months that had thirty days in them were referred to as Full months while months with twenty-nine days were referred to as Hollow months.[5] This was due to the lunar cycle, and that two lunar cycles was approximately 59.06 days to them.[5] There is additional evidence to suggest that the Attic months can be aligned with the months we have now for comparison.[5] Such is as follows:

Lunar months at Athens
  1 Hekatombaiṓn   Ἑκατομβαιών July–August
  2 Metageitniṓn Μεταγειτνιών August–September
  3 Boedromiṓn Βοηδρομιών September–October
  4 Pyanepsiṓn Πυανεψιών October–November
  5 Maimakteriṓn Μαιμακτηριών November–December
  6 Poseideṓn Ποσιδεών
(later Ποσειδεών)  
December–January
  7 Gameliṓn Γαμηλιών January–February
  8   Anthesteriṓn   Ἀνθεστηριών February–March
  9 Elapheboliṓn Ἐλαφηβολιών March–April
10 Mounichiṓn Μουνυχιών
(later Μουνιχιών)
April–May
11 Thargeliṓn Θαργηλιών May–June
12 Skirophoriṓn Σκιροφοριών June–July

Civil calendar edit

Along with the festival calendar, the Athenian calendar had a civil calendar that coexisted and was based upon the prytanies (periods when each of the tribes served on the council).[2] These months were thirty-six or thirty-seven days long and divided into a group of six pytranies and a group of four.[2] This then created a ten month calendar that could be used to refer to time as well as the twelve month calendar.

The main reason this calendar existed was to keep track of the financial transactions within the Assembly.[5] Each month last between thirty-five and thirty-eight days that made up the additional months in the festival calendar and ran from midsummer to midsummer.[5] However, due to the number of tribes changing constantly, this calendar changed with them.[5] Hence the separation between the festivals and a financial calendar. Many accounts of the financial calendar comes from various writings and inscriptions from the reigns of Archons.[5] All evidence of the calendars supports the theory that the Athenians never aligned their calendars or devised a system to draw links between certain days.[5] Scholars assume that people referred to the calendars separately for different occasions with different people.[5]

Administrative periods at Athens
  1 Eréktheis Ερέκθεις
  2 Aigís Αιγίς
  3 Pandiṓnis Πανδιώνης
  4 Leontḗs Λεοντής
  5 Akamántēs Ακαμάντης
  6 Oinḗ Οινή
  7 Kekrópis Κεκρόπης
  8   Hippothṓntis   Ιπποθώντης
  9 Aiántis Αιάντης
10 Antiókhes Αντιόκης

Boeotian edit

The history on the Boeotian calendar is very limited as not many detailed records were kept. All months were named, numbered, and adjusted according to the seasons to fit the lunar year. A calendar was used as a reference in archaic times that bore resemblance to better known Greek city-states and their calendar systems. Any early evidence of the Boeotian calendar comes from Hesiod and is debated for interpretation. Hesiod's recollection of the months includes only one (Ληναιων – Lēnaiōn) and this does not appear on any of the other calendars associated with Boeotia. This gap in information suggests to scholars a change in the organizing of months between the archaic and classic times in Boeotia. As most other regions in Greece, Boeotia divided their calendar months into thirds, but had differing ways to count the days. One system represented the days by ordinal numbers, another used common Greek terms to divide the months in half, and the third system indicated a division of the month into decads. With such a diversity in how the months themselves were categorized, it is hard for historians to give a definitive answer on the calendar.[4]

Lunar months in Boeotia
  1 Bukátios Βουκάτιος
  2 Hermaíos Ἑρμαίος
  3 Prostatḗrios Προστατήριος
  4 Agriṓnios Ἀγριώνιος
  5 Homolṓios Ὁμολώιος
  6 Theiloúthios Θειλούθιος
  7   Hippodrómios   Ἱπποδρόμιος
  8 Pánamos Πάναμος
  9 Pamboiṓtios Παμβοιώτιος
10 Damátrios
Δαμάτριος
11 Alalkoménios
or Alkuménios
Ἀλαλκομένιος
or Ἀλκυμένιος
12 Thiouios θιούιος

Corinthian edit

The month names of one Corinthian calendar that belongs to the larger family of the Doric calendars, is an Epirotic calendar are inscribed in order on the dial of the Antikythera mechanism.[6][7]

Lunar months at Corinth
  1 Phoinikaíos Φοινικαίος
  2 Kráneios Κράνειος
  3 Lanotrópios,
or Heliotrópios,
or Haliotrópios
Λανοτρόπιος
or Ἑλιοτρόπιος
or Ἁλιοτρόπιος
  4 Machaneus Μαχανεύς
  5   Dodekateús Δωδεκατεύς
  6 Eûkleios Εὔκλειος
  7 Artemísios Ἀρτεμίσιος
  8 Psydreús Ψυδρεύς
  9 Gamílios Γαμείλιος
10 Agriánios Ἀγριάνιος
11 Pánamos Πάναμος
12 Apellaĩos Ἀπελλαῖος

Cretan edit

Lunar months on Crete
  1   Thesmophoríōn   Θεσμοφορίων
  2 Hermaîos Ἑρμαῖος
  3 Imánios Ιμάνιος
  4 Metárkhios Μετάρχιος
  5 Agúeios Αγύειος
  6 Dióskouros Διόσκουρος
  7 Theodósios Θεοδόσιος
  8 Póntios Πόντιος
  9 Rhabínthios Ραβίνθιος
10   Huperberetaíos   Υπερβερεταίος
11 Nekúsios Νεκύσιος
12 Basíleios Βασίλειος

