Pannychides were held in honour of various deities such as Demeter (IG II 1363, l.17, 22), Dionysos (IG XII , 499), Artemis (Pausanias, 6.22.9), and Athena. They included night-long singing, dancing, sacrifices, and dining (Euripides, Helen,1362 β 1367; Euripides, Heraklidae , 777 β 783; Menander, Dyskolos , 857; Aristophanes, Frogs, 371, 409). The Panathenaia had two pannychides, one commencing in the evening of the first day, after the end of the torch race, ending before the Panathenaic procession started, and the second starting after the sacrifice and the dedication of Athenaβs new peplos (IG II 334, l. 30; ll. 31β2; Shapiro 1992: 56; Lefkowitz 1996: 79). Although Pannychides differed in function and proceedings from the main rites of the Mystery and initiatory cults, all these rituals had to be performed with the assistance of artificial light.
The Role of Darkness in Ancient Greek Religion and Religious Practice, Efrosyni Boutsikas
