Back Tesmofòries Catalan Thesmophorien German Θεσμοφόρια Greek Tesmoforias Spanish تسموفوریا Persian Thesmoforia Finnish Thesmophories French Tesmoforias Galician תסמופוריה HE Տեսմոֆորիա Armenian
| Part of a series on |
| Ancient Greek religion |
|---|
 |
The Thesmophoria (Ancient Greek: Θεσμοφόρια) was an ancient Greek religious festival, held in honor of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. It was held annually, mostly around the time that seeds were sown in late autumn – though in some places it was associated with the harvest instead – and celebrated human and agricultural fertility. The festival was one of the most widely celebrated in the Greek world. It was restricted to adult women, and the rites practiced during the festival were kept secret. The most extensive sources on the festival are a comment in a scholion on Lucian, explaining the festival, and Aristophanes' play Thesmophoriazusae, which parodies the festival.