Delphic edit

Lunar months at Delphi
  1 Boukátios Βουκάτιος
  2 Hēraíos Ἡραίος
  3 Apellaíos Ἀπελλαίος (first month of the year)
  4   Enduiópeios   Ενδυιόπειος
  5 Dadaphórios Δαδαφόριος
  6 Poitrópios Ποιτρόπιος
  7 Búsios Βύσιος
  8 Amálios Αμάλιος
  9 Hērákleios Ἡράκλειος
10 Boathóos Βοαθόος
11 Ilaíos Ιλαίος
12 Theoxénios Θεοξένιος

Elian edit

Information about the Elian calendar is scarce and very desolate. Most of the information found depends upon a scholar by the name of Pindar, and while he names some months and the organization of the calendar, much is still unknown. Pindar's work is left to interpretation, and as such, causes dispute among scholars to which version is correct. The one conclusion that is well known depends upon the Elian calendar beginning at the time of the winter solstice. However, this is still contested as to why the calendar would have a relationship with the seasons, when it may not have revolved around them in the past. As most other calendars agree, there is much evidence to suggest that the Olympic Games were hosted in the summertime, which would be reasonable to suggest this as the beginning of the year. This is the case with Athens and many regions would model their calendar after it. It would be reasonable to conclude that Elis would follow this example also, which refutes the idea of beginning at the winter solstice.[4]

Lunar months on Elis
  1 —?— —?—
  2 Apollṓnios Ἀπολλώνιος
  3   Parthénios   Παρθένιος
  4 Alphioíos Ἀλφιοίος
  5 Athanaíos Ἀθαναίος
  6 Thuḯos Θυΐος
  7 —?— —?—
  8 Diósthuos Διόσθυος
  9 —?— —?—
10 Eláphios Ελάφιος
11 —?— —?—
12 —?— —?—

Epidaurian edit

The Epidaurian calendar was from the Epidauros region in ancient Greece and most extensively declared to be the formal calendar in circa fourth century BCE. Construction of the calendar was put into effect by a German born mathematician named Abraham Fraenkel, and appears to be the most widely accepted version of the order.[4]

Lunar months at Epidauros
  1 Azosios Αζόσιος
  2 Kárneios Κάρνειος
  3 Prarátios Πραράτιος
  4 Hermaios Ερμαίος
  5 Gámos Γάμος
  6 Teleos Τέλεος
  7 Posidaios Ποσίδαιος
  8   Artamisios   Αρταμίσιος
  9 Agriánios Αγριάνιος
10 Pánamos Πάναμος
11 Kyklios Κύκλιος
12 Apellaios Απελλαίος

Laconian edit

Laconian calendar has several months that are presumed to follow the Spartan calendar, and even include a few of the same months (Ἑκατομβεύς, Κάρνειος, Ἡράσιος). As so many months are attested to be Spartan or belong to the surrounding Spartan areas, it is presumed that Sparta and Laconia could have shared a calendar. There is very little epigraphical data for the names of days in the Laconian calendar. The calendar has a few numerals associated with the days, but there is no way to specifically determine terminology for any of the days.[4]

Lunar months in Laconia
  1 Pánamos Πάναμος
  2 Hērásios Ἡράσιος
  3 Apellaíos Ἀπελλαίος
  4 Diósthuos Διόσθυος
  5 —?— —?—
  6 Eleusínios Ελευσίνιος
  7 Gerástios Γεράστιος
  8 Artemísios Ἀρτεμίσιος
  9 Delphínios Δελφίνιος
10 Phleiásios Φλειάσιος
11   Hekatombeús   Ἑκατομβεύς
12 Kárneios Κάρνειος

Locris edit

Locris itself appears to be divided into Eastern Locris and Ozolian Locris. Eastern Locris has almost no remains for its calendars, but still enough to show that two neighboring towns would have different calendars, as far back as the first century BCE. Three months in the Eastern Locris calendar have comparable months with Skarpheia and two months have comparable months with Thronion. Neither Skarpheia nor Thronion can shed light on the order of the months though. Additionally, only one date is confirmed and it corresponds to the month found in the Thronion calendar. This date is known as τεσσαραχαιδεχάτα.[4]

Skarpheia months edit

  • Aphámius[a] Άφάμιος
  • Ermáuios[a] Έρμάυιος
  • Phúllikhos[a] Φύλλιχος

Thronion months edit

The Ozolian Locris calendar came into being after Locris broke free of Aetolia's reign after the dissolvement of the Aetolian League. This is when an affirmed calendar has been located, reaching back as for as the second century BCE. All of the months found in the Ozolian Locris calendar have been attested except for the second, ninth, and eleventh month. In particular, the Ozolian Locris calendar aligns with the Delphian calendar to show that the first month corresponds to Boukatios at Delphi, and the rest follow sequentially. However, most of the information known about Locrian months comes from Delphi, and very little is indigenous to Locris.

As for days, only the first twenty days are confirmed in the calendar. Earlier translations lean toward the dialect with alpha, while later ones use the koine form with eta. It is not until before the first century of the Christian era that numerical names begin.[4]

Ozolian Locris ordinal months edit

The month names used in Locris, in Ozolia, are simple ordinal numbers.

