Panionian games in ancient times

Ancient Mycale, the seat of the Ionian Community, was the cradle of this festival. Panionia is considered to be the birthplace of the Homeric Epics.

The Panionian games in Ancient Times

From the 11th century BC, populations migrated from mainland Greece to the shores of Asia Minor, to the land that was called Ionia[1]. The Ionians were industrious, quick-witted, and fond of travel, spirituality, the arts, and social life. Their achievements were impressive! Among other things, they developed philosophy, science, poetic metre, rhetoric, geography, and historiography.

Immediately after the migration of the Ionians to Asia Minor, the Panionian League was created, a federation of 12 cities, which was called “Panionion” or “The Common of the Ionians” (1086/85 BC)[2]. It consisted of the following cities: Miletus, Myus, Priene, Ephesus, Teos, Colophon, Erythrae, Clazomenae, Phocaea, Samos, Chios, and later Smyrna was added. This union served as a means of strengthening the national, social, and political cohesion of different populations that came from mainland Greece. The sacred meeting place of the Ionians was called Panionion and was located in Mycale (opposite Samos). There, the Panionia took place, in honour of Poseidon Heliconius, which included annual festivals and libations and featured, among other things, poetic competitions.

Although Persian laws restricted the later conduct of the festivals, which were moved to various cities, when Alexander the Great proclaimed the freedom of the Ionian cities, the ceremonies were restored in Mycale, and the Panionion regained its former prestige.

The celebration of the Panionia continued until Roman times.

[1] Information was drawn from two studies by the historical researcher of Asia Minor, Konstantinos Thodis. “The Panionion in the light of historical, literary sources, and archaeological research,” and “About the relationship of Homer and his poems with Ionia.”

[2] The date is based on the Parian Chronicle and is linked to the founding of Miletus by Neleus, the son of the king of Athens, Codrus.

The Panionian games as the Birthplace of the Homeric Epics

The Panionia appears to have provided a milestone framework for the composition and performance of the Iliad and the Odyssey. As the framework for their emergence, Douglas Frame, a classical philologist at Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies, sees a festival – a celebration. Due to the size of the poems and their unity, Frame suggests the Panionia, the common festival of the Ionian Dodecapolis (Chios and Samos, and ten cities located in Asia Minor).

Other scholars agree, noting that the composition and performance of the epics likely occurred for the first time at some major festival in the Ionian region, such as the Panionia in Mycale. There, the poet had more time to present the extensive work compared to the bards of the Odyssey (see Maronitis, Polkas, Touloumis – Encyclopedic Guide to Archaic Epic Poetry).

The panhellenic character of the epic poems reflects the diversity of the origins of the Ionians, according to Frame. The Ionians migrated from different parts of mainland Greece. Their common identity was not given but resulted from a deliberate process which also took place at the Panionia. The epics were created by poets who participated in performances at the Panionia through a process of competition and cooperation.

One of the most distinguished Homerists, Gregory Nagy, a lover of Greece and awarded by the President of the Hellenic Republic in 2019 with the Order of Honour, explaining the evolution of the Homeric tradition, distinguishes five periods.

In the first, fluid period, there were no written texts, and both the Iliad and the Odyssey underwent many changes (early 2nd millennium BC – mid-8th century BC). In the second period (8th – 6th century BC), Nagy, building on Frame’s model, also focuses on the political union of the Dodecapolis and the Panionia. He agrees with Frame’s reasoning that the poems were divided into 12 sections corresponding to the 12 Ionian cities, with each section consisting of four rhapsodies (48 in total in the two epics).

The classical philologist Mary Bachvarova believes that the Panionian festival during the 8th and 7th centuries significantly accelerated the development of the style and content of the Iliad and the Odyssey (see From Hittite to Homer: The Anatolian Background of Ancient Greek Epic).

Moreover, although historians’ opinions about Homer’s place of residence vary, the Ionian cities of Chios, Smyrna, and Colophon almost always appear. We also know that Homer lived during that period, as he participated in a musical contest at the end of the Lelantine War, dated to the late 8th century BC, along with Hesiod!

From the early 7th century to the mid-6th century, not only the Panionia but also the Panathenaia came to the forefront. Panionian cities were affected by destructive conditions, and the poems were preserved and ended up in Athens via Chios, and groups of rhapsodists, the Homeridae. Gradually, in the following periods, they also took the form of written texts.

Although the resolution of the Homeric question continues to occupy the scientific community, it seems that the Panionia provided a milestone framework for the composition and performance of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Sources

Dimitriadou, Daphne, 2002. “Common of Ionians – Panionion”, Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor

Linardos, Petros. 1998. The Smyrna of Panionion. From the Smyrnaean avant-garde to the Athenian
renaissance, publication by the cultural association of Nea Smyrni Friends of the Arts, Athens 1998

Thodis, Konstantinos. 2020. The Panionion in the light of historical, literary sources, and archaeological research. Academia.edu https://shorturl.at/RJPHX

Tassoulis, Konstantinos. 2017 Panionion: The history, the charm, and the vision. Kathimerini

Bachvarova, MR. 2016. The history of the Homeric tradition. In: From Hittite to Homer: The Anatolian Background of Ancient Greek Epic. Cambridge University Press. 395-417.

Nagy, Gregory. 2014. “Review of ‘Writing Homer. A Study Based on Results from Modern Fieldwork,’ by Minna Skafte Jensen.” Gnomon 86: 97–101.

Wikipedia. Panionian Games

Return to the History of the Games