Lunar months in Locris
  1 Prṓtos Πρώτος First
  2 Deúteros Δεύτερος Second
  3 Trítos Τρίτος Third
  4 Tétartos Τέταρτος Fourth
  5 Pémptos Πέμπτος Fifth
  6 Héktos Ἕκτος Sixth
  7 Hébdomos Ἕβδομος Seventh
  8 Ógdoos Ὄγδοος Eighth
  9 Énatos Ἐνατος Ninth
10 Dékatos Δέκατος Tenth
11   Endékatos  Ἐνδέκατος Eleventh
12 Dōdékatos Δωδέκατος Twelfth

Macedonian edit

Lunar months in Macedon[a]
  1 Díos Δίος
  2 Apellaîos Ἀπελλαῖος
  3 Audunaîos
or Audnaîos
Αὐδυναῖος
or Αὐδναῖος
  4 Perítios Περίτιος
  5 Dústros Δύστρος
  6 Xandikós
or Xanthikós
Ξανδικός
or Ξανθικός
  7 Artemísios
or Artamítios
Ἀρτεμίσιος
or Ἀρταμίτιος
  8 Daísios Δαίσιος
  9 Pánēmos
or Pánamos
Πάνημος
or Πάναμος
10 Lṓios Λώιος
11 Gorpiaîos Γορπιαῖος
12   Huperberetaîos   Ὑπερβερεταῖος

Rhodian edit

Evidence for the Rhodian calendar is plentiful and comes from a multitude of inscriptions. All of the months in the year are presented and attested for, as well the count of days. However, while the names are known, the order and organization of the months is not a definitive answer. For the amount of resources found on the actual calendar, very few ancient sources mention the calendar in their writings. With the plethora of information accessible, the Rhodian calendar is one studied almost extensively as the Athenian calendar.[4] [a]

Lunar months on Rhodes
  1 Agriánios Ἀγριάνιος
  2 Badrómios Βαδρόμιος
  3 Theudásios Θευδάσιος
  4 Dálios Δάλιος
  5 Artamítios Ἀρταμίτιος
  6 Pánamos Πάναμος
   ‡ Pánamos
Embólimos
Πάναμος
Ἐμβόλιμος
  7 Pedageitnúos Πεδαγειτνύος
  8 Huakinthios Ὑακίνθιος
  9 Kárneios Κάρνειος
10   Thesmophórios   Θεσμοφόριος (first month of the year)
11 Smínthios Σμίνθιος
12 Diósthuos Διόσθυος
‡   Pánamos Embólimos was technically the 13th month added to the year to re‑align the lunar months with the seasonal year, but it was placed between the usual 6th and 7th months, as a second, or doubled Pánamos, rather than at the end of the year.

Sicilian edit

Lunar months in Sicily
  1 Thesmophórios Θεσμοφόριος
  2 Dálios Δάλιος
  3 —?— —?—
  4 Agriánios Αγριάνιος
  5 —?— —?—
  6 Theudásios Θευδάσιος
  7 Artemítios Αρτεμίτιος
  8 —?—
  9 Badrómios Βαδρόμιος
10   Huakínthios   Ὑακίνθιος
11 Kárneios Κάρνειος
12 Pánamos Πάναμος

Thessalian edit

The Thessalian calendar was quite similar to the calendars of Pelasgiotis and Hestiaiotis. In Thessaly, the months were divided into semesters known as πρώτη and δζυτέρα έξάμηνος. The order of the months was pieced together from different sequences in ancient inscriptions. Although Thessaly had different months than those of surrounding areas such as Perrhaebian and Magnesia, the methodology of counting days within the months were similar. In Magnesia, however, the months were named after gods, such as in other Greek regions. Three decades were used and a decade plus a number suggests that in the last decade, the Thessalian region counted backward.[4] The Thessalian calendar was standardized only in the Roman era. Previously, all poleis had their own calendars based on their respective festivals.[8]

Lunar months in Thessaly
  1 Itṓnios Ἰτώνιος
  2 Pánēmos Πάνημος
  3 Themístios Θεμίστιος
  4 Agagúlios Ἀγαγύλιος
  5 Apollõnios Ἀπολλώνιος
  6 Hermaîos Ἑρμαῖος
  7   Leskhanórios   Λεσχανόριος
  8 Aphrios Ἄφριος
  9 Thuîos Θυῖος
10 Homolṓios Ὁμολῴιος
11 Hippodrómios   Ἱπποδρόμιος
12 Phullikós Φυλλικός

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h See § Transliteration key for rendition of vowels, below. Some month names in this article lack accents, and overbar "ē" and "ō" to distinguish transliterated eta from epsilon, and omega from omicron.

Transliteration key edit

Greek consonants are transliterated as usual for English: θ = "th"; ξ = "ks" or "x"; φ = "ph"; χ = "ch"; ψ = "ps".

Transliterations are letter-by-letter and do not attempt to reduce Greek spelling conventions to phonetically equivalent English. For example

  • Greek μπ = "mp" was a spelling convention for the sound of English "b", and is left as "mp".
  • Greek β = "b" is left as "b", rather than replacing it with its phonetic English "v".
  • Greek φ is always rendered as "ph", rather than its (usual) English equivalent "f", since it was pronounced as "p"+"h" as "ph" in English "tap-head", in the accent of Athens.

And so on.

Actual pronunciation varied by city and era. Vowels are rendered as

Latin
letter
Greek
letter
Greek
l. name
Approx. sound
a α alpha
  "ăh as in Alp
e ε epsilon
  "ĕh as in bet
i ι iota
  "ee" as in sweet
o ο omicron
  "ŏh" as in pot
u υ upsilon
  "oo" as in boot
ē η eta
  "ay" as in bay
ō ω omega
  "ō" as in hope

with all Greek accents carried over as-is onto the Latin letter, with one exception: For typesetting reasons, in this article accented Latin letter "õ" always represents heavily accented Greek omega, never an accented omicron (because of widespread incomplete implementation of Unicode combining accents).

The propriety of Byzantine tonal diacritic marks is contentious. The simple marks rendered as an acute accent (e.g. Greek "ύ" → English "ú") can be pronounced the same as ordinary dictionary-emphasis used for English words. Other diacritic marks similarly, although they bring up issues for subtle differences. For tonal Greek, which fell out of use early, perhaps before the creation of many of these calendars, all bets are off.

"C" and "K" are equivalent, except for "ch" chi (χ). Latin letter "C" is now used only for Latin words borrowed from Greek. but "K" is preferred for rendering Greek with English letters. E.g. Latin "cynici" for Greek κυνικοί, English transliteration kunikoí, English translation "cynics". As available typesetting has changed, transliteration conventions have changed, and many old texts use forms that are now obsolete. The only sure thing is to carefully examine the Greek text, and treating all accents placed on ancient text with suspicion.

Latin letter "y" was formerly used (in Latin) for transliterating Greek upsilon, "υ", upper case "Υ". Although derived from upsilon, in English, "y" has been adapted to replace old English letters, and none of its several present uses are equivalent to ancient and classical era upsilon. Ambiguous English "y" is now deprecated when using accented English letters to represent Greek, and only retained for borrowed Greek words now established in English, and their Latin cognates.

References edit

  1. ^ Philip, Alexander (1921). The Calendar: Its history, structure and improvement. London, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Sacks, David (2015). "calendars". Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World. Facts on File library of world history (3rd ed.). Facts On File. Retrieved November 19, 2020 – via U.Mass. Lowell Library.
  3. ^ a b c Hannah, Robert (2005). Greek and Roman Calendars. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780715633014 – via ProQuest e‑Book Central.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Samuel, Alan Edouard (1972). Greek and Roman Chronology: Calendars and years in classical antiquity. München, DE: C.H. Beck – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Planeaux, Christopher (6 November 2015). "The Athenian Calendar". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  6. ^ Freeth, Tony; Jones, Alexander; Steele, John M.; Bitsakis, Yanis (31 July 2008). "Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism" (PDF). Nature. 454 (7204): 614–617. Bibcode:2008Natur.454..614F. doi:10.1038/nature07130. PMID 18668103. S2CID 4400693. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  7. ^ Freeth, T. (2009). "Decoding an Ancient Computer". Scientific American. 301 (6): 76–83. Bibcode:2009SciAm.301f..76F. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1209-76. PMID 20058643.
  8. ^ Graninger, Denver (2011). Cult and Koinon in Hellenistic Thessaly. Brill studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy. Leiden, NL / Boston, MA: Brill. pp. 87–114. ISBN 9789004207103.

Bibliography edit

  • Samuel, Alan Edouard (1972). Greek and Roman Chronology: Calendars and years in classical antiquity. Vol. 1. C.H. Beck. part 7.
  • Manos, Danezis; Stratos, Theodosiou (1995). The Odyssey of the Calendars (in Greek) (1st ed.).
  • Hannah, Robert (2005). Greek and Roman Calendars. ProQuest e‑Book Central.
  • Planeaux, Christopher (6 November 2015). "The Athenian Calendar". Ancient History Encyclopedia.
  • Sacks, David (2015). Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World.

External links edit

  • . AncientLibrary.com. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  • . mlahanas.de. Archived from the original on 2017-01-19.
  • "Reconstruction of the Ancient Athenian Calendar". Academy of Episteme.
  • "The Greek Calendar app". Pallasio.net.

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Various ancient Greek calendars began in most states of ancient Greece between autumn and winter except for the Attic calendar which began in summer The Greeks as early as the time of Homer appear to have been familiar with the division of the year into the twelve lunar months but no intercalary month Embolimos or day is then mentioned with twelve months of 354 days 1 Independent of the division of a month into days it was divided into periods according to the increase and decrease of the moon Each of the city states in ancient Greece had their own calendar that was based on the cycle of the moon but also the various religious festivals that occurred throughout the year 2 The Greeks considered each day of the month to be attributed to a different entity such as the seventh day of each month being dedicated to Apollo 2 The month in which the year began as well as the names of the months differed among the states and in some parts even no names existed for the months as they were distinguished only numerically as the first second third fourth month etc Another way that scholars kept time was referred to as the Olympiad This meant that the Olympic Games had just occurred and according to the four year span the games would not be held for another three years 2 Of primary importance for the reconstruction of the regional Greek calendars is the calendar of Delphi because of the numerous documents found there recording the manumission of slaves many of which are dated both in the Delphian and in a regional calendar It was not until the second century BCE that the ancient Greek calendars adopted a numerical system for naming months 3 It is theorized that this was more for uniformity across the regions than to secularize the calendar 3 The newly numerical calendars were also created in regions federated from the leagues of Phokis Ozolian Locris and Akhaia 3 Below are fifteen regions of the ancient Greek world and the corresponding information of the yearly calendar Contents 1 Calendars by region 1 1 Aetolian 1 2 Argolian 1 3 Attic 1 3 1 Festival calendar 1 3 2 Civil calendar 1 4 Boeotian 1 5 Corinthian 1 6 Cretan 1 7 Delphic 1 8 Elian 1 9 Epidaurian 1 10 Laconian 1 11 Locris 1 11 1 Skarpheia months 1 11 2 Thronion months 1 11 3 Ozolian Locris ordinal months 1 12 Macedonian 1 13 Rhodian 1 14 Sicilian 1 15 Thessalian 2 See also 3 Footnotes 4 Transliteration key 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External linksCalendars by region editThis article should specify the language of its non English content using lang transliteration for transliterated languages and IPA for phonetic transcriptions with an appropriate ISO 639 code Wikipedia s multilingual support templates may also be used See why September 2022 In the following tables the month names used in each Greek speaking city are laid out with Athenian Greek letters not necessarily how they were spelled in the city they were used in transliterated into English letters and with a leading ordinal number column The ordinal column is mostly for reference and should not be read too literally Different cities started their calendar year at different points in the solar year and the month numbers do not necessarily reflect the start date which for some cities is not known Not all of the calendars are equally well known and confidence and uncertainties are discussed under individual headings below Calendars changed from time to time and from city state to city state on an irregular basis sometimes for intercalation Aetolian edit The months of the Aetolian calendar have been presented by Daux 1932 based on arguments by Nititsky 1901 based on synchronisms in manumission documents found at Delphi dated to the 2nd century BCE 4 The intercalary month was Dios attested as Dios embolimos in SEG SVI 344 equivalent to Delphian Poitropoios ho deuteros The month Boukatios corresponds to Delphian Daidaphorios while Delphian Boukatios is Aetolian Panamos There has been no argument to dispute the order of months so the months found by scholars are agreed upon to be the most likely for the time Unfortunately there is no convenient table that describes the synchronisms as one inscription is given for all the months The only month to have a singular document describing it is the eleventh month in comparison to the other numerous documents for the rest of the calendar The Aetolian calendar was used across the League and additionally one could find the Aetolian calendar in use across western central Greece until the league dissolved circa the second century BCE 4 a Lunar months at Aetolia 1 Prokuklios Prokyklios 2 Athanaios Ἀ8anaios 3 Boukatios Boykatios 4 Dios Dios 5 Euthaios Ἑy8yaios 6 Homolṓios Ὁmolwios 7 Hermaios Ἑrmaios 8 Dionusios Dionysios 9 Agueios Ἀgyeios 10 Hippodromios Ἱppodromios 11 Laphraios Lafraios 12 Panamos Panamos Argolian edit Lunar months at Argos 1 Ermaios Ermaios 2 Ayios Agios 3 Ardios Ardios 4 Gamos Gamos 5 Erthaieos Ἐri8aieos 6 Panamos Panamos 7 Teleos Teleos 8 Karneios Karneios 9 Agrianios Agrianios 10 Ardamitis Ardamiths 11 Amuklaios Amyklaios 12 Abellaios Ampenaios Attic edit Main article Attic calendarThe Attic calendar otherwise known as the Athenian calendar is one of the best known regions today There are numerous articles that can detail what the months are named and how the calendar came to be attested The Attic calendar consisted of twelve months and twenty nine to thirty days much like the calendar now 2 Occasionally the Attic calendar would be thirteen months and have an intercalary year to keep the festivals aligned with the differing seasons 2 Additionally the Attic calendar created extra days to have the festivals align with the lunar cycle 2 Festival calendar edit With the festival version of the calendar the months were named after the chief of the festival that corresponded to the lunar cycle 5 The years were also named after the Archon who had served that year i e Eponymos Archon 5 Months that had thirty days in them were referred to as Full months while months with twenty nine days were referred to as Hollow months 5 This was due to the lunar cycle and that two lunar cycles was approximately 59 06 days to them 5 There is additional evidence to suggest that the Attic months can be aligned with the months we have now for comparison 5 Such is as follows Lunar months at Athens 1 Hekatombaiṓn Ἑkatombaiwn July August 2 Metageitniṓn Metageitniwn August September 3 Boedromiṓn Bohdromiwn September October 4 Pyanepsiṓn Pyanepsiwn October November 5 Maimakteriṓn Maimakthriwn November December 6 Poseideṓn Posidewn later Poseidewn December January 7 Gameliṓn Gamhliwn January February 8 Anthesteriṓn Ἀn8esthriwn February March 9 Elapheboliṓn Ἐlafhboliwn March April 10 Mounichiṓn Moynyxiwn later Moynixiwn April May 11 Thargeliṓn 8arghliwn May June 12 Skirophoriṓn Skiroforiwn June July Civil calendar edit Along with the festival calendar the Athenian calendar had a civil calendar that coexisted and was based upon the prytanies periods when each of the tribes served on the council 2 These months were thirty six or thirty seven days long and divided into a group of six pytranies and a group of four 2 This then created a ten month calendar that could be used to refer to time as well as the twelve month calendar The main reason this calendar existed was to keep track of the financial transactions within the Assembly 5 Each month last between thirty five and thirty eight days that made up the additional months in the festival calendar and ran from midsummer to midsummer 5 However due to the number of tribes changing constantly this calendar changed with them 5 Hence the separation between the festivals and a financial calendar Many accounts of the financial calendar comes from various writings and inscriptions from the reigns of Archons 5 All evidence of the calendars supports the theory that the Athenians never aligned their calendars or devised a system to draw links between certain days 5 Scholars assume that people referred to the calendars separately for different occasions with different people 5 Administrative periods at Athens 1 Erektheis Erek8eis 2 Aigis Aigis 3 Pandiṓnis Pandiwnhs 4 Leontḗs Leonths 5 Akamantes Akamanths 6 Oinḗ Oinh 7 Kekropis Kekrophs 8 Hippothṓntis Ippo8wnths 9 Aiantis Aianths 10 Antiokhes Antiokhs Boeotian edit The history on the Boeotian calendar is very limited as not many detailed records were kept All months were named numbered and adjusted according to the seasons to fit the lunar year A calendar was used as a reference in archaic times that bore resemblance to better known Greek city states and their calendar systems Any early evidence of the Boeotian calendar comes from Hesiod and is debated for interpretation Hesiod s recollection of the months includes only one Lhnaiwn Lenaiōn and this does not appear on any of the other calendars associated with Boeotia This gap in information suggests to scholars a change in the organizing of months between the archaic and classic times in Boeotia As most other regions in Greece Boeotia divided their calendar months into thirds but had differing ways to count the days One system represented the days by ordinal numbers another used common Greek terms to divide the months in half and the third system indicated a division of the month into decads With such a diversity in how the months themselves were categorized it is hard for historians to give a definitive answer on the calendar 4 Lunar months in Boeotia 1 Bukatios Boykatios 2 Hermaios Ἑrmaios 3 Prostatḗrios Prostathrios 4 Agriṓnios Ἀgriwnios 5 Homolṓios Ὁmolwios 6 Theilouthios 8eiloy8ios 7 Hippodromios Ἱppodromios 8 Panamos Panamos 9 Pamboiṓtios Pamboiwtios 10 Damatrios Damatrios 11 Alalkomenios or Alkumenios Ἀlalkomenios or Ἀlkymenios 12 Thiouios 8ioyios Corinthian edit Further information Antikythera mechanism The month names of one Corinthian calendar that belongs to the larger family of the Doric calendars is an Epirotic calendar are inscribed in order on the dial of the Antikythera mechanism 6 7 Lunar months at Corinth 1 Phoinikaios Foinikaios 2 Kraneios Kraneios 3 Lanotropios or Heliotropios or Haliotropios Lanotropios or Ἑliotropios or Ἁliotropios 4 Machaneus Maxaneys 5 Dodekateus Dwdekateys 6 Eukleios Eὔkleios 7 Artemisios Ἀrtemisios 8 Psydreus PSydreys 9 Gamilios Gameilios 10 Agrianios Ἀgrianios 11 Panamos Panamos 12 Apellaĩos Ἀpellaῖos Cretan edit Lunar months on Crete 1 Thesmophoriōn 8esmoforiwn 2 Hermaios Ἑrmaῖos 3 Imanios Imanios 4 Metarkhios Metarxios 5 Agueios Agyeios 6 Dioskouros Dioskoyros 7 Theodosios 8eodosios 8 Pontios Pontios 9 Rhabinthios Rabin8ios 10 Huperberetaios Yperberetaios 11 Nekusios Nekysios 12 Basileios Basileios Delphic edit Lunar months at Delphi 1 Boukatios Boykatios 2 Heraios Ἡraios 3 Apellaios Ἀpellaios first month of the year 4 Enduiopeios Endyiopeios 5 Dadaphorios Dadaforios 6 Poitropios Poitropios 7 Busios Bysios 8 Amalios Amalios 9 Herakleios Ἡrakleios 10 Boathoos Boa8oos 11 Ilaios Ilaios 12 Theoxenios 8eo3enios Elian edit Information about the Elian calendar is scarce and very desolate Most of the information found depends upon a scholar by the name of Pindar and while he names some months and the organization of the calendar much is still unknown Pindar s work is left to interpretation and as such causes dispute among scholars to which version is correct The one conclusion that is well known depends upon the Elian calendar beginning at the time of the winter solstice However this is still contested as to why the calendar would have a relationship with the seasons when it may not have revolved around them in the past As most other calendars agree there is much evidence to suggest that the Olympic Games were hosted in the summertime which would be reasonable to suggest this as the beginning of the year This is the case with Athens and many regions would model their calendar after it It would be reasonable to conclude that Elis would follow this example also which refutes the idea of beginning at the winter solstice 4 Lunar months on Elis 1 2 Apollṓnios Ἀpollwnios 3 Parthenios Par8enios 4 Alphioios Ἀlfioios 5 Athanaios Ἀ8anaios 6 Thuḯos 8yios 7 8 Diosthuos Dios8yos 9 10 Elaphios Elafios 11 12 Epidaurian edit The Epidaurian calendar was from the Epidauros region in ancient Greece and most extensively declared to be the formal calendar in circa fourth century BCE Construction of the calendar was put into effect by a German born mathematician named Abraham Fraenkel and appears to be the most widely accepted version of the order 4 Lunar months at Epidauros 1 Azosios Azosios 2 Karneios Karneios 3 Praratios Praratios 4 Hermaios Ermaios 5 Gamos Gamos 6 Teleos Teleos 7 Posidaios Posidaios 8 Artamisios Artamisios 9 Agrianios Agrianios 10 Panamos Panamos 11 Kyklios Kyklios 12 Apellaios Apellaios Laconian edit Laconian calendar has several months that are presumed to follow the Spartan calendar and even include a few of the same months Ἑkatombeys Karneios Ἡrasios As so many months are attested to be Spartan or belong to the surrounding Spartan areas it is presumed that Sparta and Laconia could have shared a calendar There is very little epigraphical data for the names of days in the Laconian calendar The calendar has a few numerals associated with the days but there is no way to specifically determine terminology for any of the days 4 Lunar months in Laconia 1 Panamos Panamos 2 Herasios Ἡrasios 3 Apellaios Ἀpellaios 4 Diosthuos Dios8yos 5 6 Eleusinios Eleysinios 7 Gerastios Gerastios 8 Artemisios Ἀrtemisios 9 Delphinios Delfinios 10 Phleiasios Fleiasios 11 Hekatombeus Ἑkatombeys 12 Karneios Karneios Locris edit Locris itself appears to be divided into Eastern Locris and Ozolian Locris Eastern Locris has almost no remains for its calendars but still enough to show that two neighboring towns would have different calendars as far back as the first century BCE Three months in the Eastern Locris calendar have comparable months with Skarpheia and two months have comparable months with Thronion Neither Skarpheia nor Thronion can shed light on the order of the months though Additionally only one date is confirmed and it corresponds to the month found in the Thronion calendar This date is known as tessaraxaidexata 4 Skarpheia months edit Aphamius a Afamios Ermauios a Ermayios Phullikhos a Fyllixos Thronion months edit Itṓuios check spelling a Ἱtwyios check spelling Hippeios a Ἱppeios The Ozolian Locris calendar came into being after Locris broke free of Aetolia s reign after the dissolvement of the Aetolian League This is when an affirmed calendar has been located reaching back as for as the second century BCE All of the months found in the Ozolian Locris calendar have been attested except for the second ninth and eleventh month In particular the Ozolian Locris calendar aligns with the Delphian calendar to show that the first month corresponds to Boukatios at Delphi and the rest follow sequentially However most of the information known about Locrian months comes from Delphi and very little is indigenous to Locris As for days only the first twenty days are confirmed in the calendar Earlier translations lean toward the dialect with alpha while later ones use the koine form with eta It is not until before the first century of the Christian era that numerical names begin 4 Ozolian Locris ordinal months edit The month names used in Locris in Ozolia are simple ordinal numbers Lunar months in Locris 1 Prṓtos Prwtos First 2 Deuteros Deyteros Second 3 Tritos Tritos Third 4 Tetartos Tetartos Fourth 5 Pemptos Pemptos Fifth 6 Hektos Ἕktos Sixth 7 Hebdomos Ἕbdomos Seventh 8 ogdoos Ὄgdoos Eighth 9 Enatos Ἐnatos Ninth 10 Dekatos Dekatos Tenth 11 Endekatos Ἐndekatos Eleventh 12 Dōdekatos Dwdekatos Twelfth Macedonian edit Main article Ancient Macedonian calendar Lunar months in Macedon a 1 Dios Dios 2 Apellaios Ἀpellaῖos 3 Audunaios or Audnaios Aὐdynaῖos or Aὐdnaῖos 4 Peritios Peritios 5 Dustros Dystros 6 Xandikos or Xanthikos 3andikos or 3an8ikos 7 Artemisios or Artamitios Ἀrtemisios or Ἀrtamitios 8 Daisios Daisios 9 Panemos or Panamos Panhmos or Panamos 10 Lṓios Lwios 11 Gorpiaios Gorpiaῖos 12 Huperberetaios Ὑperberetaῖos Rhodian edit Evidence for the Rhodian calendar is plentiful and comes from a multitude of inscriptions All of the months in the year are presented and attested for as well the count of days However while the names are known the order and organization of the months is not a definitive answer For the amount of resources found on the actual calendar very few ancient sources mention the calendar in their writings With the plethora of information accessible the Rhodian calendar is one studied almost extensively as the Athenian calendar 4 a Lunar months on Rhodes 1 Agrianios Ἀgrianios 2 Badromios Badromios 3 Theudasios 8eydasios 4 Dalios Dalios 5 Artamitios Ἀrtamitios 6 Panamos Panamos PanamosEmbolimos PanamosἘmbolimos 7 Pedageitnuos Pedageitnyos 8 Huakinthios Ὑakin8ios 9 Karneios Karneios 10 Thesmophorios 8esmoforios first month of the year 11 Sminthios Smin8ios 12 Diosthuos Dios8yos Panamos Embolimos was technically the 13th month added to the year to re align the lunar months with the seasonal year but it was placed between the usual 6th and 7th months as a second or doubled Panamos rather than at the end of the year Sicilian edit Lunar months in Sicily 1 Thesmophorios 8esmoforios 2 Dalios Dalios 3 4 Agrianios Agrianios 5 6 Theudasios 8eydasios 7 Artemitios Artemitios 8 9 Badromios Badromios 10 Huakinthios Ὑakin8ios 11 Karneios Karneios 12 Panamos Panamos Thessalian edit The Thessalian calendar was quite similar to the calendars of Pelasgiotis and Hestiaiotis In Thessaly the months were divided into semesters known as prwth and dzytera e3amhnos The order of the months was pieced together from different sequences in ancient inscriptions Although Thessaly had different months than those of surrounding areas such as Perrhaebian and Magnesia the methodology of counting days within the months were similar In Magnesia however the months were named after gods such as in other Greek regions Three decades were used and a decade plus a number suggests that in the last decade the Thessalian region counted backward 4 The Thessalian calendar was standardized only in the Roman era Previously all poleis had their own calendars based on their respective festivals 8 Lunar months in Thessaly 1 Itṓnios Ἰtwnios 2 Panemos Panhmos 3 Themistios 8emistios 4 Agagulios Ἀgagylios 5 Apollonios Ἀpollwnios 6 Hermaios Ἑrmaῖos 7 Leskhanorios Lesxanorios 8 Aphrios Ἄfrios 9 Thuios 8yῖos 10 Homolṓios Ὁmolῴios 11 Hippodromios Ἱppodromios 12 Phullikos FyllikosSee also editAncient Greek astronomy Successor calendars Roman calendar Julian calendar Byzantine calendarFootnotes edit a b c d e f g h See Transliteration key for rendition of vowels below Some month names in this article lack accents and overbar e and ō to distinguish transliterated eta from epsilon and omega from omicron Transliteration key editGreek consonants are transliterated as usual for English 8 th 3 ks or x f ph x ch ps ps Transliterations are letter by letter and do not attempt to reduce Greek spelling conventions to phonetically equivalent English For example Greek mp mp was a spelling convention for the sound of English b and is left as mp Greek b b is left as b rather than replacing it with its phonetic English v Greek f is always rendered as ph rather than its usual English equivalent f since it was pronounced as p h as ph in English tap head in the accent of Athens And so on Actual pronunciation varied by city and era Vowels are rendered as Latinletter Greekletter Greekl name Approx sound a a alpha ăh as in Alp e e epsilon ĕh as in bet i i iota ee as in sweet o o omicron ŏh as in pot u y upsilon oo as in boot e h eta ay as in bay ō w omega ō as in hope with all Greek accents carried over as is onto the Latin letter with one exception For typesetting reasons in this article accented Latin letter o always represents heavily accented Greek omega never an accented omicron because of widespread incomplete implementation of Unicode combining accents The propriety of Byzantine tonal diacritic marks is contentious The simple marks rendered as an acute accent e g Greek y English u can be pronounced the same as ordinary dictionary emphasis used for English words Other diacritic marks similarly although they bring up issues for subtle differences For tonal Greek which fell out of use early perhaps before the creation of many of these calendars all bets are off C and K are equivalent except for ch chi x Latin letter C is now used only for Latin words borrowed from Greek but K is preferred for rendering Greek with English letters E g Latin cynici for Greek kynikoi English transliteration kunikoi English translation cynics As available typesetting has changed transliteration conventions have changed and many old texts use forms that are now obsolete The only sure thing is to carefully examine the Greek text and treating all accents placed on ancient text with suspicion Latin letter y was formerly used in Latin for transliterating Greek upsilon y upper case Y Although derived from upsilon in English y has been adapted to replace old English letters and none of its several present uses are equivalent to ancient and classical era upsilon Ambiguous English y is now deprecated when using accented English letters to represent Greek and only retained for borrowed Greek words now established in English and their Latin cognates References edit Philip Alexander 1921 The Calendar Its history structure and improvement London UK Cambridge University Press p 7 a b c d e f g h Sacks David 2015 calendars Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World Facts on File library of world history 3rd ed Facts On File Retrieved November 19 2020 via U Mass Lowell Library a b c Hannah Robert 2005 Greek and Roman Calendars Bloomsbury ISBN 9780715633014 via ProQuest e Book Central a b c d e f g h i j Samuel Alan Edouard 1972 Greek and Roman Chronology Calendars and years in classical antiquity Munchen DE C H Beck via Internet Archive a b c d e f g h i j k Planeaux Christopher 6 November 2015 The Athenian Calendar World History Encyclopedia Retrieved November 18 2020 Freeth Tony Jones Alexander Steele John M Bitsakis Yanis 31 July 2008 Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism PDF Nature 454 7204 614 617 Bibcode 2008Natur 454 614F doi 10 1038 nature07130 PMID 18668103 S2CID 4400693 Retrieved 20 May 2014 Freeth T 2009 Decoding an Ancient Computer Scientific American 301 6 76 83 Bibcode 2009SciAm 301f 76F doi 10 1038 scientificamerican1209 76 PMID 20058643 Graninger Denver 2011 Cult and Koinon in Hellenistic Thessaly Brill studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy Leiden NL Boston MA Brill pp 87 114 ISBN 9789004207103 Bibliography editSamuel Alan Edouard 1972 Greek and Roman Chronology Calendars and years in classical antiquity Vol 1 C H Beck part 7 Manos Danezis Stratos Theodosiou 1995 The Odyssey of the Calendars in Greek 1st ed Hannah Robert 2005 Greek and Roman Calendars ProQuest e Book Central Planeaux Christopher 6 November 2015 The Athenian Calendar Ancient History Encyclopedia Sacks David 2015 Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World External links edit Greek Calendarium AncientLibrary com Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities Archived from the original on 2007 10 24 Retrieved 2008 01 14 Time Measurements mlahanas de Archived from the original on 2017 01 19 Reconstruction of the Ancient Athenian Calendar Academy of Episteme The Greek Calendar app Pallasio net Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ancient Greek calendars amp oldid 1219358577, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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